Blogs from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, Asia - page 16

Only kidding, but with so many people cursing us for having such great weather we thought it might make you all feel better! It was actually up in the mid 30s again, clear blue skies and a slight sea breeze, which was jolly welcome (and my lovely frozen cousin Christina - just be grateful you’re in Brum, not Scotland!!) There really isn’t much to say about today - we spent a glorious day lazing round the pool enjoying the wonderful view. We sat on our balcony with a couple of beers to watch the sun set for the final time on Borneo before setting off for our final crab supper. Yes, I know its very samey ... but it was too good to pass up! No doubt you’ll all be thrilled to know that the Tsunami ... read more

My how time flies. I can’t believe that I’m sitting in a 2 man (well 2 woman actually) camper van in New Zealand typing this and the Borneo and Australian part of my adventure is behind me and over!!!! I was so sad to leave Borneo. I loved everything about it; the people, the culture, the food and the wildlife, all of it amazing. I worked with a great set of people who worked very hard and the venturers were a fantastic group of young people. I miss them all. My last few weeks were just as enjoyable as the rest of my time on expedition and I managed to take a couple of days off with Amy, who had travelled out to Borneo for a couple of weeks, before continuing with me on the rest ... read more

Ever had one of those days that was so good you just wanted to do it all over again? Well for us, that was yesterday and guess what - we almost did! A few differences, we went to a different island, Sapi, it had monitor lizards, the laundry was open when we went to collect our stuff, we slept through the sunset, and the noodles at the Evening Food Stall weren’t quite as good as yesterday, but apart from that ... Sapi’s slightly smaller than the other islands but the beach was just as beautiful and we found a lovely shady spot under some trees to park ourselves. Quite close by a group of approximately ten Monitor Lizards had made their way out of the forest and onto the beach which made quite a sight. However, ... read more

Oh wow! We’ve arrived in Sabah, Borneo, and it really is something. I can see why Pete and Jeanette love it so much (although I shall never know how you managed to avoid eating seafood Jeanette!) We arrived in Kota Kinabalu (KK hereafter!) early this afternoon and quickly settled into our hotel, complete with doorman with a pith helmet, shorts and long socks. We then went off to find a laundry that could handle the rather huge pile of washing that had been accumulating! Luckily we managed to find somewhere that charges approx $1 per kilo, although the poor girl did look rather stunned when we loaded her counter up with carrier bags. We walked down to the waterfront and found the most amazing market area with open air food stalls selling bbq fish, prawns (huge, ... read more

This blog could easily have been called 'shifting mud', because that's what we did for the first day after our day off in Sandakan. The flood had left a thick layer of dirt on the car park, which was hindering access to the jetty. So we cut a path for vehicles through the mess - an important job as Sabah's tourism minister was set to visit the following day. In the evening, it was time for our first English lesson with the village children. Luckily Nikki had some teaching experience and took charge, but the kids were riotous without parental control, and an offer of squash at the end nearly saw Conny losing her cool ('this is not fun! make a line!!'). One of the regular treats for working at MESCOT was the cultural shows put ... read more