Mount Kinabalu & Sabah Tea Plantation Longhouse

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We spent the night of 3 Feb 2014 at the long house on the Sabah Tea Plantation. I say spent the night as I don't think anyone slept much as it was hot and stuffy. The long house had been sectioned up into rooms (unlike a proper family long house) and although there were no rooves air flow was at a minimum. The bamboo floor was very springy so during the night trips to the toilet block bounced all the beds as people walked by.

As is often the way the toilet block was very interesting late at night for those interested in insects and I was fascinated to see a Praying Mantis as well as some lovely moths - Sian was not so fascinated!! There were loads of dead mosquitoes on the floor and the ants were busy cutting them up and carrying them off for their larder.

We did of course have a tour around the tea processing plant and then an unexpected tour around the plantation when two punctures on the bus that had come to collect us resulted in a delayed departure of five and a half hours from the plantation. I, however, was glad to spend the extra time at the plantation as the town of Sandakan did not seem to have much to offer when we got there just in time for supper and to celebrate one of the group's 50th birthday, so what we would have done for the afternoon if we had got there on time goodness knows.

On the way to the Sabah Tea Plantation we stopped to view Mount Kinabalu and I think by all accounts we were lucky to see it without cloud. Mount Kinabalu is one of the tallest mountains in South East Asia. En route we also visited a couple of fruit and veg markets and were surprised to see the goods at one of them displayed on polystyrene trays wrapped up in cling film. Apparently if the produce is not sold from here in a couple of days it is moved to be sold elsewhere.

Malaysian Borneo is it not what I expected and I think the unbroken tree covered hills that I saw from the plane must have been on the Indonesian side of Borneo. It is far more developed than I imagined with mostly good roads. At one point on the journey from the Sabah Tea Plantation to Sandakan we drove for about and hour and a half on a road on which I really wish I had been on my motorcycle, the road surface was fabulous and the road twisted and turned as it snaked through the rainforest.

We then traveled for hours through palm oil plantations which is the Sabah region's biggest source of income. The deforestation is of course very controversial at the moment.

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Photos

inside the long house
I was tempted to drag my mattress out here during the night as it was much cooler

Praying Mantis
In the toilet block!

moth disguised as tree bark - wallet for scale
About 10 minutes after we had photographed this moth a cat chased, caught and ate the entire moth except for two parts of its wings!!!

palm oil plantation
But wish I was on my motorcycle here

palm oil plantation
Recently replanted. Trees are cut down about once every 20 years and new ones planted in their place and these start to produce after about 3 years.