Borneo Sabah

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Ok, here we go, we're currently two weeks into our trip in NZ, but first, pictures of Borneo have been promised! Especially for those at Defra with a lack of photos, hoping some of these might be of help. We got to Borneo on the 2nd Feb, staying one night at the Beverley Hotel in Kota Kinabalu (KK) before heading out early the next day to Mount Kinabalu. We found out we were sharing our tour with only one other couple, Jon and Kelly from Melbourne. Jon had done a lot more trekking than all of us which was a saving grace on the mountain as you will find out.

We were met by our guide for the next two days, Dawat, or as we liked to call him by the end of the trek, Saint Dawat. The first day was a trek straight up the mountain for 6 km to base camp for the night. We left at 10.15am and made it into camp at 4.30pm, no records there, but quite frankly we were just happy to still be alive! We were off to bed by 9pm sharing a room with bunkbeds with Kelly and Jon, none of us could remember the last time we did that..awoken at 2am to complete the last 3kms to the summit. Now, 3kms sounds easy, but it was cold and there's no oxygen up there, it was pitch black for the majority of the climb (we had torches) and I lost the others pretty early on as everyone found their pace. Lucky for me Kelly found me at my lowest ebb, on the flat rock taking 5 steps and then stopping seriously considering staying there, her company, extra coat and Mars bar were what got me to the top to watch the sunrise. But still no sign of John or Dawat, until suddenly a flash of red jumper and we saw John on the last slope under the peak. After some supportive encouragement from his wife (and even more so from Saint Dawat), John made it for the group shot at the top.

Heading down the Mountain was a test of mental and physical strength as we had to do the lot in one go after killing ourselves to get to the top. It wasn't pretty, but we made it, and it only took our legs four days to return to normal. Mount Kinabalu, once, not twice.

Refreshed, and only partially crippled, the four of us headed off to the airport on the 6th Feb, destination Sandakan and Turtle Island and some quality time with some of the wildlife of Borneo (despite John leaving his cutlery in his hand luggage, he was still allowed on the plane..). Turtle Island was absolute paradise, as you can see from the photos, we spent a lovely day chilling out and swimming in the beautiful ocean along with masses of fish. But the main part of our trip came in the evening, after supper. We had been told that we might have to wait all night for a female turtle to come onto the island to lay her eggs. Not good news for the M. Kinabalu Alumni, of which there were a few, who were still exhausted and looking forward to a good night's sleep. Lucky for us she didn't let us down, and at just after 10pm, the shout of 'turtle!' was heard and a large group of tourists ended up running (or hobbling) down the beach to watch the magical site of a beautiful green female turtle laying her 110 eggs. She was a whopping 95cm/85cm and a new comer to the island so they tagged her. Sadly no photos as the flashes upset them. But afterwards we then headed to the hatchery to see her eggs relaid somewhere safe and finally a group of newly hatched turtles released into the sea. Everything went well until the babies started being washed back onto shore and under everyone's feet. Kelly found one on her foot at one stage. After a bit of tourist panic, turtles made it one way and we all headed the other, to bed.

The next morning was an early start in order to make it back to the main land and Sepilok to see the Orang Utans!! Our new guide Kenneth, took us through to the feeding area where we saw two of the dominant males having a tussle, not before they had wandered straight through the crowd to get to the feeding table. A great morning, we adopted Sogo-Sogo and Sen as new additions to the Regniez household, sadly, I don't think they'll make it to visit the wilds of Andover any time soon!

Forever onwards on this tour, we hopped back in the van and headed to a River Lodge where we were the only people staying there. A beautiful place, we had time for a quick nap, before Kenneth whisked the four of us off on a wildlife boat tour. The list of wildlife we saw was endless, but included, being pelted with nights by Macaques, Probiscus Monkeys, Horn Bill birds, Kingfishers, Raptors, Herons a Dollar Bird, Monitor Lizards and a yellow ringed cat-snakes. Not to mention the many logodiles Kelly and I spotted excitedly...sadly our photos don't do it all justice, Borneo is without a doubt a must-visit. After a lovely supper, hearing all about Kenneth and his toy collection we headed to bed, ready for the infamous Gomantong Caves in the morning..

Gomantong caves, no pictures sorry, but if you can imagine a cave that smells like poo and is crawling with dung beetles, centipides, cockroaches, spiders, rats and one man in a hut, you get some sort of idea. This is one place that the Chinese get their sought-after bird's nests from, for their lovely bird's nest soup. Yum.

After that we were taken to the 'English Tea Rooms' for our lunch, where Kelly and I indulged in some Pimms and the sound of the Glen Miller band filled the air, before heading to the airport and back to the Beverley Hotel for the last time before we transfered to the Hyatt and J & K to the Shangri-la resort. Our last night 'on tour' was spent wandering around KK night market (good if you like purses and glass broaches) and eating some delicious local food in a street restaurant.

After a duvet day at the Hyatt, we had one of the most amazing seafood suppers ever, at the seafood village in KK, green lobster and king prawns in a yummy chilli sauce. Set us up for the next day and a visit to see Kelly and Jon at the Shangri-La, playing pitch and putt, Petanque and easing our way into the afternoon with strawberry magaritas (almost killed us off!).

Our last day in Sabah was also our 10th anniversary, so we treated ourselves to our first white-water rafting experience (excellent fun) and a slap up meal at the 'Atmosphere' restaurant, a revolving restaurant on the other side of the bay. Apple Martini and a Glen Morangie kicked us off nicely, and we treated ourselves to starters: Sushi, chicken caesar salad mains: Lamb & Couscous, Lamb shank, & pudding: cheese cake, chocolate fondant. Absolutely delicious, but we suffered for it afterwards, our stomachs had got used to the rice and chicken/seafood diet....

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Photos

Who am I?
Just made it to the peak, not sure what to do with myself and wondering where John is.