The Man Who Sold the World

Asia » Malaysia » Sabah
March 23rd 2016

Published: May 13th 2016

Palm oil. I never gave it much of a thought before. Sure, it’s in just about everything we consume from Tim Tam biscuits to motor oil, yet not once did I ever think about its environmental impact on parts of the world like Borneo. This country is beautiful and charming. I spent over a week in the capital, Kota Kinabalu, enjoying the endless open air markets, sampling food at the local eateries... Read Full Entry

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Andrea

cabochick

This Canadian girl's passion for travel comes from my adventurous parents. My brother and I spent most of our youth traveling all over North America in the family’s camper van, airplane, and boat - going as far west as the Hawaiian islands, as far north as Tuktoyaktuk, and as far south as Mexico doing lots of adventurous stuff...canoeing, surfing, fishing, camping, hiking, skiing, exploring, jellyfish poking...it was the best childhood ever! That same adventurous spirit fueled my travel passion for over 30 years. I’ve been all over the shop. Now that I'm newly retired, I split my lif... full info

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Selfie by Tourist

Can't even count the amount of times I saw this go down.

Best Ocean view

These stilt houses are so amazing. In all the towns and off islands these communities would be tightly snugged up to each other while precariously hanging over the water.

On top of ol' smokey

On Mount Kinabalu with one of the tour leaders, watching the sun come up

Night treks

Ready with leech socks and torches, we'd go out each night to see what we could see. Favourite beast was a confused moon rat.

Oranguatan on the loose

At the Sepilok sanctuary one of the ginger men decided he'd prefer chasing tourists around the parking lot.

Say No to Durian

For a country that loves this fruit, it sure is banned from everywhere. I guess so, it smells like rotten socks.

The beat goes on

Learning how to drum Dusan style

Wild Orangutans hanging out

Wonderful to be able to see a few wild orangs hanging out at the jungle lodge, one of the last remaining areas not eradicated by deforestation.

Coolest house ever

Not many people I know have a trampoline inside their house! The floor is bouncy and they drink rice wine and take turns seeing how high they can jump and touch the roof.

sleeping birds

Sound asleep as we approach in the middle of the night, we could study them at eyelevel

Dusan Long House

Visiting villages and interacting with locals a huge component in my travel agenda

13th May 2016

Home and Away
Bob Carlsen

This is so very sad...
I hope they were rescued and have a new home. It's tragic what Indonesia allows to be done to its forests...slash and burn...polluting the skies of Southeast Asia and destroying habitat.

13th May 2016

cabochick
Andrea

So sad
I was so devastated! Orangs are such gentle creatures and don't deserve what we are doing to them, deleting their habitat at alarming rates all for Palm oil!

13th May 2016

nancic123
Nanci and David Curry

Excellent Adventure!
Seems like you could have filled several blogs with all your well written adventures. Jealous of the rafflesia sighting. We had several "possibles" when we visited Sarawak (Kuching) for 2 weeks, but none worked out. Love the Proboscis and Orangutans. Seeing them in the wild is amazing and hopefully we can continue to do that in the future. Excellent adventures and well written story. Thanks, Andrea!

13th May 2016

cabochick
Andrea

Terimakasih!
Oh I really fluked out with the bloom didn't I? Borneo was so amazing, but I only saw a small chunk of it. I'll have to come back and see the rest. Thanks for your lovely comment!

13th May 2016

Arif Zaman
Rolling stone

:)
Amazing!

13th May 2016

Dancing Dave
David Hooper

Palm Oil
Wonderful story Andrea of a wonderful adventure full of colour, flora and fauna, commaraderie and...palm oil. Brings to mind that fabulous photo of an orangutan or other monkey high in a tree overlooking a swathe of jungle cleared for agriculture...progress or is it money destroying habitat. I remember the bus ride from Kuala Lumpur to Malacca years ago where miles and miles of jungle had been replaced with miles and miles of palm oil groves...the disorder of nature replaced by endless neat rows. And to think that has spread like an exzema rash (my term not yours) through Borneo and Sabah. I share your lament.

14th May 2016

cabochick
Andrea

Thank you Dancer!
Yes, us Canadians are not as aware as the Aussies of how destructive Palm oil is, still a shocker to see how widespread. I still tried to put a positive spin on this trip because Malaysia is beautiful.

13th May 2016

Dancing Dave
David Hooper

Rafflesia
How lucky were you? I hear these can be about a metre wide. Great pic. How lucky were you!

14th May 2016

cabochick
Andrea

Stinky flower
This one was only about a 1/2 meter circumference but still amazing! I love me plants! Saw lots of gigantic pitcher plants on the mountain too.

15th May 2016

Ake Och Emma
Ake Dahllof and Emma Holmbro

Bought candy with Durian flavour
We were in Hong Kong a few weeks ago and I bought candy with Durian flavour. To my defense I have to add that the candy looked tasty and I didn't bother to read on the bag what they were. We had one candy each and then we threw away the rest. And yes, we spat out the ones we tried and I ate an orange afterwards to get the taste out of my mouth. /Ake

15th May 2016

cabochick
Andrea

I bought a bag of the candies back as a gag gift for my coworkers. I can't wait to see their faces. YUCK!

16th May 2016

Ake Och Emma
Ake Dahllof and Emma Holmbro

We are home at the moment
Buying Durian candy for work? That's plain evil! We are home at the moment working and saving money for our next trip. One future trip planned so far: One week in Beijing in July. We are also going away three weeks later in July and early August. Still don't know where. /Ake

16th May 2016

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Overwhelming doom
What we do to our planet is not forgivable. The masses will figure it out when it is too late. You always have a thing for those Aussie's and a grand time. A bond that will never end. Plus you love partying with them,....well and the Russians....maybe you are the common thread and you are a party waiting to happen! I'm ashamed of the behavior of the Americans but I'm not like that so I can't take on their stupidity and lack of respect. Certainly you could have gotten those Orangutans in the vehicle. It would have been worth a try. :)

16th May 2016

cabochick
Andrea

My affinity for Aussies
i know! Aussies make such easy going travelers, so that's why I enjoy them in group settings....usually. Stay tuned, as I think I met the most horrible Aussies while in Cambodia! Aussies also drink alot which is a terrible influence on me, because I don't drink at all when at home. I guess I have a tendacity to point out Merican bad behaviors but us Canadians are equally bad! Look what happened on Mt. Kinabalu. So I should apologize, as most are pretty great and are great travelers. Present company included!

16th May 2016

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Oh good golly
No offense taken. I am embarrassed by Americans from time to time myself. (and other countries) Some people just don't know how to respect and honor a travel site and animals. It is sad really. Wish we could travel with a stun gun and zap them from time to time.

18th May 2016

littlewing
Cindy

Sad...so very very sad
Unfortunately, palm oil is the winner, we traded our amazing wilderness for palm oil and we wont be stopping anytime soon. The damage is well and truly done. Sad to think now we need zoos as genetic insurance. Glad you had a mostly good time - I really LOVED this blog btw ;)

18th May 2016

cabochick
Andrea

Palm oil is the winner
Ouch yes, it was a reality check I wasn't prepared for. Sadly you are right about the zoos too!

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