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Published: June 15th 2015
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Woke up and the weather want great. We were meant to do a snorkelling trip but I couldn't be bothered as I felt really tired, I think from moving round lots, so I decided to stay behind while they went. I had breakfast, napped and went to coral bay beach for a bit before getting some lunch. Then when the boys were back we chilled and then went to Ombak for another film night - fast and furious 7- it was awful! But funny. It started pouring down again so we were stuck there - Sam and Sophie were there so we all played uno until the rain stopped.
We got up early and went to get our boat. As we were leaving the corridor was filled with hundreds of wings from an insect- it was so weird , you could see the bugs now without wings walking around and just piles of wings everywhere- the guy on the desk said it was to do with the rain?!? We waited for the boat and it didn't arrive so after waiting half hour I rang- they forgot so sent a boat, by which time I was cutting it a bit fine
to get my flight. Thankfully the taxi driver put his foot down! The airport was strange and just had one gate so each flight was called one at a time! On the plane the guy next to me asked for a selfie haha it was a quick flight and getting to the hostel was easy. I made a plan for my stay in Sabah then got chatting to a Danish guy, we ended up watching a DVD (Ray) which was good.
Went to get the coach the next morning - which I 'didn't need to book' - and it was full :/ so I waited for the next one at two ... And received a marriage proposal while I waited! The journey was meant to be 5 hours.... 8 hours later we finally arrived at Sandakan! I chatted with two girls from my hostel for a while before bed. Nikki messaged sad news, Peng the hedgehog had to be out down 😞 R.I.P Peng!
Woke up and sorted my trip, did laundry and other bits! Then got my transfer to Sakau. We picked up 3 English people, Rob and Lorna and Glen who were on their honeymoon and a Russian
girl Tania. We all chatted and the journey went quickly. It was a lovely day until we got there when it rained A LOT! Fortunately they had ponchos and we headed out on the river cruise! Within a couple of minutes the rain stopped and the skies cleared! We had two hours- wildlife spotting! We saw lots- I loved it! Proboscis monkeys were hilarious - so strange looking! One of my other faves was the kingfisher they were so colourful and beautiful! The guides were so good at seeing stuff, we saw other monkeys and birds. Then we went back for dinner before going on our night river cruise. It was pitch black and Lorna was terrified haha we saw owls, more kingfishers and a baby croc! I wanted to see a huge one but no luck 😞 I have no idea how the guide spotted stuff though as I couldn't see anything until he shine the torch on it! We got back and went to bed as we had an early start!
At 5.30 we got up ... It was crazy foggy - I couldn't really see the river haha- but miraculously it cleared by the time we got
in the boat! I really wanted to see an orang- utan but apparently it's really rare! We saw more proboscis monkeys and had an amazing stop by some kingfishers- we even watched one catch two fish! Then we went back for breakfast and said our goodbyes. I got dropped at sepilok on the way back to visit the orang utan rehabilitation centre. I went to the info centre and read all about their rehabilitation. It can take up to 10 years for one monkey to be rehabilitated and able to go Into the wild properly. Some always return to the centre, the centre is in the jungle and leads In to the wild but has different sections... The first feeding platform is the only one people can visit as after that the orang utans are weened off human contact so can't be visited. The feeding time wasn't until later so I went to the sun bear sanctuary nearby and watched them playing around for about an hour! They were so small and funny- their tongues are so long! I went back to the orang utan sanctuary and went to the 'nursery' to see where the young ones are taught how
to swing/ get food/ and are looked after by human carers. Then it was feeding time (by which time I was beside myself with excitement at seeing orang utans in real life!!!) at the platform about 6 adults swung down and ate- they were incredible to watch. Lots of people left after about Twenty minutes but I waited (rob told me to stay for 40mins as I would see me!). Then two mums and their newborns swung down. The babies were adorable and one played around loads I watched them until they left!! I'm defs in love ❤️ They were too cute for words! I got the bus back to town and got a taxi to the coach station for a delightful night coach. This time it only took 6.5 hours so I was at my hostel by 12.30!
I had to get up early for my flight-5.30- I got a taxi and the airport was all very quick, as was the flight! I chatted with an Aussie guy next to me. The other end I got a train to KL and my hostel. I went and got some lunch then packed ready to go to the Philippines! I went
to the market and bought some dinner and a few bits before FT mum and dad and Alex.
Had a bit of a nightmare morning- several delays so got to my flight a little rushed! I got upgraded to a premium seat- not that you can tell there's a difference! When I got to Manila Nikki was at another terminal so I went to get a taxi to her terminal- the first driver tried to tell me 700 pesos when I knew it was meant to be 150!! Haha so I found another driver! Nikki and I were finally reunited (YAY). We went and got food and hung around before going to our terminal. Our flight was delayed a bit so we decided instead of going to Boracay that night we would stay in Kalibo when we landed. Our hotel wasn't far and we enjoyed our first 'trike' ride. Nikki bought me out hula hoops- woooo!
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