It's always great to get a visitor but when it's your sister, well that is particularly special. My (Colin) sister Wendy came to Phuket for a week at the end of May. I showed her around and we all enjoyed having here with us and showing her how our life goes along in Phuket. After the week Wendy and I flew to Sandakan, in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. This worked out well as I was due to return to the boat in Kudat and I had been given plenty of information from other yachties of how good Sandakan is to visit.
Particularly, I was given the name of a guide they had used and this turned out perfectly as Hadi arranged everything and made the trip effortless from an organisational point of view. This wasuite a departure for me as we always tend to travel independant and rarely use a guide or take a package deal. Hadi (phone: +601389631420) was great and made the trip all the more memorable by his good humour, solid information flow and arranging things so we avoided any other groups or crowds that may have been about.
Kinabatagan River
After a night in Sandakan we took off for the Kinabatagan River and two night stay at the Kinabatangan Jungle Camp. The forest surrounding is literally the one of the last areas of forest in the region that have not been cleared for palm oil plantations. The narrow strip of forest along the river banks has created an environment where seeing wildlife from the river is virtually guaranteed, A strong sense of irony plays at the heart here as we cruised the riverbanks seeing an incredible display of diversity, knowing that this is a last refuge or remnant.
The things we didn't see where the pygmy elephants, but we did see lots of droppings which are kinda hard to miss, any wild orangutans but we did see, at night a clouded leopard which was quite a thrill to see a large wild cat in the wild.
Photos are here on a Picasa generated web album (my favourite photo manager software)
Use the slideshow option for the best view of the photos.
Sandakan Memorial Park
Returning to Sandakan we then went to visit the Memorial Park on the site of the POW camp. As an Australian I knew the words "Sandakan Death March", as a chapter in our war history. A camp was established here of British and Australian POWs from Singapore for construction work and in the later stages of the war the POW's were moved close to Kota Kinabulu. 60 years later this this journey is still a hard six hour bus ride. The camp was evacuated through two forced marches that claimed the lives of most of the men. At the end of the war all (yes - all!) of the 2500 men interred there were dead. Only six who had escaped survived to tell this terrible story.
Sepilok Orang-utan Sanctuary
Just outside of Sandakan, this sanctuary returns orang-utans, displaced by deforestation or former pets, back to the wild. The process is simple. Look after them for a while in an environment where they can acclimatise and learn their survival skills from imitating others. The orang-utans voluntarily return to the wild when they are ready. feeding platforms are maintained so that when needed the orang-utans can supplement naturally acquired food as needed. An interesting aspect is they have transported some older males to other protected regions so that they can take on dominant male roles naturally.
It was a holiday in Sandakan so there were many people but on the feeding platforms there were many orang-utans and was quite a sight. later Hadi took us for a walk in the forest in an area surrounding cages holding adolescents not ready for the wild. Many older adolescents recently released stay in the area - normally an orang-utan will stay with it' s mother til four or five so these orphans want close contact with others to replace that bond. The sky turned black and the rain came down thick and hard, so we sheltered around the roof of one of the cages, as did three or four orang-utans.
Pressed against the bars to avoid the pelting rain, we found ourselves surrounded by orang-utans, inside and outside the cages. A ranger opened the cage as it seemed safer inside where the number of groping orang-utans was constant, these guys were younger and slightly less strong. In a mix of chaos, thunderous rain and limbs reaching down from the outside of the roof of the cage we took a few photos while holding on to watches, glasses and ear-rings. The touch of these animals is one that feels like affection from a child who has grown too strong.
If anyone asks me how I spent my birthday this year I think I have a reasonable story to tell!
Turtle Island
On hours speed boat ride from Sandakan and we arrived at the Turtle Island marine park. This is part of Malaysia's active intervention approach to turtle protection. On the this and the two nearby islands, rangers collect eggs as they are laid each night and place them in hatcheries to protect them from predators (monitor lizards, rats (native I think) and release the hatchlings at night. Green turtles are the most common but Hawksbill turtles also frequent.
The island was lovely, accommodation was excellent (air-con!) and the snorkelling OK. In the evening we waited in the dining hall and when told by the rangers we followed them up the beach to the watch turtle who had already dug a nest, lay its egg. Quite and amazing sight. That night 20 turtles came to the beach to lay and the night before 13. Later the rangers had 40 or so hatchling that had hatched that day in a basket with too many torches (including mine) the hatchlings seemed without bearings and headed for the lights. Lights out and they turned for the water to get through the next few high risk days before disappearing from our knowledge base of turtle activity to re-emerge ten-15 years later.
Around Sandakan
The last day of the Sandakan adventure saw us cruising around town. The market was plentiful and will be a victual stop for Reflections IV in the near future. Up on the hills, a Chinese Buddhist temple gave an excellent outlook, of the harbour and town, and on the last run to the airport Hadi stopped so Wendy could see some of the unique pitcher plants that are more common in higher, drier areas of Borneo.
Reflections.
Go and do something with your brother or sister if your lucky enough to have one. For me this was the most enjoyable aspect of the events on this page.
What is happening with palm oil production in Malaysia and Indonesia is occurring under a banner of green alternative fuels. Sounds good, but the thirst for this fuel will justify the permanent depletion of these forests that are just recovering from previous logging efforts. And with it will go the diversity that Wendy and I have been privileged to witness along the banks of a river in Borneo.
