Nick and especially Natty feed a generation of mosquitoes in Borneo!

On crocodile-infested waters

So, it's been a whirlwind of a journey through the jungles and beaches of Borneo. After a few nights in Kota Kinabalu, with a wet day of riding up to the national park of Kinabalu mountain and riding right back down again because it was so cold! Poor Nick was soaked to the bone, riding at the front, and we never imagined we could get so cold in such a hot country! I would say it was a rooky mistake, but we have been through this before!
We took a plane to Sandakan, which is a town out to the east of KK in Malaysian Borneo. We went straight to Sepilok where we stayed at Uncle Tan's, the hostel that is attached to the jungle camp where we did a 3 day and 2 nights package.
Before leaving for the jungle, we went to the Orangutan Reserve in Sepilok. We seemed to have a similar experience to everyone else we've spoken to. We paid about 8 quid to stand for 45 minutes with a few hundred other folks to watch some orangutans have their breakfast. After such a long time waiting, we were graced with the presence of a young male orangutan, who came out of the jungle hand in hand with one of the reserve staff. It was a little disappointing, and although atleast we can hope our money is going to the orangutans (if there are more than one), I wouldn't go back there. There were supposed to be a maximum of 50 people viewing the feeding, and it was pretty noisy despite signs saying 'BE QUIET' all over the place. So, in the future I hope the reserve sticks to keeping visitors to a minimum, rather than crowding the place with so many people that the orangutans stay away.

The entrance to the jungle camp

Luckily for us and the lovely Kristel from the Netherlands who we met that morning, we proceeded to the jungle where we ended up seeing 4 wild orangutans!

A wild orangutan

On top of that we got to see plenty of Proboscis monkeys, the kind that have that huge nose. And we saw a ridiculous amount of Long-Tailed Macaques, or as the locals call them, the Jungle Gangstas! They call them this because they are constantly fighting. These are the least shy and roam around in groups of up to 25 monkeys.

A pathway leading through the camp

My favourite was the night trek, where we got to see beautiful kingfishers and other colourful birds sleeping on low branches, so close you could touch them, though of course we didn't!

Black-backed Kingfisher (inappropriately named?!), asleep from behind

We also saw plenty of big spiders which is, let's be honest, what Nick was looking forward to the most! In the end we also finally saw a crocodile, which is really what you want when you spend the best part of 3 days on crocodile infested waters!

After our jungle adventure we spent one more night in KK (after a seven hour bus journey) and then headed up north to just outside of Kudat, at the Tip of Borneo. The beaches here were pristine and beautiful, basically empty, and we stayed at Tampatdoaman, a resort and restaurant.

Not a great picture, but wanted to show one of the beaches

The accommodation was simple, a traditional longhouse where we all shared compost toilets and showers with a fantastic view into the jungle around. We also had the company of some ducks, one who was particularly crazy called Fred, some chickens and roosters, and the odd dog. And don't forget the spiders and mosquitoes!

One of our roommates!

The owner, Howard, who is from Stratford, is expanding and building some 'nicer' accommodation, but we were very happy with our little room! It's a very sociable and relaxing place and the staff, Howard, Bronson and a few lovely ladies are very helpful. We spent a week on the beach, reading and eating delicious food from Howard's TipTop Restaurant. We spent one of our days on a challenging bike ride exploring the other beaches down the coast, but to be honest, the one we were on was the most beautiful!

Taking a breather on a hot journey up and down hills

A beautiful sunset from the beach

Every morning Howard or Bronson drove us the 2km to the beach from the longhouse, and every evening they ferried us back. It was a truly relaxing week and we met some great people.

Nick with the lovely Lisa from Sweden and Kristel from the Netherlands. Watching the sunset at the very tip of Borneo.

Next stop, the Philippines....