Yesterday was remarkable. Long and exhausting but so so rewarding. We began early in Kota Kinabalu, feeling fairly ragged-arsed as we hadn't slept much because we needed to rise at 4.30. Things went to plan though and we caught the flight to sandakan, arriving at around 8 a.m. Where we were picked up by our new tour guide Remy.
Remy took us to the sepilok orangutans sanctuary, which was plain awesome. We saw three orangutans and then two families of macaque monkeys turned up - one lot were long-tailed macaques and the other pig-tailed macaques. The names pretty much tell you how you can tell them apart. It was primate central and the macaques literally wandered through spectators. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that no amount of superlatives can do justice to, so let's just leave it at awesome. We also saw a pretty cool viper too.
Remy took us to the sepilok orangutans sanctuary, which was plain awesome. We saw three orangutans and then two families of macaque monkeys turned up - one lot were long-tailed macaques and the other pig-tailed macaques. The names pretty much tell you how you can tell them apart. It was primate central and the macaques literally wandered through spectators. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that no amount of superlatives can do justice to, so let's just leave it at awesome. We also saw a pretty cool viper too.
Little did we know that the awesomeness would continue almost unrelentlessly., with the exception of a 2 hour car trip through palm oil plantations. At the end of this drive, with Kate and I drifting in and out of sleep (the scenery did get monotonous - like driving through wheat fields), we arrived at the Gomantong Caves. Most people probably wouldn't know these by name but they are famous. They featured on a David Attenborough episode and they are better known as the birds nest caves. Locals come here, climb ridiculously long ladder and collect the nests for soup. The good news is they do this sustainably. The walk into the cave was breathtaking in its beauty. Throw in thousands of birds and nest and thousands of bats and it becomes something else again. To add to the weirdness, the floor of the cave (which you don't have to walk on thank heavens) is covered with cockroaches, spiders and this weird-arse multi-legged critter.
On the way back our guide figured we liked seeing animals so he took us off the beaten track, making our own way through the forest. This was just about as challenging as you could imagine but we did come across a family of pig-tailed macaques. This was cool up until the point the guide indicated they were getting a bit excited and might just attack us. OK. Hasty retreat time, which wasn't necessarily that easy stuck in the middle of the jungle. Still it was brilliant and we made the day of some locals who watched us stagger out of the bush at the other end.
And then we got to our accommodation - the Myne resort. By now it was about 2:30pm and we hadn't eaten since about 5:00am. we were hungry but certainly didn't expect to be sat down to a three course Malay lunch the minute we arrived! We finished our late lunch and were then told that afternoon tea was at 3:30pm. We'd barely put our bags down before we were popped on a river cruise. Talk about squeezing plenty in!!
And then we got to our accommodation - the Myne resort. By now it was about 2:30pm and we hadn't eaten since about 5:00am. we were hungry but certainly didn't expect to be sat down to a three course Malay lunch the minute we arrived! We finished our late lunch and were then told that afternoon tea was at 3:30pm. We'd barely put our bags down before we were popped on a river cruise. Talk about squeezing plenty in!!
he area is truly picturesque and cruising the river in the late afternoon was just wonderful. We saw more macaques, some langur monkeys, but the highlight had to be the proboscis monkeys. They travel in large groups of which there are two types; one being the harem group, made up of females with one dominant male, and the other being the bachelor group, made up of young males that roam the forest. These are really colourful creatures and the way they leapt from branch to branch was amazing to see. We also saw a couple of big monitor lizards.
To cap the night off, as we were sitting in the covered area eating dinner a pack of wild boar came out of the woods and we were able to feed them. You know you are in a totally different place when walking back to your room you get dive bombed by small bats chasing insects whilst wild boar are crashing through the bush around you.
It's hard to remember a fuller and richer day. We crashed into bed.
To cap the night off, as we were sitting in the covered area eating dinner a pack of wild boar came out of the woods and we were able to feed them. You know you are in a totally different place when walking back to your room you get dive bombed by small bats chasing insects whilst wild boar are crashing through the bush around you.
It's hard to remember a fuller and richer day. We crashed into bed.
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