Two Weeks in Sabah
Two weeks in Sabah, Borneo have flown by.
Days spent spotting wildlife in scattered remnants of rainforest.
Followed by the grand finale of hiking up Mount Kinabalu.
A lifetime of memories, each worthy of it’s own blog page and album of pictures.
But for an initial taste, here’s the itinerary and a few of those images.
Sandakan
The island of Borneo divides in to the Kingdom of Bruni, Indonesia and Sarawak and Sabah. The latter two being part of Malaysia. All four of the destinations, were in the northern area of Sabah.
Sabah
I flew into Sandakan from Vietnam via Kula Lumpur and met up with a travel friend from the UK who had managed to get us a ‘deal’ in a night of luxury at the Sheraton. Accommodation from then on was strictly budget. A visit to the Sepilok Orangutan and Sun Bear rehabilitation centre our guarantee of pictures just incase those in the wild were uncooperative.
Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre
A ‘Homestay‘ in a small village on the Kinabatanga river followed. Two nights living with a family and learning about conservation efforts in the area and me giving a very impromptu English lesson.
Here the highlight was seeing the Pygmy Elephant. It maybe smaller than an Asian or African elephant but don’t expect a Labrador dog. They were still pretty large.
Homestay Kitchen
Nights four and five were in the Tabin forest reserve. A little to the south. Tourists slightly more catered for there is a ‘lodge’ with 20 little chalets on the edge of the reserve. The forest road the devision between Palm Oil Plantation and jungle. The only good thing about this road. It provided a clear view of the edge of the forest and most of the wildlife we spotted, including our first wild Orangutan, was from this bumpy divide.
White Crowned Hornbill
Days six to eight: Danum Valley research centre. Another bumpy ride down a forest track to what is primarily a science research centre. The highlight. Dare I say my first encounter with leaches? Ok, may be the gibbons, Orangutans and baby elephant came in a little higher, but I would put it on my list of interesting experiences.
Tiger Leach
Then to the final three. A short internal flight from the airport in miniature, Lahad Datu, to Kota Kinabalu, formally Jesselton of colonial days. A day of sight seeing and my ultimate mountain experience so far. The hike up Kinabalu. A good nights sleep and easy morning before travel, back to Saigon.
Kinabalu
All trips organised for us by Sticky Rice Travel Eco travel company. Courteous, friendly, professional. Everything went to plan as expected. Highly recommended for travel to Sabah. There is still a lot more to experience and see.
