This section of our Malaysia tour was the highlight I believe for all of us. This was after all the reason for us choosing to travel here in the first place, the very idea of an adventure through the vast jungles of Borneo is enough to pique anyone’s interest never mind the opportunity to venture deep into it’s very core. We caught the morning flight from KL to Sandakan in Borneo, and following a short taxi ride we reached Sandakan town, which was rather unspectacular but luckily for us we were only there for a few hours so it didn’t matter too much and we ambled around until it was time to board the mini-bus. We were heading to Sakau and after a pretty straight forward two and a half hour ride we reached our destination, we were staying at Sukau Greenview Bed & Breakfast that we decided upon due to the great reviews and affordable price. Having arrived and completed the obligatory check-in palava we were given the keys to our room…..which is basic to say the least but with being in the heart of the jungle, who cares what the room is like??!! We spent the next three days exploring this very jungle and, to be completely honest, I’m not convinced I have the ability to paint the sort of picture that could do it the justice is deserves but I will try my best. Once we had plonked our bags down there was no time to waste and we were immediately loaded onto a small boat to go in search of some of Borneo’s wildlife, some of which you’d only have the fortune of experiencing here. Our wonderfully knowledgeable guide Suki – who in his many years as a conservationist can boast to having met Sir David Attenborough amongst others – began by taking us on a slow, laid-back cruise along the Kinabatangan River, the dense jungle wafting past us on either side and as we were in such an excited and enthusiastic state our senses were blown away by the cacophony of noise from all kinds of creatures in and around the trees. It was this that made me realise where we actually were and how deep and dense this jungle actually is as although your ears are being bombarded with the sounds of the animal kingdom….you are hard-pressed to actually see any of it….and this is where the expertise and knowledge of a guy like Suki comes in……and this is where we realised how fortunate we were to have chosen to stay at the Sukau Greenview and to have a guide like him leading us through. We read tons and tons of stories and blogs from travellers that spent over a week in these jungles and didn’t get to see any of the wildlife it has to offer and leaving feeling absolutely disheartened, whereas, for us, this would turn out to be what I can only describe

as the most fulfilling few days of our lives. Having enjoyed our meander along the river we returned having spotted a few rare bird sightings, along with a spider similar in size to my stretched out hand!! We wanted more but we’d have to wait for tomorrow as meal time was upon us. We enjoyed dinner together and spent the evening looking out from the riverside platform chatting and posting our latest snaps online…..It must be pointed out though that as there is limited number of things to do I would suggest taking a book to read as their WiFi (as you’d expect in the middle of the jungle) is pretty weak, but if you are looking for some downtime this is the place to be…..bedtime soon came.

The following morning after breakfast and it was time to head back out into the bush….but this time on foot. We were given wellies as the trek involved many areas of thick muddy pools. Our hope was to track the very elusive Pygmy Elephants that roam these forests, this was very high on our wish list but the chance to spot some Orangutan or Proboscis Monkeys would have also ticked some boxes. Suki helped us understand the behaviour of the wildlife that call this part of the world home and spent the morning showing us how they survive, what they eat and also making it clear that they know we are there and therefore make sure they keep their distance, which obviously makes it all the more difficult to spot them, and on the occasions where he did spot something it showed how experienced and knowledgeable he actually is. He mentioned the affect of the farming of palm oil and how the animals and the jungle’s of Borneo are being affected by this, he has campaigned against it’s widespread use for years.

Having searched for and found some elephant dung, we began to track the direction in which the herd were heading….unfortunately it became very difficult (and rather frustrating) once we reached a certain point…but hey, we weren’t complaining as we had a wonderful morning trek through the jungle, getting our wellies stuck in the swamp-like pits of which many of us fell victim falling on our backsides in the squelching mud…. climbing over felled trees and swatting away all nature of bugs and flying insects, we headed back to base for some lunch and some downtime before our night excursion.

We walked around the village for a while following lunch and waited anxiously for the moment we would again be off on another outing. This came at nightfall when Suki called us to suit up in our life jackets and take our seats on our little powerboat. We were out on the boat for about 3 hours in the black of night with just a battery-powered spotlight leading the way….. and believe you me if it was my decision we would have stayed out there all night!! It must have been one of the most peaceful moments of my entire life! As we drifted ever so slowly along with the tide, Suki would intermittently shine his light up into the treetops where he had spotted a bird or a macaque. The entire event was bliss!! Problem was we returned to the lodge and relaxed for the remainder of the evening feeling slightly miffed that we had yet to see what had brought us here. Suki had pre-warned us that sightings are rare but this did little to ward off the disappointment.

What we wanted to see more than anything was the Pygmy Elephants so I decided to take some drastic action and I asked (begged) Suki to take us out for a day trip…..and so for an extra 150RM (€30) each we bagged an additional afternoon out on the river looking for elephants. Anyone who knows us will know that our passion is for elephants so this extra expenditure meant nothing compared to the opportunity of spotting our beloved elephants in their natural habitat….. Suki, to my absolute joy, agreed and out on the boat we went exploring once again. He was pulling out all the stops in order for us to spot the elli’s, to be honest after about an hour or so he was starting to look a little concerned ……we hadn’t seen or heard anything from beyond the tree-lined river bank …….. then, out of the blue, he did indeed here something, some ruffling from within the dense forest and immediately signalled to another oncoming boat to shut off his engine……then it came, as if they knew we had travelled across the globe just for them, we heard what can only be described as the greatest sound of all…… the call from one family member of the herd to another, the sound that has and always will make my hair stand on end the sound that makes me know and feel like I’m home…….elephant trumpeting!! ……the excitement on Suki’s face – a man who has experienced this many times before – was proof that we were about to witness something that few are lucky enough to witness…..we heard them again and now they were starting to appear from behind the brush. Little did we know that we were about to experience one of the greatest spectacles of all our travels, what we were about to witness was a once in a lifetime occurrence……we imagined that if we were lucky enough we’d see two maybe three, little did we realise that we were about to see an entire herd of Pygmy Elephants, not five, not six, not ten even…..slowly they made their way to the waters’ edge and drank……5, 10, 15, 20 they kept coming, we were so transfixed that we had hardly noticed that there were now other boats arriving to witness this event. As we all watched in amazement one by one they’d appear, drinking and quenching their thirst from the river, congregating, waiting for one another, then, led by the matriarch, they began to cross the river, in almost single file they slowly made their way across, it was a sight to behold. The respect shown by all the guides was wonderful to see, this is eco-tourism, this is their livelihood but these guys care too, they care about the animals, the environment and their surroundings and made sure that everyone stayed quiet in order not to frighten the herd, even manoeuvring their boats to block a crocodile that had come in the hope of grabbing a meal, it thankfully made a hasty retreat. The herd made it’s way across, each looking after the one ahead, trumpeting as they went, one particular elephant was being ultra vigilant as she ensured her young calf got to the other side safely, we watched as it struggled to keep his little trunk above the water level, using it as a snorkel, but with mum by its side, all was well. Having watched in amazement and taken a whole batteries’ worth of photo’s & video of this extraordinary event, we watched in awe as the final elephant crossed safely and was long out of sight and into the forest before it was finally time to head back. With massive smiles on our faces, we all sat in quiet contemplation as our little motorboat slowly made it’s way upriver, taking in what we had just experienced you could feel our euphoria in the air, you could sense that Suki was feeling a sense of pride, no words were needed, we were all on cloud nine and just to make this the most perfect day ever, Borneo gave us the most beautiful sunset of all time… We were beyond ecstatic and this was by far the highlight of our entire trip…It could have ended there and then for us and we would have been completely happy. Upon our arrival back at the lodge, we all realised that we had just experienced something out of this world and it gives you an understanding of the importance of ensuring the future of the wildlife on our planet. We are the only ones destroying it and we are the only ones that can stop this destruction so our children and grandchildren can also experience what we were lucky to experience on this most wonderful of days. That night’s sleep was, without doubt, my happiest.

The next day was one we thought would just sail by with the memories and conversations of the previous one but Suki needed, somehow, to try and make this an event too so we were taken to Gomantong Caves, approximately a 20-minute drive from the lodge. To be honest, it was a bit disappointing at first and there was a strong musty odour – as you would expect from a damp cave I suppose – it was also full of cockroaches which isn’t something I am a fan of!! But then, as if this wonderful place called Borneo wanted to make sure it left us with the most incredible memories imaginable Suki calls all together, pointing into the tree…..we stop and stare, not truly believing that this is happening again…..Borneo is famous for its population of orangutan but all of a sudden, merely 6 feet from where we stood, a mother with her baby are sitting enjoying delicious fruit from the tree. We are gobsmacked as Suki mutters quietly that we must be the luckiest four people he has spent three days with and that to see what we have seen at a distance is rare, but to have seen what we have up close and personal is just unbelievable. What he didn’t expect though was that once the baby realised he had an audience he would put on a show for us, coming ever closer and swinging from branch to branch as if to prove he was king of the jungle!! Hanging upside down and then quickly shuffling back to mum. He was wonderfully cute and it was another wonderful experience…. I fell head over heels in love……and once again, like the previous evening, we returned to the lodge with a story the other guests couldn’t believe.

On final day we had a bit of downtime until our bus arrived to take us back down south to Semporna. We went for another stroll around the village content in the knowledge that we had seen everything we came here to see. So far north, as you’d expect, only locals live in the village so you can imagine how nice it was to witness how people live in this region, away from the hustle and bustle of city life, something that would be so alien to them. We came across children at the school enjoying their break-time, they were so friendly and fell in love with our friend Claire as she is tall, fair-skinned with blonde hair, constantly asking her in English to tell them her name in their lovely cute Asian accents….everyone was very friendly and we made our way slowly round the main road of the village and snaked our way back to the lodge being warmly greeted by everyone we came across. Our bus arrived and having thanked everyone for their hospitality, we saved a special thank you for Suki, for without his masterful tracking and knowledge of the jungle these four days would never have been the highlight it turned out to be, so a gift from the four of us was well deserved, which he accepted in the gracious, modest manner you expect from people in Asia. He was brilliant and we couldn’t thank him enough.

I’ll end this blog on the Borneo jungle with a mention of the impact and affects on it due to deforestation and palm oil plantations, to be honest seeing so many factories that process this oil along the way really broke our hearts. Unfortunately, it is not sustainable and the entire area is under threat from these activities. If this situation persists it will be disastrous for all wildlife and in the long term, also to us. Please take the time to read up on it’s affects on the threat to Borneo forests WWF page.

For any wannabe adventurer, traveller or wildlife lover, the jungles of Borneo are a must when in Malaysia but note that its almost impossible to do any kind of excursion without a guide….But if your guide is a genius…..you may see things you could only previously have seen in your dreams!! On this trip, our dreams came true!!

Our travels south to Semporna was for the opportunity to see and meet Sea Gypsies, the indigenous ethnic groups that arrived on the shores of Malaysia from the Philippines….. details of which are on our next post….coming soon….sea of the Sea Gypsies and the girl in my hat

Andria and Mick

xxxx