Day 60 - 62 - Bogs, Big Noses and Orang Utans.

Our next destination involved a local flight to Sandakan, to the north west of Sabah and once boasting the world's greatest concentration of millionaires!!! .............. must be hiding out in the mountains somewhere! Although Sandakan acts as the gateway to some of East Sabah's natural treasures, it was very clear from our arrival the those natural treasures were being squeezed to destruction by the massive de-afforestation taking place to make way for more and more Palm Oil plantations. The landscape would be awash with Palm Trees, as far as the eye could see, a landscape that was once indigenous jungle and natural habitat to thousands of Borneo's wild creatures from Orang Utans to Proboscis Monkeys, to the more delicate flora and fauna was being destroyed and replaced with Palm trees. We heard from the locals that this is now becoming a National problem.

We arrived early in the morning and our drive from the Airport revealed many sea shanty towns along the route into town, but it was interesting to see that one thing appeared to link all classes and nationalities ......... Manchester United!! ....... The great marketing machine was ever present on huge bill boards, posters, walls and shanty town buildings throughout Sabah and many SE Asian coutries, with Liverpool following closely behind ............ I did notice a distinct absence of Leeds United posters!!

In town we wander the streets with rucksacks, desperately searching for a good place for Breakfast, which proves a huge task as choice is most definately limited! ... and as the temperature slowly rises, both outside and inside! we eventually, after much disappointment, come across a place on the waterfont which will have to do as hunger is now setting in. We then have a little bit of time for school work and journals, following breakfast, but this is proving a little difficult with Fred and Imogen who are simply not in work mode and a few frustrations follow. As Harry completes his work, he and Jo venture into town to a very local (ie not a word of English to be had anywhere) clothes store (on three levels) to buy him some shorts - it is quite an experience for them and a pair is duly purchased for the grand cost of a pound, then it is into a supermarket for lunch provisions. The modern retail complex opposite, that is near completion boast prelets to Body Shop etc so the retail scene here looks set to change very shortly. With a little bit of success on the schoolwork front we pack up to catch our 11.30am, two and a half hour bus transfer to the 'Nature Lodge' on the Kinabatangon River (Sabah's longest River) in the Borneo jungle.



Once on our bus journey the children enjoy the various huge animal sculptures on the roundabouts en route, but it is shocking, once again, to see the mile upon mile of Palm Tree Plantations in front of us, with ornate signage and security huts at the entrance barriers of these huge organisations. It is quite amazing to see first hand the huge scale of clearance that has taken place and this is just a minor snap shot of what has happened all over Sabah. Even when we arrived at the 'nature reserve' and took our first boat trip down the river to witness some spectacular wildlife, in the upper reaches of the river parts of the opposite bank had been devastated by logging and palm plantation.

The children, armed with binoculars, spotted some great wildlife ranging from the elusive Proboscis Monkeys, with their unmistakable huge noses! ................ this of course produced the obvious humourous banter of Monty Pythons 'Life of Brian' 'Big Nose' sketch!! ................ and boy did the males have big noses!! ........... "Big Nose ............ who are you calling Big Nose!"' .................. apparently the larger the nose, the more attractive and virile the male? .............. and you guys thought it was Big feet!! .... We also saw huge crocodiles, monitor lizards, snakes, bearded pigs, hornbills, silver haired monkeys, storks, kingfishers, the ever present ubiquitous Macaque monkeys and were extremely fortunate to see two wild Orang Utan. They are very solitary animals and difficult to see in the wild and it was strange to see one Orang Utan, on his own, standing bolt upright, looking very human, on a very large branch of a tall tree, staring across the jungle. It looked exceptionally lonely and sad but perhaps with the overwhelming loss of its natural habitat, this was not surprising. We didn't manage to see Pygmy Elephants that lived in this area, but caught their tracks in the early morning.

Having seen the size of the crocodiles slipping into the river on our early morning jaunts, it was amazing to see several fishermen wading up to there chest, with fishing nets, smiling as we passed and seeing our astonished faces, making crcodile movements with their hands in a joking manor. ................ and as our guide quietly informed us that a couple of years ago, a fisherman was devoured by a large Crococdile, .... I somehow felt that perhaps it was the crocodile that would have the last laugh!



As our boat headed back to camp, the light fading as dusk fell, we would witness an amazing sunset along the way, with silhoueted fruit bats flying overhead, some with a wing span of more than a metre in length.

FREDDIE HOLDING A GIANT CENTIPEDE

Our Jungle Lodge comprised very basic bunk accommodation with central washing and open air shower facilities and a large open air dining hall for meals and temperatures were hot and humid. We went on Jungle walks during the day and night! (with torches) and as the mud was sometimes very deep, wellington boots (provided) were essential. As our jungle guide explained that during walks, to avoid 'Tiger Leeches', ....... we should wear long sleeved shirts and long trousers tucked into our socks! ...... (now you must remember, that to an 8 and 9 year old, hanging off his every word, the thought of a Leach the size of a Tiger conjured up a significant problem that sent their little hearts racing and frantically searching for their return Air Tickets to England, ......... and no matter whether you were wearing shorts or long trousers ....... who was he trying to kid that, that was going to make a difference!!!) ................In any event, we all stared uncomfortably at each other as our limited hand luggage packing, for this trip, didn't run to such luxuries, so shorts and t-shirts it was. As we learnt from the jungles of Laos, at least with shorts and t-shirts you could see these silent blood sucking little buggers on your skin and get them off before they devoured a couple of pints of blood and left you haemorrhaging for the next two hours!!! With long trousers, they would still find their way in but you had no idea they were there!! ..........

Our young guide was extremely knowledgeable, in particular about the medicinal uses of some of the local plants, with various interesting tales handed down from his grandmother. The mud on the jungle walks was deep in places with your wellies frequently becoming firmly stuck with the suction and Imogen's rather small pair of wellies were no match for some paths. This meant I had to carry her under my arm on several occassions, like a sack of carrots, while trying to negotiate the tricky and unbalancing suction steps myself, keeping one eye on the 'Tiger Leeches', but unfortunately not being aware of the stinging caterpillar hairs that I managed to brush passed on one unbalanced occassion, with my arm. It was like several needles being stabbed into your skin every 10 minutes for about 5 hours. ....................... but, we all managed to avoid the blood suckers ..... this time!!

The second evening we decided to miss the night walk and catch up on a few emails but Fred, looking like 'Jungle Jim', armed with his torch, camera and survival pack, decided this was not to be missed, so we sent him off on his own (with guide) to explore the night creatures of the jungle. He was so excited when he returned as he had managed to see a Bush Baby at very close quarters, which they hadn't seen at the camp for several months and his photograph of this extremely shy creature, with huge bulging eyes and hopping like a Kangaroo, was amazing!! As Fred, at the tender age of 9, was normally more reserved than Harry, going off on is own, with no other family member, was quite a big step, but we certainly noticed a huge interest in wildlife from him. ...................... and with Fred I am sure that 'wildlife' will occur in more ways than one throught his adolescent years!!

The food at camp was very good and apart from the friendly rat that would run along the eaves of the dining hall, causing Jo to shreik out loud from her serious rat phobia and the guest that mistakenly took my flip flops, leaving me barefoot in the jungle, feeling like Zola Budd, ............... we all ate well, slept 'reasonably' well and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

After our Kinabatangan River experience we were due to head back to Sandakan, but instead stopped off at the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, which is only one of four Orang Utan Sanctuaries in the world as Borneo is the only place where Orang Utans and Proboscis Monkeys cans still be found in the wild. The apes are brought here to be rehabiltated into forest life and are fed twice a day, where from viewing platforms you can witness these amazing creatures at close quarters. It is understood that Orang Utans are actually 96.4% human! .............. I rather tend to believe the other statistic, that my children are 96.4% Orang Utan!!

Sepilok has rescued many young Orang Utans that have lost their parents by either poaching or deforestation and are then left helpless, unable to fend for themselves. They are brought to Sepilok in the hope that they can be rehabilitaded. They are extremely sociable animals and the young orphans will often cling to each other duriing the early years for comfort and some young Orang Utans can take up to 10 years before they are confident enough to return to the wild, but Sepilok has had many success stories. The children are certainly learning a lot about environmental issues and the need for a balanced approach between commercial gain and the natural environment.

Whilst viewing the young Orang Utans at feeding time one of the young ones came gracefully down to the walkway and literally brushed passed the children as it made it's way, slowly and inquisitively, to the feeding station. The children couldn't believe their luck at being able to get so close.
Imogen was very keen to take one home with her but not enough room in the rucksack!







Leaving behind the Orang Utans as the Sanctuary closed, we patiently wait for a local bus, but after half an hour of waiting it is clear the bus was never intending to turn up, so we manage to find the last cab just outside the Sanctuary and head back to Sandakan. We decide to ask our cab driver to take us via the Sandakan Memorial Park on the way, but just before we reach our destination the heavens open and the rain comes down in torrents, which with all of us in shorts and t-shirts, it was going to be a challenge but no reason to call off our visit. We all run through the park to reach the pavilion for shelter and spent about an hour inside reading and listening to a bit of history. The Memorial Park was constucted to comemorate the 2,500 Australian and British POW's who died in Sabah during the Japanese Occupation. We thought this would be a good occasion to let the children understand some of the past atrocities of WW2, carried out by the Japanese and the stories of Sandakan concentration camp certainly didn't hold back in their descriptive presentations. It was also an education to Jo and I, as we had no real idea of what was going on in Malaysia during WW2. - Officers were separated from the ordinary soldiers and sent to Ranau, where they were treated with a small amount of dignity. The ordinary soldiers however were put to work building the air strips and generally beaten and starved. Then in 1945, there were three 'death marches' to Ranau. The men were made to march 200km through the jungle, again beaten and starved on the way with no malaria protection or first aid. Six men managed to escape and survive the horror of those marches and the remainder died either en route or from disease shortly afterwards. The six Australians were the only survivors from the 2,500 POW's and it was only through their testimonies after the war that the Japanese Officer in charge was tried at a war tribunal and executed for his part in this horrific scar etched in the history of War.

The rain eventually subsided as we headed back to Sandakan for a comfortable nights sleep in the Sandakan Hotel and following an early morning breakfast at 'The Fat Cat Bakery' we boarded a boat and headed out to Turtle Island.