Sandakan, Sepilok and Turtle Island, Malaysia Borneo - 15th June - 19 June 2011

It was kind of emotional leaving Vietnam. We had grown to love the way of life and the food. Plus we had met some amazing people. It will be a place that we will definitely revisit one day.

We flew back into Kuala Lumpur to meet Amy. We got there in good time. Not the best of flights and as we hadn't flown in at least a month Dave was palm sweating the whole way. Very bumpy on the way down with screaming children.

I was looking out for Amy on the forecourt. Wasn't too sure when she would get in as she had to transfer from the international to the domestic LCC. Then i saw her!! We bounded across the taxi rank in slow motion fashion. After a 2 year awaited embrace we found that i had completely gashed a chunk out of her shoulder with my brand new casio watch! oops!

On board another flight we left mainland Malaysia and headed right across to the other side of Borneo ( The eastern island of Malaysia also occupied by Brunei and Indonesia). We arrived in Sandakan and settled into The Hotel London (ironically for Amy!)

We ventured out not really knowing what to expect. The streets were bare with shutters galore. A Ghost town. We did walk past a small bar and when a Malaysian Guy shouted HELLO me and Dave immediately were on guard....not at all what we have been used to over the last month! Maybe people are more friendly this side of Asia.

The next morning it was hot. Hotter than we had been. We ventured out after a good nights sleep. Much needed after Amy's long flight. We mainly spent the day getting our bearings and working out a plan for the next few days. Sandakan was transformed in the daytime to a bustling town. I felt naked in just shorts and a vest top. Being in a Muslin Country pretty much every woman was in headdress. Not any full veil that we saw. However they were all so friendly shouting Hello from cars driving by and ladies in shops even telling us that they loved us! Everyone was wiling to help. We had a wonderful lunch and admired the views from the harbour.

The following day we headed out of town to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation centre. We caught the local bus from town (4mr) after about 45 mins we arrived with whords of other tourists. After taking our money and putting our bags in lockers we were shunned down a board walk and stood with hundreds of other people waiting for the Orang utans to come to the feeding platform for there dinner.

Sepilok is full of protected forest which allows orphaned and injured orang utans to be safely introduced back to the wild. Some just never return after they are strong enough to fend for themselves. Others feed daily and even come back when they are pregnant to get the keepers to help them with their young.

It was a scorching hot day and we were all sweltering! It was amazing to see them all come down from the trees to feed. I think they were used to humans because they sat with their backs to us. There were just far to many people there and all making to much noise i felt like they were hassling the poor things. After the feeding there wasn't to much to do so we had a coffee and waited for the bus back. We did feel that it was a tourist trap but hope that our money goes to a good cause. Its a UK run charity so gives me a little faith. Hopefully they wont get tax taken!

The next part of our trip has to be the best. I am actually excited about writing about it because i get to relive it again.

We went on a trip to Turtle Island reserve. It had been recommended by a few people and even though it was slightly more expensive than other trips we had been on we thought it would be a one time experience.

We got the boat over early in the morning. I little speed boat which did unnerve me and Amy slightly. An hour later we were approaching one of the most beautiful beaches i had ever seen. Gorgeous white sand and the clearest waters. A little wooden club house stood surrounded in camouflaging palm trees. The beach was dotted with giant holes made by turtles from the previous nights nesting. We were greeted by our guide and showed to our rooms. We were able to relax on the most beautiful beach and swim in the cleanest water all day. So nice to relax.

After our dinner we were briefed about what would happen when the sun went down. We were split into groups and were told to prepare for a sudden movement to the beach. The rangers at the island (its a national park) watch the ' mother turtles' arrive on the beach and watch them drag their way up to their spot where they start to dig their hole a meter deep. When mummy is about to lay they call for us to quietly (most people where not!) go to the turtle and stay to the back of her whilst she is laying her eggs. The first sight we got of her was stunning. I really didn't expect her to be so big. A green turtle. She reminded me of a stuffed turtle shaped poof i had as a kid. Mother will know what i mean. I think her name was Clare...anyway...

laid 50 eggs. We were able to go round to the front and take so photos. I felt like we were distracting and crowding her and she snorted pretty loud so we left her to it. She started to cover the eggs over with sand and this is when the rangers took the eggs from the nest and took them away to the hatchery.

We then got to see the eggs being buried in the hatchery and dated. After this they released some freshly hatched turtle babies into the sea. They scurried away towards the light (held by a ranger as it was very cloudy with no moon) I was amazing to watch.

40 turtles layed their eggs that night and 2000 babies were released freshly hatched into the sea. Of that amount only around 15 turtles will survive. :( I'm glad we contributed to keep their numbers as high as possible.

Next stop Kota Kinabalu....

To see our pictures from Sandakan please click on the link below;
https://picasaweb.google.com/112941139607408893724/SandakanMalaysianBorneo15th19thJune2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCPLKvuOCo-vAxwE#