Kinabatangan River & Back (Oct 2014)

Our 3D2N Nature Safari began with a bus trip from Paganakan dii. We stopped off at one or two other places for a toilet and food break and more passenger pick ups.  The roads were ok, travelling past plenty of Palm oil plantations. My memory is hazy on the exact length of time we travelled, just over a couple of hours I guess. Our travelling tribe was well behaved and some even managed to catch up with a little snooze time.  The bus dropped us off at a little jetty, directly opposite the Nature Lodge Kinabatangan, where we were to stay.  It is situated on the Lower Kinabatangan River Sanctuary. A quick boat ride across and we were ready to check in. We had booked ourselves into the dormitory accomodation as there were too many of us to fit into a cabin and working out who got to sleep in Poppa's room seemed like a recipe for fights. As the Nature Lodge wasn't fully booked we ended up with 2 dormitory rooms side by side. By the time it was bed time everyone was too exhausted to fight who was in whos room so all in all it worked out.

Check in and debriefing complete we settled our things into our rooms, freshened up a bit and were ready for a quick cup of tea and on to the boat for the first cruise down the river.  Over the total of our stay we did four cruises down the river, they were early morning and afternoon cruises. The guides/boat drivers had keen eyes and were quickly able to spot animals of all different sizes to point out to us.

Birds and monkeys in abundance, crocodiles lazing on the river banks, even a snake curled up on a branch.  The Proboscis monkeys are endemic to Borneo and funny looking creatures they are. The dominant male is the monkey with the most prominent nose.  Most of the many different species of monkeys head up into the treetops on the rivers edge, considered the safest place from predators at night.  The evening cruises were spent watching the wildlife settling into their resting spots in the fading light. The mornings were spent boating down the river with a low hanging mist gradually rising for us to be greeted by the morning sun and the animals getting ready to make a move for the day.For the most part, the kids enjoyed the trips up the river spotting all the wildlife. However, by the last trip (early morning) we did get a little feedback in the form of, "why are we going up the river again?"

Along with the boating up the river, there were night jungle walks and a day walk through the jungle to an oxbow lake to do.  As the kids had caught up on some sleep on the bus trip to the lodge we decided if we were going to fit in the night jungle walk at all then that would be the day to do it. I am glad we managed to take them along. Even with all the excitement of being up late and in the dark they managed to keep quiet enough for us to see the funny looking and vulnerable Western Tarsier.

Our walk to the oxbow lake was a mosquito infested walk through the jungle. Even with mosquito repellant layered on thickly and the very fashionable football socks pulled up high (a potential leech deterrent) the moment we stood still for a few seconds we were swarmed. Just from my minimal exposure in the jungle on a fairly tame track I developed a better appreciation for what soldiers experienced and our walk was a dry one easy one with shelter, food and showers readily available! I really can't imagine how difficult survival would have been for them.
The lake itself was peaceful. We took a short break, fed some fish and then headed back to the lodge. Libby and Sam both enjoying a ride in the ergo carriers on the way back, tiring out Steve and I.

On our trip back to Kota Kinabalu we opted into an additional side trip to see the Gomatong Cave. Unlike many limestone caves, the attraction to this system is not amazing stalagmites and stalactites. The swiftlet population that is the drawcard here. Initially when I started planning this holiday, our travel time coincided with birds nest harvesting season. So the trip to Gomatong cave was high on the list.  While it wasn't harvesting season when we managed to get there I am glad we made the detour all the same.  The section we walked through is fairly easy to access, about a 45 minute well marked walk through the forest to the entrance. Past a small communal dwelling with a couple of families and some goats. As it was low season our blonde family certainly made an impression.  Our guide told us the number of people living there ebbs and flows with the harvesting season.  Some live there all year round as the birds nests are extremely valuable and poaching can be an issue.  We arrived to an impressive cathedral like chamber, complete with board walk, piles of guano, cockroaches and centipedes to navigate.  The smell, overpowering is an understatement! Zac certainly wasn't a big fan and it did make it hard to spend too much time standing in awe at the sheer size of the cavern. While the piles of guano was offensive to our noses, it acts as an important safety feature for anyone harvesting the nests on the walls and extremely high ceiling of the cavern should they slip. It is hard to imagine just how precarious the men harvesting the nests look. No safety harnesses, homemade bamboo scaffolding and vine ladders. A quick google or youtube video search shows up some examples. As when we were there the ladders were all safely rolled up and stowed away under the cover of the dwellings. Both white and black swiftlets nests are harvested here, the white nest being the cleaner and more valuable of the two.

After our visit to the cave, we headed back to our transport detouring to clean our smelly shoes. From there we travelled back to Sandakan airport, arriving a little too early for our liking as there is not a lot to do to pass the time there.  When we finally got to a wet and dreary looking KK to jump into a taxi and find that the accommodation I had booked near the airport was a new condo in a fairly residential area (read not much around). The owner who was meant to pass us the key answered the phone once, didn't speak any English and then barred our call. We eventually managed to cancel and contact the place we stayed at on our arrival into Kota Kinabalu. Tired and hungry we dumped our stuff and headed straight back to the Korean restaurant across the road that had been a hit with the kids previously. We enjoyed our final sunset in KK, it was back to Singapore the next day.

Sandakan & Sepilok (Oct 2014)

Since we have living in Singapore we haven't had the need to do many domestic flights. So while Sophie and Zac have experienced a couple of domestic flights most of our air travel revolves around larger International airports.  Our kids are used to waiting around to catch a plane, it is just part and parcel of a trip. I do think it is safe to say, this time they were sick of waiting. There was lots of burning off steam around seated passengers, all very patient passengers. It is a while ago now since we took this trip, but the wait seemed to go for longer than it should.  The plane may or may not have been late, hunger might have been a factor.  No playground definitely was a factor. Changi airport has spoilt us.


Once we arrived and managed to find a taxi to take us from the airport, we negotiated a fee to our accommodation which was in the direction of Sepilok via a quick visit to St Michael's and All Angels church.  One of the few buildings built of stone in Malaysian Borneo.
Fitting us all into a taxi with our luggage was a little like playing Tetris. I have a vague recollection of no one having very much leg room, with 3 adults and 4 young kids in a sedan plus the driver. The luggage space wasn't huge, and for this trip we were carrying one of those supposedly portable cots (there are much more compact designs on the market now), but as Sam is our last baby and we had the port a cot in Singapore so we didn't go and buy a new one. Usually we don't bother lugging it along, this trip involving stays near rivers and jungle we deemed it necessary.

Poppa, Sophie, Zac and I had a good look around the church, once we found someone to let us in. The stained glass windows were stunning, they were donated by Australia on the 60th anniversary of the end of World War 2. Afterwards we thought we  were headed to find an ATM before heading out of town. However, the driver kindly took us to Agnes Keith house, the home of an American author who came to Sandakan with her husband in the 1930s.  It has been restored and made into a museum (Let's put that detour down to our complete lack of Malaysian and our taxi drivers minimal English). Knowing we had a bit of travel to get on with and we were possibly going to attempt to go to the war memorial too that day, we stretched our legs those that were awake had ice cream and then onwards we went to find an ATM.

Cash out was like playing roulette with maximum currency withdrawals.  We knew we would need a fair bit of cash, the next leg of our trip would be mainly cash only for accommodation and added tours. Steve plugged a number in, the ATM rejected it for being too large an amount. Repeat this several time and finally we hit the jackpot.  Wedged somewhere close to the middle of the backseat of the car with everyone else, I handed my card over for a repeat trip for Steve. Finally we were off towards Paganakan dii... This was to be our base for the next 2 nights and as the fluency of my Malaysian hadn't improved since our trip to Agnes Keith house, our taxi driver didn't take us to Sandakan War Memorial on the way. In hindsight a great thing, the kids were sick of travelling and Poppa managed to go back there another afternoon and spend as much uninterrupted time there as he wanted.

Paganakan dii is a welcoming (and quiet when we aren't staying there) retreat set in a deer reserve. The simple huts are built up on a narrow ridge, and our rooms had wooden walls that slide open to reveal a simple and calming view of jungle.  Not exactly 14month old proof balconies meant that we didn't capitalise on the sliding wall, though it was nice to open them up every now and again.  The meals were fairly simple affairs, breakfast included a staple of bread, sausages and eggs.  The gluten free gang we are survived on fruit shakes, eggs and vegetables. Being willing to eat plain rice regularly means we can generally find something safe to get by on. The common area and bar had a small activity box of games that we utilised quite a bit while just chilling out between activities.

Staying in such a peaceful place with no pressures to do anything meant that once the kids were tired and ready for bed we followed pretty soon after.  After all we would likely be up with the birds and have a fairly physical day ahead of us. Transfer to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Sanctuary was provided so all we had to do was make it to breakfast on time.

Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Sanctuary and the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre are conveniently located right next door to one another. The later only opening to the public in 2014, so had we managed to take this trip when it was originally planned we would have missed this. We started the morning at the Orangutan sanctuary.  We made it to the watching area for the feeding platform for the adults with plenty of time to spare. Hung around a little before someone mentioned that further on in the area dedicated to the younger orphaned Orangutans it was feeding time.  While the food is provided at set times daily, they are encouraging the Orangutans to forage and feed themselves, so there is no guarantee that on any given day you will see any or many.  Fortunately for us we saw several, one younger one came back to play around on the ground and ropes while we watched for a while and there were a couple of lovely older ones at the other feeding platform, one with a baby hanging on, content to lie around and munch on the fruit provided.  They really are amazing creatures, almost humanlike.

Our own Orangutans.

Once we had enough of observing the Orangutans we headed out of the Sanctuary and over to the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. Here is where 36 rescue bears are housed, with the ultimate aim of release back into the wild.  Sun bears are the smallest of bear species and great tree climbers. They are under threat largely due to: deforestation of their natural habitat, Chinese folk medicine desire for their gall bladders and bear paws, and the illegal exotic pet trade.  Bears in captivity are kept in appalling conditions so their bile can be milked and replaced frequently as their survival of this treatment is poor.

The Conservation centre acts as a research and rehabilitation centre.  It looked fairly slick and new as it had been recently opened.  Upon returning to Singapore I learnt that a friends son had volunteered there and assisted in building the boardwalks that we enjoyed while we were there. It is a small world we live in.  On the way into the centre we passed a random roaming Orangutan who happened to be hanging out on the railing for a while before it got too noisy with us approaching and he decided to head into the surrounding forest. Just another special memory for us.  We managed to see a few Sun Bears foraging around in their enclosure and the ice cream on the way into the centre was a nice little pick me up from the heat of the day.

After visiting the Sun bears we had a bit of time to kill before the scheduled transfer back to the accommodation. We opted to have some lunch at the little restaurant and just try and relax a bit. I took the opportunity to work out how much cash we would have left and we figured another ATM run was in order as from now until we got back to Kota Kinabalu it was unlikely credit cards would be accepted.

We headed back to paganakan dii, organised some transport for Poppa to do the trip to town for cash and come back via the war memorial. That way he could wander around uninterrupted by our four, we took a wander down the hill to the feed the deer and try and find the Crocodiles in their enclosures.  The Crocodiles or Buaya (in Malay) were large in size and contained in cement pits. The barriers between the walkway and pits were a little rickety for my liking, dare I say not up some countries safety standards. The deer quickly came running over when they spotted we had bread. It worked out to be an easy afternoon of kids entertainment with animals, climbing frames nearby and just hanging around. Poppas taxi arrived back while the kids were climbing, so he hopped out there and we all walked back up the hill together.

Secure fencing?

The following day we headed back into Sepilok to the Rainforest Rehabilitation centre for a look around. There were a couple of informative displays that Zac insisted we explain in great detail. We learnt several things including the existence of the Sumatran Rhinoceros, currently critically endangered with only 6 small subpopulations throughout Sumatra, Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. After the displays we headed off on one of the shorter rainforest walks, including a treetop section.  Enjoyable, hot and sticky, so towards the end the kids were starting to whine. We headed back to Paganakan dii, wolfed down some lunch and ran down the hill to the coach that was waiting to take us on our next leg of the trip.  On to the Kinabatangan river for a 3D2N stay including river cruises up and down the river in the hope of spotting some wild monkeys, crocodiles, birds and if we get lucky pigmy elephants.  

Malaysian Borneo (Oct 2014)

This is a trip was booked and all planned out for what seems like a very long time. Initially we were going to head to the jungle while I was about 4-5months pregnant with Sam in 2013. It got cancelled when the Department of Foreign Affairs changed the travel warnings to areas that included the region we were headed to the week before we were due to leave. There was some unrest, swiftly dealt with between Malaysia and some Filipino rebels around the area of Dalat. So for peace of mind and the safety of us all, we postponed all plans and we finally got to travel there in October 2014.

When I started the process of rebooking, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Poppa wanted to join us on this trip. For those of you not in the know, Poppa made his first trip to visit our family in Singapore in June 2013. As a person who prefers the wide open space of the farm in Oz, travelling to a city like Singapore is way down on his list of destinations to visit. I am pretty sure the only reason he agreed to come and visit is the elusive pull of family and more specifically Grandchildren. June 2013 comes around, Nana and Poppa visit while Sophie, Zac and Libby are on holidays from school. We all fit in our little 4 bedroom condo, all going smoothly so far and the Haze hits Singapore. The like of which I have never experienced before and hope never to again.

These photos were taken the day the wind finally blew and the sky began to clear... So for the week of Poppa and Nana's visit we were pretty much stuck inside, on school holidays and unable to burn off a lot of steam.  Needless to say, I didn't think Poppa would come to Singapore ever again.

Fast forward to October 2014, the carrot that got Poppa to come back was a trip to Borneo.  Flying in and out of Kota Kinabalu, with a short hop into Sandakan and a trip down the Kinabatangan river.
Flying AirAsia we arrived into Kota Kinabalu around 8pm, so were keen to just find our accommodation and get the kids off to bed. The next day after getting some breakfast we all headed off in a taxi to the ferry terminal to arrange our day trip to one of the islands just off KK. After having a chat to some of the people at the terminal we decided to head to Pulau Sapi (Sapi Island) for the day, just 15mins away. Sapi island is a beautiful little oasis away from Kota Kinabalu city, which we didn't really give a chance to leave an impression on us. We managed to pick a shady spot under some trees overlooking the water to set up a little day camp, and from there we swam, snorkelled, ate and spotted some wild boar and monitor lizards. There is a small conservation fee for all visitors to Sapi island, and the staff there seem to be making an effort to reduce the damage tourists do to some of the coral by preventing swimmers from entering certain areas until the tides are high enough.

 

While we were there we noticed a zip line from a nearby island across to Sapi.  Sam and Libby were to young to go on the zip line, so it was decided that Poppa, Sophie and I would go while Zac and Steve waited with them.  Once we were back, Steve and Zac would head across. In theory a great plan and Zac was adamant he wanted to tackle his fear of heights. a 3 minute boat ride, walk up the hill and all strapped in, Poppa and Sophie when first followed by myself.  Sophie loved the whole experience, the zip line was all in all quite leisurely and the colour of the water quiet spectacular.  Steve and Zac headed off next to repeat our experience.  By all accounts, things were going well until he arrived at the platform where he had to clip in and then jump.  Pure fear kicked in and he was flatly refusing to jump. Eventually after much cajoling he was convinced to go tandem with Steve. Possibly another scarring your child for life moment, he didn't enjoy it at all.  When he returned to me he was still shaken up. The extra time it took for Steve and Zac to actually complete the zip line and return meant that it was time to pack our things and head for one of the last ferries back to Kota Kinabalu.

We managed to get back to the apartment, clean up and then for the next choice dinner.  After a short stroll across the road past the building site of an almost complete shopping centre we found a Korean restaurant that looked like it fit the bill. We were famished after the activities of the day and the meal was as relaxing as it could be with 4 young kids shovelling the food down and then utterly exhausted wanting to go home before Steve, Poppa and I had managed to consume half of ours.  They were somewhat entertained by the K-Pop music videos playing on the TV, so we managed to postpone our exit until we were very relaxed, somewhat aided by a couple of cocktails and plenty of food.  The next day we were to fly to Sandakan and stay near Sepilok where the Orangutan rehabilitation centre awaited.

In an effort to start posting somewhat regularly I will break this trip up into a couple or more posts.

Travel to catch up on...

As you can see, I am yet to bring myself to post with anything close to consistency...Let's just call this a work in process.  This post is just about reminding me of all the travel we seem to be doing and all the posting that I am not.

So places we have been to in the last 12 months that I intend to post about...

Borneo October 2014 - Malaysian Borneo, flying into Kota Kinabalu and then on to Sandakan.  This trip Dad joined us too.  So we all got to spend some time with Poppa while enjoying exploring a new place and attempting to spot as many wild animals as we could.

Following on from Borneo we bounced straight back into life in Singapore again.  Our next lot of flights took us back to Oz for Christmas. Something I might post later about, although as most of the only people who are likely to be reading this know all the goings on I have moved other trips to the top of the list.

Post New Years up until March was very hectic in our lives with school recommencing, United Nations food fair, Libby's 4th birthday and Chinese New Year celebrations.  Then Nana visited and a lot of fun was to be had. Including Steve and I flying away of a short and fun packed trip to ski Niseko in Japan and catch up with some fabulous Aussie friends in the process. Our first trip away, just the two of us, without me being pregnant since we started on the journey of parenthood 8 years ago.
Days after arriving back in Singapore we bid farewell to Nana and I had to start planning what we would need for our next trip.

Sri Lanka- end of March 2015. Flying in and out of Columbo, driving down to Marissa for a few days. Then on to Ella for a few days via Udawalewe National Park for a safari.  Our final long day drive was Ella to Negumbo for a night before heading back to Singapore.  This is the first trip I relinquished control over where we went and how we got there.  We all had fun and survived, although if I was to do it again I would break some of the long drives we did up with staying somewhere in between.  Completely doable with four young children in tow, possibly less of a push with a couple more stops.

We didn't have to wait too long in Singapore before we had another long weekend away planned. This time to Vietnam in April leading into May.  We flew direct to Phu Quoc island from Singapore.  Just a stones throw away from Cambodia.  This holiday was a do not much and enjoy the beach/water as much as possible.

After Phu Quoc, I had a flying visit into Sydney to one of my longest and dearest friends wedding.  I had a great few days catching up with old friends, my Mum and Dad, younger Sister and June (Steve's mum). The only people missing in that catch up were my big Sis and her family.

Hopefully the last travel post that I will need to catch up on will be the latest adventure we have been on.  Siem Reap- a 5 day 4 night jaunt, helping to break up the long long seemingly endless Summer holidays Sophie and Zac have from school.  The other assistance we had in breaking up the holidays were June and Peter stopping in to Singapore for a few nights both on their way to and from their trip to Italy and Greece.

So stay tuned and watch this space, although going on past performance, please don't hold your breath.