Blazing A Trail For Borneo
Cameron Highlands was great to see and be a watchful eye on the evolution of this famous hill station. I was also anxious to move on to Borneo. I had heard such great things from naturalists and adventurers alike. I bused to Kuala Lumpur at 8 am and in this bus my knees couldn’t reach the seat before me even when the child there began raising his seat and dropping it repeatedly. The mother let it happen for a while and then scolded him because if he broke it she’d have to pay for it. There was more to it and the kid looked like he had just missed his ‘slowdown’ meds.
The chair was comfortable and I soon fell asleep. I’d automatically wake up when there was a sudden change in direction that usually meant a break. We’d all get out and hit the toilets and shake legs, have a smoke or buy something at the gas station store.
I didn’t feel exactly right by now. I was really tired and back on board fell asleep immediately. We showed up at the bus station in KL early afternoon, in the heat of the day. I had booked a guesthouse at the edge Chinatown called ‘The Travel Hub Guesthouse’. The road directions on the back were misleading at best. Things weren’t as they actually are which gave me more drama on a hot day. I asked 1 guy and he pointed up the street. The next guy after a one half of a kilometer pointed in the other direction. I crossed the street and went to a taxi stand and showed him what I was looking for. He said, “It’s too close for a fare. He pointed passed the bus station and added, “Walk to the next light, take a left and keep walking until you see Sultan Street. Turn left on it and walk up it and turn right on Jalan Panggong and a left on Jalan Balai Polis. The Travel Hub is on that road near the dead end. I moved on sweating profusely. I got to Panggong and had to sit out of the sun for a minute. I got dizzy, I knelt down and waited, everything seemed okay so I stood up slowly and the dizziness came back so I knelt back down and adjusted my backpack straps and waist belt. I stood up, gabbed my bag and made a dash for the guesthouse that I had walked past before. My one-way ticket for Sandakan, Borneo wasn’t for a couple days so I got water and flopped down for 17 hours. Tea and coffee served 24/7. The showers were cool and welcome. No need for hot water here except for tea.
My flight out was at 625 am, so that meant ordering a taxi the day before to pick me up at 330 am. Well when the time came the night manager came to my door and said the taxi driver can’t make it. He’s going to the hospital. So when you’re ready I’ll help you flag one off the street or take the train. I said taxi. We waived a couple down that all waived their hands in a no manor. One Chinese gent was driving at us and he said okay. I hoped in and he used a meter. I was expecting to pay 100 Ringgit. It turned out to be 70 so I was happy and got to the KLIA2 with time to kill.
I didn’t know where I was going when I arrived in Sandakan. Outside the airport at the taxi queue I saw a van with an area listed and went in the same direction, Sandakan Harbor Square. The taxi driver asked me where I wanted to go and I said a cheap guesthouse and he took me directly to Habeeb’s Lodge where I set up to stay for two nights and have a look around. Curry and garlic were thick in the air. The room was clean, beds in good shape and the toilets were just around the corner. I again welcomed a cool shower and a quick kip trying to make sure this thing was over. I went out late afternoon to find a map of Borneo in one piece. Apparently they don’t sell them at any bookshop, travel & tour service, nowhere. This perplexed me to no end. Why wouldn’t a country sell a map of itself? The sectional maps I did see had Indonesia’s part Borneo greened out with no info at all over the border.
I walked into Sukau Greenview Travel & Tours, one street back from the harbor boardwalk restaurants where I noticed a Carlsberg sign. I didn’t want a beer so I knew I was still sick. JAt the agency I asked for some options towards the jungle and the rivers. The gentleman showed me an itinerary for 2 nights and 3 days and asked me where I was off to next. Since I had a choice I told him I’d be moving on ward and with no return.
I was in the van by myself for two and one half hours when we showed up at Sakau Kinabatangan and the Sakau Greenview Bed and Breakfast. Sakau Greenview; ph. 089-212912. www.sakaugreenview.net. Once your settled in your bungalow then the schedule picks up a fast pace.
At 4 pm I boarded a boat just in front of the restaurant deck. A cute guide smiled big and the driver was a bit nervous until I spoke his language, then he smiled. We drove down a section of the Kinabatangan River, Sabah’s longest river and one of the most bio-diverse areas in the world. We went maybe two kilometers and saw a few other boats pulled over photographing Rhinoceros Hornbills. There were approximately 8, all chasing each other through the expansive branches of a massive tree. The backdrop was either blue sky or primary jungle. This day was going to be epic. The guide turned and said the elephants haven’t arrived in two months, maybe today.
We drifted around the bend and sure enough there were 3 Borneo Pigmy Elephants swimming in the water and a stand of them on the shore eating tall grass and slapping it on the ground to make it bendable and remove dirt from the roots so they could get it in their mouths. We sat and watched for a good half an hour.
Proboscis Monkeys glowed orange in the late afternoon sun.
Both Macaque Monkeys arrived down river, short tail and long tail. The long tail Macaque is a pretty common species all over South East Asia.
We cruised into a slue to an ox-bow lake and turned around. I noticed lines crossing the river and single lines hanging from it. This was for Orangutan to use to cross. They don’t like water or crocodiles so man decided to agree with the animal and help it. There is wildlife at every turn. On the riverbanks are 50 foot tall green curtains. We returned to the Sakau Greenview B&B and had a light dinner. They brought out an over abundance of food and I just said ‘Tidak – Terima kasih’ (No - thank you). I hadn’t seen so much food at one setting since thanks giving in the states years ago. I pushed away the fried eggplant, a massive bowl of rice, a plate of noodles, a bowl of prawns and more. I kept the vegetable omelet, and the fruit plate. I wasn’t well and didn’t have much time because an evening cruise was coming in a half an hour.
This tour was somewhat un-photographable due to lighting and I apparently picked up some condensation inside the lens. I noticed it a dinner whole looking at the photos of the day.
Beyond that, I hadn’t shaken the sickness just yet, I had a headache, my legs were unusually heavy and achy and I had lost some mobility in my left leg. I couldn’t pick it up off the bed without bending at the knee first. That’s not normal. The pharmacy in Harbor Square didn’t have any aspirin but they did have some mind muscle relaxants, which have sorted out the leg besides elevating them every night for a half an hour. The nocturnal forest came alive with birds, frogs, and always looking for the glow of the crocodile eyes. We found small birds and small rodents sleeping on thin branches over the water and somewhat safe from predators on the prowl. We returned after an hour and I went to bed as soon as possible.
I got a wake up call at 530 am for a 2 hour morning cruise down some other causeways and to different hidden shallow lakes and a plethora of bird life doing their morning fishing and drying their wings. It rained last night sometime late and the fog lay low on the water and rose through the trees. There was fresh and clean and there was no garbage to be seen anywhere.
We returned for breakfast and then since there was a rain the jungle trail would be not possible and still sludge of mud and water, I had to forgo the walk for injury purposes as well. My leg has yet to get complete. I’m running at 80%.
I did the afternoon cruise in a different direction and wasn’t disappointed. I don’t mean to sound ho-hum about it but there were Hornbills, Rhinoceros Hornbill, Black Hornbill, White Cranes standing on the shoreline, and a few of the same monkey species as before, Proboscis Monkey, Macaques, and lots of fish rising as a new hatch of insects had been pushed out of the ground by the rains.
There were more people at the lodge at this point and they wanted to do the night cruise because they had two little one and that gave me the excuse I needed. I opted out and asked for another day with no tours. The night and the whole next day I rarely left my bungalow front steps. From my balcony I watched lesser Hornbills fly back and forth across the yard and a troop of monkeys come and go from the water to the forest behind the bed & breakfast. It was a good day. I took off down the road the next morning after breakfast, not really knowing how to get there. How fun is that! It makes me smile.
www.davidcdagley.com
