Despite its shortcomings, I am so grateful for the air conditioner in the lodge. . Though it struggled during the day and didn’t stay on continuously, come evening and night it stayed on and worked like a champ, the room was cold enough that I was able to get another great night’s sleep and even had to wear socks because my feet were cold as the blankets rode up on my bed. Since I’ve been on an early rise schedule since landing in Malaysia these 5:15 am alarms don’t feel out of line and I still managed to wake up feeling great.
Conversation at breakfast confirmed that I didn’t miss much by skipping the night cruise; just a couple of owls and some eyes of something that people couldn’t actually see. Shortly after 6am we were loaded onto the two boats and set off for the early morning cruise. Somehow, with the exception of yesterday afternoon’s super short failed attempt to see the elephants cruise, I’ve landed the front seat on the boat each time. The skipper navigated us down the same narrow side river as yesterday though there were more boats on the water today; it is Saturday after all. One of the guide’s on a passing boat signaled to our guides a clear indication that something interesting was ahead and we tried to figure out the meaning of his gesture.
A couple hundred more yards it was revealed; a crocodile! This one was much closer and also seemed much smaller than the one whose head was spotted yesterday. Our guide, Kurt, estimated her at 2.5-3 meters long and I must admit, I was a little disappointed it wasn’t larger. Watching her swim lazily alongside the boats, patrolling the river was powerful; there’s no way you can tell me that a crocodile isn’t a dinosaur. Kurt informed us that her (I’m calling it a her because of its petite stature) comfort being alongside the boats without showing signs of stress or moving away was disturbing because it means she’s becoming too habituated to them and likely she’s studying us; to learn how someday the boats could become prey. That was disturbing. I remembered my binoculars this morning but looking at her through them was way too close for comfort. We floated alongside her for a while before finally moving on to let her be in peace.
As we left the crocodile in peace I was struck with the serenity of the narrow river. When everyone was quiet and the boat drifted without the engine it was as peaceful a scene as you could imagine with nothing but the sound of the water and the birds. Curtains of ivy hung alongside the river, draped over trees like topiary. Some even seemed to form shapes; a dragon, a seahorse, an octopus.
Fallen trees from last night’s storm attempted to barricade the waterway. The first, both boats were able to skillfully navigate around. The second, still rooted in the ground on the bank was a bigger challenge. Our two boats worked together in an attempt to push it out of the way but it was not budging and we had to turn around. It was time to head back for breakfast anyways.
Our itinerary included driving back to Sandakan right after breakfast but the air conditioner gods had other plans and our driver reported that the air conditioner on the bus wasn’t working and he was taking it down the road in an attempt to get it fixed. Our departure time was pushed back to 10:30, then 11:30, then no updates except that something else had also required fixing. Everyone sat around our large table, already checked out of our cabins, trying to entertain ourselves as we waited. There were pictures, games, snacks, ice cream, boredom, stretching. I was distracted when nice boats started passing on the river including beautiful yachts and sailboats. The weekend really is a whole different level of maritime traffic. Finally, just after noon, we were loaded onto the repaired bus.
Instead of going to the Rainforest Discovery Center walk, a series of bridges built amongst the trees for forest exploration, then to lunch, and then to afternoon free time as originally planned our schedule was flipped to start with lunch and then the rainforest walk.
Lunch was a buffet at a restaurant in Sandakan. Every meal so far has been a buffet/family style meal. And all basically the exact same greens (bok choy), rice, chicken, and some other protein. This was the same but with some extras like melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin in coconut sauce. A young orange cat went table to table hoping for scraps. There are stray cats ALL OVER this country.
Kurt tempered our expectation with a warning that, due to the time of day, we might not see any animals. But it would still be a beautiful walk and he handed out ponchos before we disembarked the bus at the Rainforest Discovery Center, because of course there was more rain in the forecast. Before we’d even made it to the start of the walkways an orangutan was spotted swinging in the canopy overhead.
As if on cue, rain started to trickle from the sky just as Kurt led us to the first walkway. it wasn’t bad at first and was tolerable. Monkeys in trees looked equally as annoyed by the rain as I felt.
Without much of a crescendo, the trickle turned into a massive downpour as the group neared the first tower. I reluctantly pulled on my rain poncho and immediately felt humid and disturbed as the plastic stuck to my wet skin. I regretted putting it on once I realized that our next move was climbing up the stairs to the first observation tower; which provided shelter. There wasn’t much to see from this tower except for an informational sign on the Bornean Keeled Pit Viper. Ahh, so they do have snakes that can kill me here. Good to know. We hung out at the top of the observation tower for at least a solid half hour, waiting to see if the rain would slow but it did not. Kurt asked if we wanted to keep going in the rain and the answer was a resounding yes. Only one or two people did not want to and he said they could go back and wait at the bus so we could continue on.
Boy did those people miss out. Just a few steps off the tower another orangutan was spotted in the trees. Not far from the walkway she swung from branch to branch, and she had a baby clinging to her! I was at the front of the pack with Kurt and moved ahead to keep up with the direction she was going. You know it’s something special when even the guide is in awe of the sights and almost brought to tears himself. The baby was brand spanking new; likely only about one week old. Kurt described seeing a wild infant that young as “epic.”
It got even more epic when the mama decided to take a break swinging from the trees and instead swung right over and up onto the railing directly in front of me. I had to take a couple steps back to make sure she had enough space and I wasn’t too close. She walked the rail and we followed at a safe distance, ensuring that she wasn’t looking back at us or showing any signs of distress that we were there.
She stayed on the railing of the walkway for a good amount of distance before finally swinging back onto the trees and disappearing into the canopy with her newborn. Now this, this is what I came to Borneo for. Up until this I’ve been disappointed with the lack of wildlife I’ve actually seen on this trip but this has made up for it. I realized the rain had stopped at some point while I was observing this special scene and I was relieved to strip off my parka.
Naughty monkeys lined the walkways heading back and Kurt had to manage them so we could pass safely; banging a stick against the rail to scare back the alpha male that wanted to challenge everyone.
While the rain had miraculously stopped when we saw the mama orangutan and her baby, it started up again as if on cue just as we reached the exit. I spent the half hour drive to the hotel sorting through all my mama orangutan footage and the individual scenes I captured; I even caught one of the baby clearly nursing!
Just before 6pm, the bus finally pulled up to the Sabah Hotel; home for the next two nights. And indeed it is a real hotel. I was excited to walk into a clean room complete with amenities, two oversized single beds, and a real bathroom complete with an actual shower and bath tub. For the first time since getting to Borneo I took a shower that actually left me feeling clean. And there weren’t bugs all over the room!
Our group met for another buffet dinner and I could tell how much more relaxed and comfortable I finally was. My roommate is hanging out elsewhere this evening so I finally have some absolute quiet and the room to myself for a couple hours right now. It is such a treat. I have never traveled like this before and being with 20 other people all day and then having a random, very nice but still random, roommate assigned who really likes to talk is not easy when you’re like me and place a high value on your introvert quiet time. I need this right now. Tomorrow’s itinerary includes visits to the orangutan, sun bear, and proboscis monkey sanctuaries; I’ve been looking forward to this part of the itinerary and still wish to bribe someone at the sanctuary to let me hug a baby orangutan!
Taking On the World 
Leave a comment