I’m glad I did most of my packing last night to make my morning easier today. After another buffet breakfast it was onto the bus to begin our next journey; but at least it has some air conditioning and there was no delay. The itinerary for this trip makes no sense since we started here in Sandakan upon arrival, then went to Bilit, then came back to Sandakan and now we are driving basically back past Bilit to Tabin. Mind you it’s about two hours between Sandakan and Bilit and more than two hours from Bilit to Tabin so hours and hours of extra driving is in this itinerary when a better order of stays could have made for a much more efficient itinerary.
With a couple sketchy bathroom stops, the first part of the drive went quick enough with writing, good conversation, and the entire group participating in a round of “two truths and a lie.” At a tiny single-terminal domestic airport the bus pulled in and we unloaded, used the ladies room, which involved propping the detached door against the wall, and split into four vans for the next two hours.
Shortly after leaving the airport, the vans turned down a bumpy dirt road and the next 90 minutes included bouncing around the van until we made it to Tabin Wildlife Resort. Must of the ride was in silence and it was quite nice to have some quiet time. The sun beat on me through the window but it was worth it for the coveted single seat with extra legroom that I had snagged. Until it wasn’t and I was worried I was actually getting a sunburn despite have draped a shirt over my exposed skin and so I scooted into an empty spot next to another of the ladies. There is no cell service and the wifi is currently only kinda sometimes working very weakly in the open-air restaurant. We surrendered our shoes before walking into the restaurant area, same as was the protocol at Sukau Greenview, and had yet another buffet lunch of the exact same things; except this one included pandon pudding for dessert.
Tabin Wildlife Resort is a network of what look like treehouse cabins up a hillside in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve. We are triple occupancy here and that’s fine; the third woman who will be joining me and my regular roomie is one of my favorites of the group and on the quieter side like me so I think it will be nice to have that balance. Showing the staff our room key for directions on which way to go the kind man said, “Congratulations, you’re at the very top!” He led us down the walkway along the river and then pointed up the hill and advised us on the best route. At least they are bringing our luggage to us! Monkeys of some sort swung through the trees in front of my treehouse cabin and I even saw an orangutan briefly before he swung off into the forest.
At 3:30 we met back in the cafe to leave on our first activity of the day; the jungle hike on the Elephant Trail to the mud volcano which is supposed to be a popular spot for a variety of animals. The itinerary described this as a 3-4 hour hike but alas, it’s only 1 km (.6 miles) each way. Kurt and our Tabin guide, Lee, suggested that we try to wear their rubber boots but they had none in my size. One size down and my toes were pressed against the edge; one size up and every time I took a step my foot slid all the way out. I asked him just how muddy the trail was and he sized up my shoes and said I’d be fine to wear my own; they would wash and dry them for me after. About 2/3 of the ladies in the group seemed to go this route as well.
Our guides loaded us onto benches in the beds of three trucks and we traversed the bumpy dirt road for another 20ish minutes until we reached the start of the hike. Earlier, Kurt reported that he’d been told there hadn’t been much rain here in the last few days so the trail wouldn’t be so bad but holy smokes that was not the case. Mud threatened to suck in entire feet as the trail led uphill to the mud volcano. One of the considerably younger women was behind me for a bit and at one point gave me an encouraging, “You’re doing so good!” I was actually almost a bit insulted; what like it’s a surprise that I can hike in the mud? She has no idea the adventures I’ve been on.
It may have only been 1 km but it was an annoying 1 km in the sticky mud and the mud volcano at the top was not impressive. It was just a flat plane of mud with some bubbles from geothermal activity, we are in the ring of fire with Indonesia, but the bubbles are from gas and it’s not even warm, its not at all like an actual volcano. Dead trees lined one side; as the mud expands and envelopes the base of the trees it kills them. The mud flat is supposedly a popular place for animals to get a nutrient boost, treating the mud like a salt lick, but not a single creature was seen on the hike or at the mud “volcano.” It used to be mostly pigs that would hang out at the mud volcano but Lee has not seen any in over four years since the swine flu came through and wiped out half the pig population.
A boot was stuck in the mud near the “center” of activity where someone had not been paying attention and stepped into the soft mud and was unable to pull the boot back out as the mud sucked it in. The only male traveler, besides the host, on the trip is a pretty annoying clown of a boy and he went tramping straight through the softer mud, his leg sinking into the knee. He was able to get his leg back out but then kept trying to keep moving towards the softer mud despite the guide suggesting he shouldn’t move any closer and saying he should stop. Girls laughed and fawned over his antics and I couldn’t help myself but to say out loud, maybe even twice, “It’s not funny when you’re just being stupid.”
Lee explained that the mud is good for the skin and you could apply it like a mud mask and the ladies all went crazy dipping their hands in mud and spreading it all over. I am too practical for this, with no place to wipe my hands, no ability to wash it off until we’re back at the lodge, and who knows if some animal peed in it two minutes before we got there, it was a hard pass for me. As the women pressured others who weren’t participating to apply the mud as well I found the whole scenario increasingly annoying; grown women trying to peer pressure other women into anything is complete bullshit in my books. I realized that I am really feeling over being in a large group of women like this. I have another group trip to South Africa planned in February but I’m already thinking that may be my last of the group trip type of thing. Seeing the peer pressure like mean girls in high school was enough for me to know I was about done with this type of sorority setting as it showed a clear delineation in maturity differences between the travelers; grown women don’t do that.
Hiking back down the muddy hill seemed less squishy than the hike up and I was glad to be back at the trucks and headed back to the lodge to shower and have dinner. A red giant flying squirrel greeted us in flight as the trucks approached the lodge. So cool! I’ve never seen a flying squirrel in the wild before and it was such a character!
The trucks offered to drive the ladies up the hill to our treehouse rooms but I wanted to wash my boots and thought I’d just walk so my muddy roommate had time to shower first. I did suggest that my roommates rinse their mud off at the entrance as well since it would be a mess in our bathroom. Instead, the ladies headed back up to the cabins while I cleaned my boots. I didn’t realize how dark it had gotten and sheepishly begged the staff to flag a truck back down to drive me up the hill when I was done. Oopsie.
I was thankful I remembered to bring my headlamp when it came time to walk back down for dinner but I wish I had bothered to charge it before I left home since I’m not sure it can be charged with a regular cable and not it’s special device. Dinner was yet another buffet with the same stuff except this time it was fried chicken. I am very over this food and having to pull chicken off the bone for lunch and dinner every single day.
After dinner, we were loaded into the back of a larger truck for a night time “safari” drive. Kurt and Lee sat on the roof of the truck with giant spotlights searching the side of the road and trees for animals as we bumped along the dirt road. The problem with this type of outing is that you are so limited to what you can see since it has to be close to the road. The starry night sky was a show in itself with no clouds and no light pollution. Lightning bugs and bats darted around and lightning regularly lit up the sky off in the distance. Lee spotted a leopard cat but it quickly slipped off into the bushes and I didn’t see it. A long monitor lizard draped itself across a thick tree limb, its legs dangling down in slumber. Two pig tail macaques cuddled in a palm tree. Three different civets were spotted; one lounging on a tree limb, its face like a stuffed animal, while two others were right on the side of the road. Giant fruit bats danced through the light of the torches; they are critical as they pollinate the durian trees that only flower at night. A screech owl had its back to us before pooping and flying off. Though we spotted a few things, it wasn’t overly impressive.
It also meant we got back to the lodge later than any activity so far this trip and with another 5:30am wake up time tomorrow, rolling back in at 10pm is going to make for a shortage of sleep. Tomorrow starts with coffee and toast at 6am before a one-hour morning nature walk, followed by breakfast at 7:30 and departure for a short waterfall hike at 8:30. The afternoon will include lunch, herbal foot soaks, an evening nature walk, and another late day drive. Both my roommates are asleep and I am enjoying the quiet time but I must call it a night myself now in hopes of getting at least a solid six hours of sleep. And by the way, our bathroom is absolutely disgusting with dirt all over it from the other ladies needing to wash off mud.
Taking On the World 
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