Borneo

I was doing you a favor not updating in Kota Kinabalu, the jumping-off point in Sabah, a.k.a. North Borneo. You really are here for the nature, because there ain't much else. KK is near Mount Kinabalu national park, which I took a litte driving tour through. That was the first real dud of a guide I got--all he did was drive us to places, then bought himself an ice cream. I didn't even get to walk around the park, which was a bummer! I decided not to climb this mountain because 1. it's outrageously expensive, especially when you're used to paying nothing, and 2. I'm really tired. Every time I've climbed a mountain so far I've needed a week on the beach to recover, and it's coming up on the end here.

I went to the Nature Lodge on the Kinabantangan River next. We saw orangutans in the wild (!), lots of probiscus monkeys (big noses), long-tailed macaques (not birds but monkeys), and hornbills (like the bird from the Lion King). We took a little jungle trek, too. I'm ambivalent about this experience because as close to nature as we were, the jungle was very trekked-in and our guides were a bit ruthless with the machetes. It was just bad practices, and I suppose they'll have to right them eventually or else it'll be the Mud Pit Lodge. But I did get a leech! We saw a cool-looking frog and some birds roosting at night, too.

The people I've met here are definitely cool. I've gotten on the tourist track because there really isn't any other option, but the tourists are all here to dive or trek, so they're awesome. I also managed to leave my converter in KK and get it back in Semporna. It's a small world in Borneo.

Semporna, where I am now, has even less going for it than KK, which at least had a museum. Everyone is here to dive off Sipadan, one of the top ten diving sites. Since I can't scuba (yet) I snorkeled off one of the other islands, Mabul, where I saw two turtles! This is really lucky, especially for snorkelers. I literally jumped off the side of the boat, turned around, and there he was! I followed the big old guy swimming for awhile, then went around seeing the coral and everything, then saw someone pointing and there was another one! The second guy was so old he had barnacles on his back. The turtles look like they're flying, they just bat their little flippers slowly and turn every once in awhile to follow the current. It got me excited to try diving. It's hard to imagine all the stuff going around living down there.

Tonight I catch a bus back up to Sandakan tonight to see the orangutan rehab center (they save baby orangutans! Could there be anything cuter?) and then it's onto the next stop...which I'll figure out there. Only 13 days left in this epic journey!