chillin' with the primates, turts and survivors...

Although I'm not even entirely sure who is apart of the primate family, for the purposes of my blog I will assume it is all things monkey. And, I have had a lot of monkey time. Or, primate time, as the case may be. I digress. Point is, Borneo has been an amazing time, and one I would recommend to anyone. One of the very unfortunate things about Borneo is that a lot of things are really hard to get to. As such, Charles and I were at the mercy of tour companies for many of our activities. They were expensive and at times touristy, but they were organized and most importantly provided the transport through the jungle, to the islands etc. Charles and I arrived in Kota Kinabalu, but decided it was best to head out right away and caught a flight the next morning to Sandakan (get your maps out, people!). This is all in Sabah, the eastern territory of Malaysian Borneo. Our first activity was the Sepilock Orang Utan reserve (a la Amazing Race 4 with Chip and Reichen). The tans did not disappoint. We had about 8 or 9 show up for the feeding time. We also went to the park on our own instead of with a tour, which was nice because we there at a time when there weren't any tourgroups to deal with. We saw all shapes and sizes and they did lots of cool swinging tricks as well as cuddling whilst eating.

Charles and I posing in front of the tans.

The next day we went to the Gomantong Caves. They harvest birds' nests there to make the soup. Apparently the Chinese women eat the soup up because of its supposed anti-aging effects. Whatever the case, it was one of those truly icky experiences. There was what can only be described as a mountain of bat / bird poo in the middle. It actually just looked like the ground, but our guide assured us it was all poop. The best part was that poo mountain was inhabited with millions of cockroaches. But, only the babies live there. See, when the get big (I mean REALLY big) they move to the walls, which were only inches from the wooden walking paths (which, for the record, were also covered in ginormous roaches). After the caves, we headed into the jungle along the Sukau River. We stayed in a cabin resort and in the evening were taken for a river cruise to check out all the wildlife. We saw tons of monkeys doing fancy jumps, big scary snakes and some really cool birds. The elephants, orang utans and crocs were a no go, though, which was disappointing. One of the snakes, however, did make a girl in the boat cry, so I figure that must count for something. The next day we went on another river cruise followed by a jungle trek. The jungle was highlighted by some freakish leeches. We were wearing our leech socks, so all was well. But, on the boat trip back Charles discovered one sucking away on his back.

The crew after we were just dumped on with the hardest rain ever. Notice the lack of rain gear.
The Sukau River at sundown...

Jungle gays!

That thing hanging off the leaf is a leech. icky, huh?

This was our luxurious resort.

This was one of many fishing huts built up the river. All the people got really excited when we passed in the boat (more excited than these people apparently).

The next day Charles and I went to Turtle Island where they have a sanctuary and hatchery for sea turtles. We got to see a wild mother turtle laying its eggs and then also released a baby turtle each into the wild. It was a very electric experience. I actually found myself sitting there praying that my turtle would make it. Seriously, the baby turtles were even cuter than the monkeys. Oh, on the island (and at Sepilok), what I really learned is that humans are total assholes who ruin things for all the cute little animals with all our pollution and hunting.

That's the rear end of a turtle spewing out eggs. Once again, we couldn't use a flash...
Aren't they the cutest?

And this is me amidst a panic attack that I am going to accidentally kill a two day old turtle. Everything turned out okay.

Charles cuddling the little baby.

Unfortunately because we couldn't use a flash, this is the best pic of the turtle hatchlings running into the water.
This is where the eggs are reburied after they are collected from the nest. It takes about 2 months for them to hatch.

Following Turtle Island, Charles and I came back to Kota Kinabalu and booked our next big excursion. We decided that Pulau Tiga was an absolute must because, ahem, that's where the first *survivor* was filmed. Besides going to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world (it was actually this sand bar in the middle of the South China Sea), I also hung out (and went skinny dipping!) on Pagong Pagong where the tribe (aptly named "Pagong") made their home. I also went to the mud volcano where I bathed in mud. Yes, there are pics.

Pulau Tiga also had mud volcanos, which apparently are wonderful for the skin. I need all the help I can get. This says it all.

Pulau Tiga was okay. However, I do believe an entire island with no "thrusting" would become a bit of a yawn after a while.

This is what's left from where they had Tribal Council. Sad, isn't it?

Another Pagong Pagong shot.

This is history... Pagong Pagong where the Survivors lived.

This little guy snorted and flitted around, but he wouldn't take the apple from my hand.

At Pulau Tiga the monkeys are refered to as "pests". Of course, I did the only reasonable thing in such a situation: I tried to feed them.

Me taking a picture of Charles taking a picture. Black and white is for additional artistic effect.

Charles looking tres ripped at Snake Island.

After I made fun of him enough for being "so tough" Charles finally gave in an held the scary, poisonous snake that our guide caught from under a boulder.

This is the beach at Sandspit, this crazy sandbar close to Pulau Tiga. Actually, in retrospect, the picture doesn't do it justice.

Last night Charles and I decided it was time to end our expensive vacation with a high-rolling hotel. We booked our last night at the Hyatt and got a beach front room with a balcony. They also had cocktail hour, which Charles and I decided will become a part of our everyday life.
I'm flying into KL tonight (ick!) but will leave tomorrow morning for the Northeast part of Malaysia, where I am heading to Pulau Perhentian... then into Thailand.