One challenge at a time

  Day 10 was one of those days when you have to get from A to B, but in this case I was also managing to squeeze in a visit to a place I always wanted to go ever since I read a book about it when I was younger.... but more of that later. It was at the ridiculously, eye blearingly early time of 0545, that I stumbled to the parking lot to meet Mr Wong who was taking me to the bus station for my early bus to Sandakan. The bus I had booked for was the bus to Kota Kinabalu and therefore didn't go all the way to Sandakan but dropped people off at the junction known as mile 32. From there Shavez had arranged for me to be picked up by Sam who would take me first to Sandakan for a quick stop and then back down the road to Sepilok, my home for the next few nights. The itinery was a bit squished and since I have been in country I discovered that there are much better ways to organise the next few days but as I'd booked the b and B, so it was to be. That's the way it goes sometimes whe...

 Today was my last day in Tawau Hills. I was going to miss the peace of this place. I was well aware that Sepilok, my next destination, would be more touristy and contain waay more people. I intended to cherish every moment today. For my morning walk, Ledumin was my guide. I may have said before, so bear with me, but Ledumin is a former poacher. As such, his tracking and animal spotting skills are second to none, as evidenced by the epic night walk when we saw so much.  This morning his plan was to hike back up the hill towards the big tree to see what we could find. I didn't tell my legs... or my feet for that matter... they might have become petulent and refused to move. I decided to let it dawn gradually on them in the hope they would only realise once we were so far up it was pointless to turn back. Legs, like the mind, have to be tricked into performing every now and again.  Our first point of call was just behind our accomodation. The crashing of trees indicated tha...

  Firstly, apologies that I have got behind in the blogs. So much is happening on a daily basis that it has been quite difficult to keep up with the blogs. however a 2 hour bus ride today should allow me to catch up a little.  Day 8 was one of those days... I had been very lucky in the preceeding days and that luck couldn't last I guess. That is the nature of looking for animals in the wild... you don't always come up trumps. The heavy rain from the day before had disappeared but it still wasn't quite as warm as it had been. Yulinda took us on our morning walk to the waterfall near the recreation area. There wasn't much sound from the forest and it seemed that everything was having a good lie in. One which I was wishing I also had had  My feet, from the previous days exertion were hurting a little and wellington boots, whilst the ideal footwear for these conditions were not the most comfortable to walk in. We didn't spot much, the odd frog and that's about it. T...

  Up early and ready for my morning walk with Yulinda pre breakfast... the sky was grey this morning and it felt even a bit chilly at 24 C. Rain was in the air for sure but at the moment it was dry so we set off to see what we could find. This morning the Gibbons had started calling early so after a quick walk round the pond, we headed for an area behind the accomodation, where the calls were loudest. Stand... look up... and wait for trees to move! Sure enough soon we could see the branches moving which told us where to direct our gaze. At the tops of the highest trees the Gibbons had woken up and we're starting to move around. Given the height they were operating at, getting a clear picture was not easy even though we could. clearly see them moving. The trick was to look with your eyes first, zoom the camera in preparation and then follow your gaze with the camera. We could see 4 or 5 Gibbons. moving around, then stopping to sit and graze on the fruit around them. They like the fr...

  Early morning... awake at 5am to head to the airport. It had been really lovely staying with Maria and Tom and catching up after 13 years but I was ready to leave and find a bit of peace and quiet away from the city.  I was heading to Tawau, a small town and from there to Tawau Hills with 1 stop Borneo, a company that had reforestation programs and jungle guides. A bit out of the way of the normal tourist route, I was hoping that there would be less people there and a better chance to find animals. The flight wasn't fun. Bumpy and with a landing that could best be described as 'winging it', we swerved into Tawau and landed with an almighty bump. Here, in Borneo, after many years of dreaming of a visit. I was met at the airport by Mr Wong, who kindly spent the entire journey telling me about Borneo, it's wildlife, people and the Palm Oil business. The roads were nearly empty once we had left the airport and in surprisingly good condition. It was also very hot. 30 degre...

  Last day in KL. I was determined not to go back in the city again, instead seeking out the nearest approximation to jungle that I could find within the limits of the urban version. Fortunately, not too far away from Maria's was a Community Forest where there were hiking trails and lakes. The google reviews looked good, mentioning good trails, nice views, jungle, animals. Perfect. I am not a city person. I am far more at home trekking up steep inclines whilst scanning the trees and the floor for any sign of life. So the community forest it was. The weather had cooled ever so slightly and there was even talk of rain later in the day, all of which meant that it was going to be better hiking weather. The Grab pitched up within 10 minutes of booking and I endured a 40 minute ride through traffic filled roads, which ended on a dead end road in the middle of what looked like a factory estate. Nestled in the corner off the path was the start of the trail, narrow and squeezed in between t...

  Today I wanted to find the greenest place I could within the city... that led me on the map to the Bird park and Butterfly park, set in an area of greenery outside of the city. The journey there seemed to be straightforward and I navigated the Grab and the LRT like a pro. I hopped off at KL Sentral and prepared for the long walk to the parks. It was (again) very hot and I had neglected to fill my water bottle right up but ploughed onwards, through the busy streets  and to the west of KL centre. I reached the outskirts of the parks after around 30 minutes walking, having passed some places I recognised from my first day in KL. Then I branched off and was faced with another hill. Up I went along the road which was significantly less busy than many of the roads here. Near the top, I spotted a sign for stonehenge... and as I rounded the bend, there it was, in close to all it's glory... albeit a lot smaller and a lot newer. A few photos of the world's smallest stonehenge and then...