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Whilst in Borneo, we were determined to see some of the rainforest and its inhabitants, for which the island is famous.So, on 16 September 2009, we set out for a two-day river cruise along the Kinabatangan River, in the Sabah region of the island.The Kinabatangan is the second longest river in Malaysia, with a length of 560km from the mountains of southwest Sabah, to its outlet at the Sulu Sea.
The trip started with a morning visit to the Gomantong caves, which are home to over two million bats and a massive population of creepy crawlies, especially cockroaches.Unsurprisingly, Kate chickened out, and we had to wait outside the caves till the others came out.I have to admit, the thought of standing in a dark, narrow cave, knee-deep in guano, brushing off all sorts of nasties whilst trying not to disturb a colony of two million bats, didn't appeal to me either.
The first cruise up the river was a more rewarding experience, floating along the tranquil waters spotting macaques and proboscis monkeys wreaking havoc in the trees around us, with the occasional snake and crocodile hiding amongst the mangroves.Our guides were incredibly adept at spotting snakes from distance, leading us to suspect that the snakes might actually be rubber ones bought from a joke shop and planted there to fool hapless tourists.Not wanting to prod the snakes to see if they moved, we'll never know.Further river cruises provided more of the same creatures, as well as sightings of the rarer Silvery Langur monkeys and Borneo baboons, along with some monitor lizards.
We pulled our socks up and tucked our shirts into our trousers (for leech-proofing) when trekking in the jungle, further up river on the second day of our trip.Sadly, it turned out that we were only a few days behind some of Borneo's pigmy elephants, which had been at the freshwater oxbow lake for a drink, and had left behind some conspicuously-large footprints and dungheaps.There was nothing pigmy-like about these dungheaps, we can tell you.Suspecting more joke shop purchases, we were tempted to jab a finger in to test for authenticity, but once again decided against it.("Pigmy", as it turns out, just means that the elephants are slightly smaller than their even huger African cousins.)Our guide, Bob, blatantly a city boy in the jungle only to make a few quid from tourists, told us tall tales of how his grandfather used to impale Japanese soldiers during the war using savage, home-made traps, and how he'd once had a leech on his balls.Laughing off these tales, I walked on, subtly checking my own meat-and-two-veg for any intruders.Later, Kate noticed a leech on her finger, and was brave enough to leave it there long enough for a photo.
Next on the agenda was Sepilok, a rehabilitation centre for orphaned orangutans rescued from logging sites and plantations, which are destroying Borneo's virgin rainforests at a shocking rate.Sightings of the elusive apes are much more likely here, and we didn't have to wait long for one to turn up after feeding time was announced.The orangutan was in a tree close to the boardwalk, and garnered much excitement from tourists pointing and shooting.So much so, in fact, that we failed to notice that the obviously-female orangutan was 'amusing herself' while we were taking pictures, only realising this when reviewing the photos afterwards. In the interests of zoological study, the photo in question appears in the accompanying photo album on this site.Further orangs then arrived, heading to the main feeding platform.Watching the gangly yet graceful animals swing their way over, using every available limb to grasp the rope, was a fascinating and hilarious sight.
Satisfied with the trip, our minds turned to the mountain as we headed back to Kota Kinabalu.
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