Jungle is massive....

Uncle Tony
Originally uploaded by Big_Ade.

Sorry, I needed to do that!

Wow, what a couple of weeks! Where do I start?

I thought this trip was moving along just nicely with me having fun but it just got a whole lot better. Arriving in Borneo was definitely a good move and one which was not really on the original plan.... what a mistake that would have been.

Arriving in Kota Kinabalu I struggled to get to grips with what to do on this island. Now, if you know me you'll know I can be a pain in the arse when it comes to making certain types of decisions... I have to plan, to weigh up risks, and make up my mind in my own little way..... in other words I faff! Well this trait was a royal pain in the arse this time as there were just too many choices in front of me. I was stuck with a pile of tourist brochures and not a booking in sight. What made it worse what that I bumped into a flustered couple saying that 'everywhere' was booked up and I'd be lucky if I got to do much.

If one of my traits is that I faff, another is that if someone says I wont be able to do something then I just have to prove them wrong, even if it kills me. And this is what happened!

I went to the first internet cafe I could find and within an hour I had booked a stay at 'Uncle Tan's a jungle camp hidden an hour down a raging river. Off I trotted that afternoon to the bus station and before I knew it I was stocking up for some jungle fun. So there I was Leech socks ( a bit like these http://www.mosquitohammock.com/AntiLeechSocks.html) in one hand and some 40% rice wine in the other and meeting a bunch of brits, Sweeds and Japanese ready to head off into the unknown.

First we all stopped off at Sepilok Orang Utan rehabilitation centre where I saw some long lost relatives up close. It's called a rehabilitation centre but was more like a circus as nearly 90 other tourists had arrived to see the feeding time and grab some photos. I'm not sure of the facts but apparently they slowly move the apes away from the tourists and they begin to fend for themselves... some stay for the free bananas. I would.

After this we all piled onto a minibus and before we knew it we were bombing down a river. Within 5 mins the driver slowed the boat down and shouted 'croc'. Fair enough there they were, two little eyes poking out of the water 20 feet from us.... my first croc sighting. The fact that it would have only been about 3 foot long didn't matter, I was in the bloody jungle!!!!

We arrived at camp and it was not bad! Mozzie nets and mattresses in some very rustic and open cabins with only chicken wire offering us protection from the wild savage beasts that lay in wait behind the trees.

As we waited for the briefing we decided to go for a wander... probably a stupid thing to do. Get the briefing THEN wander around a jungle! On my wander I strayed from the bunch and neared a very lame and looking shallow lake. Out came my camera but whilst doing so a bloody croc slid into the water not 3 feet from me! Blimey I cried, a croc! It was a 4 footer this time and could easily have nibbled a foot off or something. The fact I was wearing some very dirty sandles and was sporting some seriously overgrown toe-nails was probably my only saving grace!

Anyway back to the camp and time for the obvious question..."is this jungle safe? Is there anything that can hurt us?"

"Nah" Said Tony, the rather under eager guide. "Just don't swim in the river, there are some 3 metre crocs in there!

"Tony, what are those posters over there warning us of the centipedes, scorpions, leeches, spiders and snakes?" we asked. "Oh yeah, keep an eye out for them too" he replied.

We did!

So after dinner we popped on a small speed boat and in pitch darkness we headed off down the river with our guide and driver. Fair play, these guys are good. All earlier impressions were washed away as they sped along the river deftly avoiding driftwood and rubbish with the help of a very powerful flashlight and some good luck.

All of a sudden we would come to a quick stop and head to the shore. Looy, our wildlife spotter had, er, spotted something. God knows what, we couldn't see jack as we headed for the mud. All of a sudden he gleefully lept to shore returning with a frog in his hands - all 4cm's of it! How on earth he spotted that from 40 feet away, in pitch darkness, I will never know.

These guys continued to amaze us with their spotting skills and before long we'd seen 3m long crocs, a storkbilled kingfisher, a 5 foot long python and some proboscis monkeys. Back to the camp I went with a smile on my face. I was loving it.

Back at camp things got wild in a different way, the rice wine came out and we 'bonded'. Judging by the group that left the day before and by the new guys arriving the day after we were really lucky with the people we had in our group, all young (ish) like me and up for a good mix of partying and wildlife spotting.

So then the next day continued with a dawn boat ride and then a morning trek in the jungle. We got to see, proboscis monkeys, long-tailed and pig-tailed macaques, hornbills, more crocs, snakes, lizards and lots of mosquitoes.

That evening the rice wine came out again and before we knew it a bunch of the guys fancied a race through the mud on the lake. "But what about the croc I saw" I piped up remarkably sensibly considering my rice induced state. "Don't worry, there are no crocs there, it was a monitor lizard you saw, very similar"

I was convinced it was a croc but hey, they're the guides so they won the toss. I stayed on shore with some of the other guys who wimped out and off they popped returning very muddy and thankfully unscathed.

The next day we headed off in search of a wild Orang utan. Sadly we didn't spot one but the other group did. When they whistled for us to come over we decided to hide behind a big tree ready to jump out on them when they arrived. They of course didn't and thus that jungle gag backfired on us!!

We returned to camp miserable as sin only to hear the others had seen an Orang. We were gutted and headed out after lunch but still no sightings after 2 hours. Sods law was working in our favour this time as when we arrived back at camp we spotted them behind the jungle block. My week was complete, I had seen a wild Orang Utan.


Sadly the trip was over on the 3rd day and I walked like John Wayne back to the boat whereby we headed off to the next adventure.

I would recommend this trip to anyone. It's not too intense and is put together by some very clever people who will make sure you see some very interesting wildlife.

Oh and by the way, on the last day one of the guides saw a 3 foot croc in the lake. I bloody told you it wasn't a Monitor Lizard!