About two months ago now I embarked on an adventure I had been anticipating since I was a young child- going to the Bornean Rain forest!
Due to my passion for animals, and one in particular- the Orang-Utan, I had always wanted to go to Borneo, home to the oldest Rain forest in the world which has many endangered species inhabited there such as the Bornean Orang-Utan, the False Gharial, the sun Bear, many species of Gibbon etc….
I decided to spend six weeks in Borneo, I travelled around with my grandfather for the first two weeks where we mostly did sight seeing and then for the next four weeks, I alone went on to volunteer at the Matang Wildlife Center in Kuching. It was the most amazing experience of my life and I highly recommend going if you are a nature lover!
In the first two weeks my Grandfather and I went to some wonderful places; we visited the Gomantong Caves which are the largest Bat caves in Borneo, also home to the Swiftlets who’s nests are used to make Birds Nest Soup (a very profitable market as it happens)! We also went to Sepilok Orang-Utan Sanctuary (which I later found out to be highly unethical), Borneo Reef World in Kota Kinabalu where we snorkeled and did an underwater walk with special helmets and many other wonderful things as detailed below!
Here are a few of my best photos from these first two weeks:
This set of images are from the Sepilok Orang-Utan Sanctuary, mostly taken from the feeding platform. There are also a few images of the Sun Bears that were featured in a new enclosure.
We then went a little way up Mount Kinabalu, a very special mountain to the locals that live in and around Kota Kinabalu. It is known for its summit being surrounded by clouds for most of the day- the locals believe that this mountain is protected by Gods and the Clouds around the top almost make it the equivalent of Heaven.
After that day we went and visited the Poring Hot Springs near the mountain and went to the nearby National Park, the plant life there was incredible, although the Poring Hot Springs had now become so commercialised they just looked like ordinary hot tubs, which I found rather disappointing. Later on that day we walked to a small nearby waterfall.
From there we went to stay at the Billit Rainforest Lodge, it was a wonderful place right on the edge of the Kinabatangan River! We stayed in a luxurious hut on stilts and during the two nights we were there we went on about four river cruises. The wildlife we saw on that river was unforgettable! The best part of our journey for me! All of the animals shown below are wild!
And finally towards the end of our exciting two weeks we traveled to Selingan Turtle Island, which is one of five Islands lying right on the border of the Philippians. These islands used to be owned by the Philippians but the Bornean government bought them in order to protect one of the few Turtle nesting sites.
The Beaches there were beautiful, the water clear and some of the Corals and sea Cucumbers in the shallow waters were unlike anything I’ve ever seen. We stayed on this island for one night only, and after dark at about 8.30 we were called onto the beach to watch a Green Sea Turtle lay her eggs. It was extraordinary! We then moved her eggs to a hatchery on the island to be re-buried surrounded by plastic mesh- this prevents the large Monitor lizards from having a feast! Once we had witnessed all this we got to release the baby Green Sea Turtles that had hatched that very night into the Ocean!
Once we had visited Selingan we had a few relaxing days back in Kota Kinabalu. On one of those days my Grandfather and I went to visit a Buddhist temple, it was truly enciteful!
If you have a chance to go to these places as I have I promise you it will be un-like anywhere else you will ever go!
I hope you enjoyed my photographs from the first segment of my journey.
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