Borneo - Gaya Island: Weds 23rd- Fri 25th May

On Wednesday we had the morning free at Tabin before our very bumpy 90 min car journey to Lahad Datu Airport (so small it is basically one room!).  We had a short 1 hour flight to Kota Kinabalu and travelled by boat to Gaya Island where we are stayed for the next 2 nights. The resort at Gaya Island is lovely and we spent our time there relaxing on the beach. 

Our hotel at Gaya Island

On Thursday morning mum and I had a free massage which was part of our package - and for a freebie it was very good! However we were so long in the spa that we then had to rush to get the boat to the hotel’s private beach which is 5 mins away by boat to another part of the island. We spent a few hours relaxing there and had a very nice BBQ lunch. Whilst there we had a couple of visitors - a huge water monitor lizard and a wild pig!

On Thursday evening we stopped off at the poolside bar before dinner where dad tried his first margarita (not really, it was mums drink!).

Borneo - Tabin Reserve: Tuesday 22nd May 2018

Today is our only full day at Tabin.  Due to our poor performance yesterday the guide recommended that we didn’t do the walk to the waterfall as it would be too difficult (we were all secretly relieved!) so we instead did a morning walk starting at 6:30am, a morning drive after breakfast and then a dusk drive.  We mainly saw monkeys and birds but it was enjoyable being out and about in the jungle.

Borneo - Tabin Reserve: Monday 21st May 2018

Today we travelled 4 hours from Sukau to Tabin Wildlife Reserve - the last hour of the journey was on a gravel road and we were all being thrown about in the back of the minibus and were glad to arrive!

We only had about 30 mins to go to our room before we were out on our first trip of the day - it was a ‘20 min’ trek through the jungle to a mud volcano.  We had to wear welly boots and leech socks as we were walking through the jungle and was told it was ‘quite’ muddy. 

We started the walk and what we thought would be a simple trail through the jungle admiring the wildlife turned out to be a full on trek through the undergrowth sloshing around in loads of muds......and I mean loads - it was very slippy and wet, and on top of that very hot and humid.  What should have taken us 20 mins took us an hour as we were so slow, and poor old mum even fell over! We were muddy messes by the time we arrived at the mud volcano and the guide was a little concerned we would not get back before dark so we had about 5 mins at the mud volcano (which was not worth all that effort to see!) and we then had to make our way back the same way.  To make matters worse it stated to pour with rain, and the guide said if we wore our macs it would hinder us (he made mum take hers off) so we were soaked through by the time we got back - it was such a traumatic experience we didn’t even take any photos!

After dinner, there was a night safari but only mum and Peter went - I have had an upset stomach on and off and it was currently ‘on’ if you know what I mean, and dad had been attacked by 3 leeches and was bleeding a lot and was not in the mood for it.

They enjoyed the safari and saw owls, flying squirrels, a skivet and a number of colourful birds.

Borneo - Sukau: Sunday 20th May 2018

Today was our last day at Sukau and we were very lucky to see a number of things we hadn’t seen before, including an elephant and a crocodile so we have now seen the Borneo big 5 - elephant, crocodile, orangutan, proboscis monkey & rhinoceros hornbill bird.

We saw lots of colourful birds, including the storm stock which is very rare as there are only 500 left in the world.

Back at the lodge, we had another sighting of an orangutan with its baby up above the walkway close to our villa.

Borneo - Sukau: Saturday 19th May 2018

Today we had two river cruises, one at 6am and the other at 4pm as these are the best times of the day to see wildlife out and about.  

In the morning, about 5 minutes in to the journey, we got caught in a rainstorm and it absolutely poured down - everyone scrabbled to get their waterproofs on, with me somehow putting mine on backwards so Peter had to help me turn it round! It lasted about 10 mins and we were all more interested in keeping dry than the wildlife! 

We saw lots on the two trips but the highlight was seeing a wild orangutan and her baby up a tree! It is quite rare to see them out in the wild as they are endangered species so we were all very pleased!

After we got back out guide took us for a walk along the boardwalk back at the lodge and there was another wild orangutan and her baby nesting in one of the trees not far from our villa.

Borneo - Sukau: Friday 18th May 2018

This morning we visited the Sepilok Orangutan sanctuary again for the morning feed. It was a lot busier (with people not Orangutans!) and although we only had 3 orangutan arrive again they were not as entertaining as the ones yesterday.

We then caught a boat to our next destination- Sukau Rainforest Lodge on the Kinabatagan River.  

The boat ride there took 2 hours by speed boat and I kept nodding off because of the heat so I was glad when we arrived.  It was a quick turnaround as once we checked in we were out on a river cruise looking for wildlife altthough we only mainly saw monkeys.

Borneo - Sandakan: Thursday 17th May

After a night of jungle sounds we got up early this morning to visit the Rainforest Discovery Centre.  The centre has many paths and trails where you can walk around the rainforest reserve, including a canopy walk which is a suspended walkway up in the treetops.  We did the canopy walk and one of the trails but unfortunately didn’t see any major wildlife apart from butterflies and lizards! However we did enjoy seeing all the flora including the massive trees!

At the end of the walk there was a visitors information gallery but we were more interested in the aircon as we were right sweaty messes - who knew the Borneo rainforest would be so hot!

We returned to the hotel for lunch and a sleep (the heat really takes it out of you!) and then visited the afternoon feeding session at the orangutan sanctuary. We ended up staying at the feeding platform for an hour being entertained by 3 orangutans - a huge alpha male, a female who decided to make her way through the crowds, which was met with a mixture of both delight and fear by everyone, and another, smaller male who so wanted a banana but was too scared of the alpha male so he would be swinging from the trees getting a little closer each time.  In the end the alpha male chased him off! There was also a cheeky macaque monkey who kept trying to get a banana but the alpha male would hit him every time he got near.

We all really enjoyed our visit and are returning tomorrow to see the morning feed as well.

Borneo - Sandakan: Wednesday 16th May

Today we left Kuala Lumpur and flew nearly 3 hours to Borneo.  Our first stop in Borneo is Sandakan to visit the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary.  Our hotel is right next door to the sanctuary- the rooms are actually little chalets dotted around a large lake.

As we didn’t arrive until 4pm we just sat outside our chalet enjoying the views and listening to the sounds of the jungle.

Whilst listening to all the weird and wonderful sounds of the jungle we spotted something in the water and on closer inspection, after guesses of a water vole and a snake, we discovered it was actually a water monitor lizard so that was our first bit of excitement of the day seeing our first Borneo creature!

Although it is lovely to hear all the jungle noises it is also freaking me out a bit! Some noises are so loud they sound like they are in the room.... and I was right! As I write this there is a small gecko lizard running sideways along the wall!! I have taken the picture below from the safety of bed with a zoom lense.

Kuala Lumpur: Tuesday 15th May 2018

Today I had booked a food tour with a local guide.  It was originally going to be an evening tour but he asked to move it to earlier in the day so we met him at 11am at our hotel.  We made our way to Kampung Baru, a traditional Malay village in the centre of Kuala Lumpur. The area is a mixture of old wooden houses, food stalls and simple shops and is known for its traditional food.  

Our first stop was to try a different version of Nasi Lemak which we tried yesterday.  It was from a very basic restaurant where they served the food out of tubs and somewhere we would never of tried on our own! We tried two plates between us - one with cockles and the other with dried soya beans and it was very nice.

We walked round the area trying a number of different foods from the stalls, and then walked through a wet market where the locals buy their food, and tasted a number of different fruits along the way.

By this time we were stuffed but our guide wanted us to move on to Chinatown to try some more food. We had a walk around but only tried the Chinese pancakes before we had to give up as we were fit to burst!

It was a good day, but we all agreed we preferred yesterday’s tour more although we did get the opportunity to try some more local food.


In the evening we went to a bar that was on a helipad! As you can imagine it is a popular spot and when we arrived there we no seats available so we just stood and admired the view whilst we had our drinks.  Then one of the waiters come over to say they had a table for us on the other side but when we went there we could only find a reserved table available which was right in front of the twin towers (so pretty much the best seat in the house). He then told us we could sit there!  Talk about lucky - we think it was the ‘olds effect’ because mum and dad were the oldest there so we think they took pity on them standing - not that we are complaining!