Kinabatangan and beyond

Sorry we haven't put the pics on of Mount Kinabalu or the orang utan sanctuary, the internet went down in Sepilok!
The last few days have been possibly the most amazing dats of our trip! We've been living in a hut on stilts on the Kinabatangan River for the past two nights, which, although scary, has been well worth the money we paid!
We arrived on the 14th with a Canadian couple called Bob and Jan, who were so down to earth, who spoke about travels and where they had been for 3 hours until our first boat cruise on the river. We set off at 4pm, and cruised along the river looking out for wildlife. The absence of a 'zoo-like' environment was amazing, and all the things we had seen on TV and only dreamed about seeing were either flying over us or swinging through the trees alongside our boat. The list of species we saw is almost endless, but to name our favourites, we saw:
Birds: Stork Billed and Sacred Kingfisher, various Hornbills, Red and black broadbill, White chested Sea Eagle, various Storks, and hundreds of other smaller birds.
Primates: Long tailed & Pig tailed macaques, Red lipped Langur, Silver Langur, The indiginous Proboscis monkey, and.... WILD ORANG UTANS!!! This was by far the best part of the boat trips. To see them in the wild was spectacular, and to see a mother and baby was reassuring for the future of this beautiful endangered species. We can't put it into words how gracefull and aesthetically pleasing these animals are. On our last boat trip shortly after sunrise, we spotted a group of three orang utans, a mother, baby, and dominant male. Its so rare to see all three at once as the male usually leaves during pregnancy to find another mate. We trekked through the trees with our fantastic guide, Nelson, who took us to the bottom of the tree that the orang utans were in. The dominant male was fine with us being there, he just chilled out and carried on sleeping. However, the mother became quite territorial and protective of her baby. As a result, she snapped off huge branches and threw them at us, along with peices of fruit! The longer we watched, the louder she shouted, and the bigger the branches became, until we backed off a small distance. At this point she became more curious than concerned, and watched us as we headed back to the boat.
Not too far behind the orang utan experience was when the painstaking search for the Proboscis monkey finally paid off. On the way back to camp on the last evening cruise before sunset, we spotted monkeys on the opposite side of the river. Expecting more macaques, we weren't overly excited, until we heard the unique grunting of the most perculiar looking primate in the world. A troop of around 10 of them were swinging through the trees, then stared at us as if just as fascinated with us as we were of them. Their gracefull movements made them look lethargic, as well as their huge pot belly's making them look like beer monsters! They were so amusing, the males sustain their 'excitement' in the downstairs department for 24 hours! Lucky fellas! The females have the cutest pokey noses in world, where the males noses are large and droop down, the females stick straight out! In this part of the jungle, the bigger the males nose, the more females he gets!
We saw numerous insects and reptiles, including many monitor lizards, and Sara's least favourite, the scorpions that were staying at the same lodge as us!
The Malaysian people are by far the most welcoming people we have ever met! Our guides were so friendly and had a real passion for both nature and the protection of all the animals that live among the people. Last night, one of our guides, Alloi, took us to his family home where there was a huge wedding ceremony for his younger brother. We were welcomed by everyone, and offered us their food, drink, and thoughts about the world. Everyone was so happy, and all the children were so open to us as outsiders, and their curiosity made them extremely likeable and we played with them in between dancing for the bride and groom. The whole village had come to celebrate the occasion, and everyone danced and laughed until the early hours. We were only meant to be there for an hour, but 4 hours later (after talking to half the village), our guides took us back across the river to our lodge.
We had so much fun, and it was the first time we really experienced such a genuine interaction with another culture. The combination of amazing wildlife and equally amazing people made these last few days a truly unforgettable experience.

After our last river cruise this morning, we planned to go back to Sepilok. However, being the spontaneous duo we are, we decided to do a Tony Blair and follow some Americans. It led us to Semporna, where we are now. The reefs of Sipidian Islands is rated in the top five dive sites in the world, so with a fine disregard for our budget, were gonna do it! Due to it being fully booked at the moment, we could only book the dive for the 22nd. So unfortunately, we've decided to spend the next 5 days on a remote island, where the resort is actually in the sea rather than on land, connected by a long jetty. We bumped into Bob and Jan today (the Canadian couple), who said its like paradise. We are promised to see turtles and possibly sharks, which is gonna be awesome!!

So we hope all is well back home and your having as much fun as us,
Missing you all,

Mr & Mrs Azadi

written by  Kav & Sara on February 16, 2009 from Semporna, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
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