I'm not going to bore you to death with all the details that I can't remember, so I'll give you the Dane Clark version. Mr. Clark was a colleague who liked complicated stories summarized into four or five words maximum. All in all, it's been pretty much perfect, with so many amazing things along each day.
Day 1 of the Discovery Sabah Tour -- Go to Mt. Kinabalu Park, go for a leisurely walk in the jungle, with the towering peak looking straight down to you.
Day 2 -- Walk/hike/die for 8 hours up the mountain, but not sore or stiff when arriving at the summit camp. Go to bed at 7:45pm, I think I was one of the last to go to bed. Slept magnificently.
Day 3 -- Starts at 1:30am, climb to the top starting around 2:45am, get there at 5:30 am just in time for the sunrise, get back down by 8am. Have breakfast for a second time. Then continue down all the way to the very bottom, down a different route than which we came up. Officially almost dead, as the sore muscles from the day before finally kick in.
Day 4-5 -- We stay at an amazing jungle retreat, at Kinabatangan. Unfortunately, no one can really walk without pain. Two afternoon cruises on the river, one in the morning, a walk in the jungle somewhere in between. Great food.
Day 6 -- All still in utter pain, as we head to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation/Sanctuary Centre. Amazing morning and afternoon feedings. In between, a bunch of them hiked over to where we were eating lunch in the restaurant. I asked the volunteer honourary warden if they liked Hamburgers or Chickenburgers (that's what most of us had for lunch that day) ... she replied, in a very abrupt manner "I'm not answering that". Anyway, we stay at a gorgeous almost luxury place right beside the Centre. By nighttime and a hour or so in the pool, going up stairs is bearable.
Day 7 -- Selingen Island (Turtle Conservation Island) two islands belonging to the Philippines are right beside us and the beach is a perfect picture postcard, though the snorkeling water was very shallow at low tide. Some turtles, in a massive surprise to all of us, hatched in the sand right beside us and the race was on to get into the ocean. The real action should have really been on the other side of the island, after dinner ..... but we got some bonus action.
After 8:30pm, the drama got fun. On the designated beach away from the snorkeling area, the mother turtle swims up and about half an hour later, she is ready to drop exactly 100 eggs into the sand pit, slowly, one by one by one by one which takes around 20-30 minutes. The park ranger gets his men to notify us and only then are we allowed to come out and watch the magic unfold. After her eggs are all dropped (and unknowingly from her point of view collected by the staff member) she is measured and her ID tag is noted for future reference. In fact, she is a return visitor to lay eggs, as all mothers return to their beach in which they were born. Something to do with magnetic crystals in their brain. Must research this when I get home ... or maybe ask some science teachers ?? :o)
Immediately after, around 73 turtle hatchlings are released into the ocean, two months after the eggs were dropped by their mother. At nighttime, they have a much safer entry into the ocean, since their natural predators would not be aware of them, and after all, it's pitch black, unlike the ones we watched earlier in the afternoon. We are all very, very lucky to see all of this up close and personal.
Day 8 -- Leave the island for a early morning return speedboat ride back to Sandakan. All the local Muslims are celebrating the end of Ramadan and wearing their best colourful clothes to celebrate. Almost feels like Burma again, a chance to take colourful pictures of everyday people doing everyday things. But today is not just any day, it's a holiday and all are celebrating.
We fly back to Kota Kinabula and the markets and the waterfronts are full of even more locals decked out on their Monday best (sounds weird ... I know). Last real day of the tour.
We might go to the cultural village tomorrow and then go kayaking with our tour guide the next day ... as he has some time off. Sounds great, I can get some more exercise while sunburning ... Wow ... sign me up for hard labour and lobster training ...
I'll be back .... just around the corner.
:o)
Day 1 of the Discovery Sabah Tour -- Go to Mt. Kinabalu Park, go for a leisurely walk in the jungle, with the towering peak looking straight down to you.
Day 2 -- Walk/hike/die for 8 hours up the mountain, but not sore or stiff when arriving at the summit camp. Go to bed at 7:45pm, I think I was one of the last to go to bed. Slept magnificently.
Day 3 -- Starts at 1:30am, climb to the top starting around 2:45am, get there at 5:30 am just in time for the sunrise, get back down by 8am. Have breakfast for a second time. Then continue down all the way to the very bottom, down a different route than which we came up. Officially almost dead, as the sore muscles from the day before finally kick in.
Day 4-5 -- We stay at an amazing jungle retreat, at Kinabatangan. Unfortunately, no one can really walk without pain. Two afternoon cruises on the river, one in the morning, a walk in the jungle somewhere in between. Great food.
Day 6 -- All still in utter pain, as we head to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation/Sanctuary Centre. Amazing morning and afternoon feedings. In between, a bunch of them hiked over to where we were eating lunch in the restaurant. I asked the volunteer honourary warden if they liked Hamburgers or Chickenburgers (that's what most of us had for lunch that day) ... she replied, in a very abrupt manner "I'm not answering that". Anyway, we stay at a gorgeous almost luxury place right beside the Centre. By nighttime and a hour or so in the pool, going up stairs is bearable.
Day 7 -- Selingen Island (Turtle Conservation Island) two islands belonging to the Philippines are right beside us and the beach is a perfect picture postcard, though the snorkeling water was very shallow at low tide. Some turtles, in a massive surprise to all of us, hatched in the sand right beside us and the race was on to get into the ocean. The real action should have really been on the other side of the island, after dinner ..... but we got some bonus action.
After 8:30pm, the drama got fun. On the designated beach away from the snorkeling area, the mother turtle swims up and about half an hour later, she is ready to drop exactly 100 eggs into the sand pit, slowly, one by one by one by one which takes around 20-30 minutes. The park ranger gets his men to notify us and only then are we allowed to come out and watch the magic unfold. After her eggs are all dropped (and unknowingly from her point of view collected by the staff member) she is measured and her ID tag is noted for future reference. In fact, she is a return visitor to lay eggs, as all mothers return to their beach in which they were born. Something to do with magnetic crystals in their brain. Must research this when I get home ... or maybe ask some science teachers ?? :o)
Immediately after, around 73 turtle hatchlings are released into the ocean, two months after the eggs were dropped by their mother. At nighttime, they have a much safer entry into the ocean, since their natural predators would not be aware of them, and after all, it's pitch black, unlike the ones we watched earlier in the afternoon. We are all very, very lucky to see all of this up close and personal.
Day 8 -- Leave the island for a early morning return speedboat ride back to Sandakan. All the local Muslims are celebrating the end of Ramadan and wearing their best colourful clothes to celebrate. Almost feels like Burma again, a chance to take colourful pictures of everyday people doing everyday things. But today is not just any day, it's a holiday and all are celebrating.
We fly back to Kota Kinabula and the markets and the waterfronts are full of even more locals decked out on their Monday best (sounds weird ... I know). Last real day of the tour.
We might go to the cultural village tomorrow and then go kayaking with our tour guide the next day ... as he has some time off. Sounds great, I can get some more exercise while sunburning ... Wow ... sign me up for hard labour and lobster training ...
I'll be back .... just around the corner.
:o)
No comments:
Post a Comment