Borneo, without Orangutans

Sabah, Borneo, was wonderful, as I expected, but we never saw any Orangutans in the wild. We saw two semi-wild ones at the Rehabilitation Centre in Sepilok, as well as many young ones still in rehab, but I was really hoping to see at least one in the wild, which is the impression I got from reading birding and mammal watching trip reports. Of course, there are no guarantees when it comes to seeing wildlife, but ... I can’t help but feel somewhat disappointed.

Blue-eared Kingfisher

Long-tailed Macaques

Western Hooded Pitta

Western Tarsier

Nonetheless, we did see a lot of birds, monkeys, civets, two Slow Loris, two Western Tarsier and a Leopard Cat, so I was very happy with these sightings. We also spent the last part of the trip snorkeling (me) and diving (Bob and Alex) on Mabul and Sipadan Islands and there we saw a lot of Green and Hawksbill turtles, as well as reef sharks, fish, moray eels, etc. Alex was disappointed that he didn't see any Hammerheads, but I was relieved.

Our trip started in Singapore where we visited both the Botanic Gardens and the Gardens by the Bay, and I can say with certainty that the Botanic Gardens are much nicer than the Gardens by the Bay. The gigantic artificial trees were just too much for me. We also opted for a river cruise on a bumboat instead of seeing Singapore from the top of the Marina Bay Sands complex, which was the right choice. We saw more of Singapore's neighborhoods at river level than we would have from the top of the overwhelmingly tall, and wide, Marina Bay Sands.

 

From Singapore, we flew to Kota Kinabalu for one night and enjoyed the food at the Gaya Street Night Market. We rented a car to be flexible and drove to Mount Kinabalu National Park and Poring Hot Springs. We stayed in a lovely two-bedroom cabin at the Sutera Sanctuary Resort at Poring Hot Springs, which Alex liked because he had his own room. Alex considered climbing Mt Kinabalu but decided against it because the guide and overnight accommodations on the mountain cost about 600 Euros. It was a good decision because it rained every day we were there, and we only saw the peak on our last day. We had plenty to do anyway: hiking, birding on the canopy walkway and soaking in the Sulphur Springs.

 

Sun Bear

Proboscis monkey

Sunset cruise at Tabin Wildlife Reserve

 

After returning the car in Sandakan, we spent six days in the rainforest, first in Sepilok, where we saw the only Orangutans we were going to see and Sun Bears at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, and then at Sukau Rainforest Lodge on the Kinabatangan River and Utan Rainforest Lodge in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve. The river is good for seeing monkeys, Proboscis monkeys, Long-tailed and Short-tailed Macaques, and Langurs, and we did see plenty of the Proboscis monkeys and Macaques. It is also supposed to be a good place to see Orangutans and Bornean Pygmy Elephants. The former we did not see, as I already mentioned, and as for the latter, we saw only their tracks along the river. The elephants come down from the palm oil plantations to bathe but not at any one specific time (they obviously need wrist watches), so we missed seeing them that particular day. We did, though, see a plethora of birds, crocodiles and smaller mammals, especially during the night cruises and walks.

 

Our neighbor, a monitor lizard

Our last week on Sabah was spent on the islands off the east coast. I thought it would be more relaxing than the three-a-day wildlife tours we took in the rainforest, but we were diving/snorkeling with Scuba Junkie up to three times a day, first on Mabul Island and then Sipadan. The reefs around Sipadan were healthy and impressive, which made me a bit more optimistic about the future of our oceans.

We ended our trip in Kuala Lumpur which reminded me of Singapore but much more reasonably priced. Outside of visiting the Hindu temples at the Batu Caves, we did not do much exploring in KL, but we did do a lot of eating. We found some marvelous restaurants - Din Tai Fung Taiwanese dumplings, Madam Kwan's Malaysian Nasi Lemak and even a British restaurant called Burger & Lobster serving, yes, burgers and lobster.

 

Like I said, I was disappointed that we didn’t see Orangutans in the wild, but I did get to spend time doing things I like doing (hiking, birding, mammal watching, snorkeling) with Bob and Alex. Besides, even if we didn’t see the Orangutans, maybe they saw us, as Alis suggested. I like this thought and the idea of going back to Borneo.

 

 

Cinque Terre in Five Days

Many, many years ago, I planned a trip to the Cinque Terre which included the boys and Oscar. We were going to stay in Corniglia – I found us a house that allowed dogs – and walk to Monterosso one day and Riomaggiore the second day. For whatever reason, we didn't go to the Cinque Terre that year and since I cannot remember what year, I can't remember where we ended up going.

Thankfully, Bob decided we should go this year and, thus, we planned the trip for early April, thinking it would be less crowded and cooler. We were wrong. It was still crowded and did get warm, but not summer hot. I can only imagine how much more crowded and hotter it is in the summer. We also got lucky because earlier this year, the only trail open between villages was the one from Corniglia to Manarola via Volastra, but just before we left, the Sentiero Azzuro between Monterosso and Vernazza and between Vernazza and Corniglia opened up.

In other words, we hiked to three of the five villages. We stayed in Monterosso and the trail to Vernazza was steep but I didn't think it was too difficult, and Vernazza was beautiful to behold from the trail as we hiked in. I can see why it is often considered the loveliest of the villages. The next leg to Corniglia was similar to that to Vernazza but it was afternoon and without shade, it got hot, too hot for me. However, conveniently located halfway between Vernazza and Corniglia is Bar il Gabbiano where we stopped for beer (Bob) and fresh-squeezed orange juice (me). It made the last kilometre or so to Corniglia so much easier.

Corniglia turned out to be my favorite village and not because I had originally planned to stay there. It was just less crowded and felt less touristy. If I return, I think I would like to spend my time here. There's also a great gelato shop, Alberto Gelateria, serving basil ice cream.

The next day we took the train to Corniglia, to the same station that we walked down a googol of steps to the day before. This morning, though, we had to climb that googol of steps and then continue climbing the steep trail to Volastra. On the way, I heard a Red-billed Leiothrix, but did not see it. In Volastra, we stopped for well-deserved drinks, lemon soda and beer, before descending the steep steps and winding through vineyards into Manarola, which like Vernazza was crowded with tourists. Also like Vernazza, it is often considered by some to be the prettiest of the villages. Personally, I thought it looked lovelier from the water than from the trails above. Because the Via dell'Amore to Riomaggiore was closed and the only way to hike there was a short but steep trail, "very, very difficult" according to the woman at the national park office, we rode the train, which took only three minutes. From Riomaggiore, we returned to Monterosso via ferry so that we could see the villages one more time but from the Ligurian Sea.

This trip also included visiting the abbey and beach of San Fruttuoso. Many decades ago, I saw a photo of the abbey and beach and knew I had to visit one day. One day finally came, but I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed. Although the abbey looked just as in the photo, the beach was not as nice. The sand, as at all the beaches in the area, is grey and on this particularly warm Saturday, it was covered with tourists, and maybe locals too. Nonetheless, it was nice to finally see the real San Fruttuoso.

Our trip ended near Lake Garda at Santuario Madonna della Corona. The plan was to hike up the steep pilgrim's trail from Brentino Belluno, but our legs were sore from walking the Cinque Terre, so we cheated and walked down from Spiazzi, an easy ten-minute walk. But, we'll be back when our legs have recovered.