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Sipidan Island

SCUBA, I love saying the word. Well this island is an absolute treat for the underwater oxygen enthusiasts, and only 176 permits are given here a day. Exactly 176? Probably less.  Can you smell the exclusivity?   It's because they do not want to ruin this little gem with me, the tourist. It's diverse, great to look at, and there are a lot less people taking shark selfies.  You can also stay on a diving/oil rig here with artificial reef underneath.  It's great to chill on the rig and look down at the ocean and wonder, would it be a world record cannonball from here? I mean the water is crystal clear, so I'm sure you'll be fine.  So what is even in the water?  Well,  groupers, hawksbill turtles ,3,000 species of fish, barracuda, mantra rays, eagle rays, hammerhead, reef, and whale sharks.  Apparently there are whale sharks, I wish you good luck on your hunt for one.

Sepilok Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre

We all know the major attraction for Borneo. No? Big? Monkey? Ginger?  Well, with the destruction of the natural habitat (Yes, even in Borneo) you will be hard pressed to see this ginger ninja in the wild.  Jungle treks are absolutely worth the adventure to see the orangutan in the wild, but if you do not see them on your wanders, or are pressed for time, Sepilok Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is the place.  There is a feeding platform set up for the orangutans so you can watch the gingers enjoy a light snack, whilst learning about these fantastic apes. It's awe inspiring looking at these creatures up close and seeing how much alike we are.  Wait, what's he doing?  During my visit the male did enjoy some feeding platform based sexy time with one of the females.  They didn't even mark out a splash zone on the floor. Unbelievable

Gunung Mulu National Park  

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Limestone enthusiast jump for joy,  have we got a treat for you. Wait, your not one? What about a fan of the documentary series Planet Earth? Maybe I should have gone with that first.  Scenes from the series were taken of the limestone pinnacles on Mount Api in the park.  The Pinnacles Summit Trek is a 3 days/2 nights trek leading to the view of the Gunung Mulu Pinnacles, which usually begins with a casual two hours boat ride from Melinau river to Kuala Berar.  It's Borneo, we are in jungle trek country, so get you water bottle full and skin prepared for light nibbles by the local animals. You'll have a casual 8km walk to base camp, before a hopefully restful sleep for the trek up the day after.  Sleeping in the jungle is a surreal, but not exactly peaceful experience, I mean there are a lot of shouty things at night.  What was that on your leg?! I'm kidding, this is great.  The trek up is no joke, as you scale across bare rock high up in the canopy, there are vertical climbs with rope and shaky ladders, a few people from the group did turn back. If you do make it it up, first of all, well done you, now enjoy the views, carnivorous plants and my David Attenborough impressions to make it worth while.  Other stars of the Gunung Mulu National Park include Deer Cave, one of the largest cave passages in the world,  Sarawak chamber, one of the world's largest chambers and Clearwater cave which is one of the longest cave systems in South East Asia. Big caves is the main theme.  What do we get with caves?  Correct! A bat fiesta. Do we have to count them again or can I just say there are millions?

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Gomantong Caves

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Friend of the country the BBC's Planet Earth enjoyed filming in Gomantong Caves, it's definitely full of life.  Because the bats, cockroaches and other insects enjoy the cave so much, the do tend to make toilet inside.  It's a lot of toilet. One could say it's a cave full of shit. Get your headtorch ready as well as your nose because it's a great place to investigate. The joy of the headtorch is that you do not have to look at the floor the whole time, the bad news is that you may feel an inquisitee insect on your legs. It's fine, just look at the walls, which are also covered, but at least these cockroaches scurry away from the light.  Did I make it worse? It's a great experience and even if you do not enjoy the company inside, you'll appreciate fresh air for quite some time.

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Kinabatangan 

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Close to Gomantong Caves, a river ride, (It's not a cruise) up by longboat gives you the opportunity to see Borneo's monitor lizards, crocodiles, hornbills and kingfishers.  As you cruise up the river every floating log will seem like a crocodile and you'll be convinced you saw an orangutan in the tree's. I didn't see it, it can't be confirmed.  Jungle fever may be getting to you.  After the boat tour, you can relax at Kinabatangan jungle camp where the guides will talk about the pygmy elephants, orangutans and proboscis monkeys.  In no way should should you say that the proboscis monkey looks like he has a knob for his nose.  For starters, knob doesn't really translate well, and you have to go through the whole charade of explaining it.  At least that's what I heard from a friend. After making friends with the guide, you can go on a night walk into the jungle, it's fantastic to see all of the nocturnal creatures at night.  I mean, by seeing, I mean it's great the guides pointed out the animals to me.  All, I'm saying is the monkey is literally a knob head. Tough crowd.

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Mount Kinabalu

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Are the rock fans still here? I knew they would be, entering the ring at 4,095 meters above sea level, Mount Kinabalu is the highest mountain between the Himalayas and Papa New Guinea. With paths that are actually maintained this mountain is easily accessible to the novice mountaineer. No need for the oxygen tank or endless supply of rope. The hike up is a botanists delight with thousands of species of plant and the 1,200 varieties of orchids.  You botanists want more? Well, drink in the largest mosses in the world.  As you meander up the mountain there is always a chance to play the game, did I just see an orangutan? For the mountaineers it's possible to make this climb in one day, but hey, we want to slowly appreciate all that Borneo has to offer, so it's a two day adventure. Shut up. It's not because I have a stich already.  You ready? 1,2,3 rock club! No? Anyone?

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