Wednesday, 12 August 2015

BORNEO - WORLD'S THIRD LARGEST NON-CONTINENTAL ISLAND AND A BIO-DIVERSITY HOTSPOT


Although Borneo boasts of one of the largest and most bio diverse landmass of rainforests in the world, yet my first impression was disapprovingly challenged. Our starting point of historical border town Kuching has lost most of its rural heritages in the process of gentrifying - nature has been stripped in place of the flurry of budding industries, and wildlife displaced in the unaware human throng. 

The bed and board choice was wonderfully comfy with the outstanding Borneo Highland Resort giving an immersive, authentic experience. Old-style small wooden chalets with 1-2 bedrooms opening out on the sun terrace are spruced up with sprung mattresses, thick comforters and en-suite shower rooms.  Peaceful it was to observe the undulating Borneo golf course on that full moon night, from my shaded, pillowed lounge on the chalet’s porch.
My husband was still more hopeful to see the greener and wilder Borneo the next day. I couldn’t sleep that night – my heart thrashing the chest and mind introspecting this Borneo decision. Time stood still. I looked out of the window undecidedly – the wind hardened, it was half past eleven!

My notes were spotless as I read in the morning - ‘Borneo is split up into three parts, Sabah and Sarawak which are in the Malaysian part of the island, then Kalimantan on the Indonesian side of Borneo. The sultanate of Brunei is a separate country that sits in between Sabah and Sarawak.’ 

A foggy humid morning greeted us with light spell of rains, we put on the rain coats and boots. Loaded everything aboard and headed to cover Sarawak (and Kalimantan on the next day). 

I have been to a lot of mountains while in India – the ideal visions of the landscape peppered with piles of stones, juniper bushes, white-washed peak, prayer flags carrying worship on the winds – did not match. I was startled to see so much of green on all my sides - pristine nature that defy predictability, deep, dark, steamy jungles to tranquil, imposing mountain tops, where everywhere seemed to be a part of a uninterrupted high definition wildlife documentary.  That was the road leading up to Sarawak highlands. It was euphoric to be able to have my hands wet in the passing fluffy white clouds (I could just lie here all day, and watch them float by with winds stroking my face fondly). What a welcome!
Nature unfolded its untamed wilderness in a significantly less touristy quarter. Every bit the Eden that it was - uncultivated – natural. A treat to all my senses. I could not wait to explore. That night was a sleepless one again – excitement all over. I quickly ran through my notes.

The first time we took the weight off our feet and stared into the jungle in silence, waiting to hear the crash of creaking, breaking branches and see the flash of orange fur - the first sight of an Orang Utan in the wild - was almost supernatural (yes, it is, with so many legends around regarding the orange old man of the jungle and then suddenly when you see – surreal is the correct word). 

There are a number of rehabilitation centres and national parks throughout Borneo where it is possible to do this. Regrettably some of them are awfully touristy (hence, we skipped the Sepilok Orang Utan rehabilitation centre in Sabah and opted Semenggoh in Sarawak which do emphasise conservation and minimise tourist impact on the Orang Utans whilst balancing the fact that they need the MONEY in order to function) .

SEMENGGOH WILDLIFE CONSERVATION PARK

The primary purpose here is to protect, care for and rehabilitate wild animals that have been injured, orphaned, mistreated in captivity or otherwise displaced. Here we observed the partly wild Orang Utan in the wild at afternoon feeding time.

TANJUNG PUTING NATIONAL PARK

Located on the tip of Kalimantan, on the Indonesian side of Borneo, this stunning park is one of the best places in the world to see Orang Utans and other tropical rain forest creatures in their natural milieu as you sail idly down the banks of the Sekonyer river on a ferry.

Kalimantan is a very different innate to its Northern neighbours. More rugged, less developed with far less infrastructure, this is the Borneo that people imagine when they dream of intrepid explorers hacking their way through jungles and coming across undiscovered tribes. 

Sabah, Sarawak and Kalimantan – although all part of Borneo – are all semi-autonomous states in their own individual rights, so each has their own immigration border controls and you will have to go through immigration every time you cross a border. That goes for Brunei as well. Guides and permits are a must while visiting any part of Borneo, and the costs of these will as well as transport are a lot compared to the rest of Borneo or Indonesia.

We also took a night safari along the highlands of Malaysian Borneo – it was two-sweaters and a scarf cold that night and I had swelling and discomfort due to leech bites that morning. Safari was rewarding with some exceptional species of creepy-crawlies to spot but we could not complete the safari and had to rush back – the chills and fever ruined the show. The husband had a wakeful and I, a fever-smitten unconscious night.

The next day, we had our flight back to KL, my body ached but eyes spangled, we both were contented – unbeatably first-hand experience – bagging some spectacular shots to our credit. Two happier souls going back home with oodles of heavens in the heart to share - tasting Borneo was the best thing we ever did.

We went expecting a Borneo…we came back with an experience much grander and more recompensing!

One word of caution that we learned from our experiences - travellers are strongly recommended to be up to date on their routine vaccinations including MMR, diphtheria, chicken pox, hepatitis A, typhoid and dengue fever.