Day 323- Turtle Islands, Borneo

TURTLE ISLANDS (20/11/09)

Before setting off to the jungle we were first spending the night on the island of Selingaan, one of Borneo's three Turtle Islands. Since the islands are off the coast of Borneo, well out to sea we were surprised when our bus dropped us off at this tiny river port.

Nevertheless we were assured that we were in the right place and sure enough, after about half an hour, a boat arrived to take us to the island.

The boat set off at break-neck speed down the narrow river and we all thoroughly enjoyed both the ride and the scenery.

After 20 minutes on the river we still didn't know how we were getting to an island in the sea. However all of a sudden we shot out of a narrow estuary and into the Celebes Sea.

The excitement of the river combined with the monotony of the open sea (and an early start) was too much for Adam and he allowed the small waves to rock him to sleep like a big hairy baby.

On arrival at Selingaan Island we were amazed to find that for the first time in several days it wasn't raining- in fact there was sun!

Not wanting to waste the opportunity we headed straight for the beautiful beach which encircles the tiny island and provides the turtles with their nesting ground.

Elinor borrowed some snorkelling gear and was straight in the sea looking at the wide variety of fish that live on the reefs around the island.

More interested in exploring than swimming Adam and Liz set off around the island. Some times of year are better than others for seeing the turtles and we were here in low season. Because there was the chance that we might not see any turtles at all we were both looking out for signs that they were about. Here we found a very good sign, very recent turtle tracks, perhaps from the night before.

Another good sign, a hatched turtle egg shell.

Despite these optimistic signs we had to wait until nearly 9pm until we finally got the call from the Rangers that a female was laying on the beach. We hurried out to the beach as quick as we could and were over the moon when we saw what we had come here to see- a female Green Turtle laying eggs on the beach. Liz had been desperate to see this since we tried, and failed, in Costa Rica all the way back in March so you can imagine how happy she was that we had finally done it so near to the end of our trip.

During the egg laying process the female goes into a kind of trance, oblivious of movement and noise around her. This is the only reason that tourists such as ourselves are allowed to get so close during this sensitive moment. The Rangers must judge carefully- if she is disturbed before she starts laying she may return to the sea without laying at all.

As she finished laying her eggs the Rangers allowed us a quick look at the whole turtle.

She really was huge, for an animal so at home in the sea it takes an immense amount of effort to drag their heavy shell all the way up the beach to lay the eggs in the safest possible place.

In the Turtle we were watching laid 84 eggs. Green Turtles are an endangered species due largely to bad fishing practices and pollution. To give the eggs an even better chance the rangers remove them immediately from the beach and take them to their hatchery. Here they bury the eggs in a similar way to the mother but away from unusually high tides and protected from predators.

There is quite a rush after collecting the eggs- they must be buried again within two hours to stand a good chance of growing into a hatchling turtle.

The final part of our evening's Turtle experience. The days hatchlings, from eggs buried around 50 days before, were brought to the beach in a basket. At the edge of the sea they were tipped onto the beach where they scuttled into the sea. Probably only one or two of these baby turtles will manage to survive the harsh sea world and become adult Green Turtles but if they do there is a high chance that when their turn to lay eggs comes, it will be on this same beach.

Day 322- Sandakan, Borneo

SANDAKAN (19/11/09)

We needed a day to sort a few things out, not least our hundreds of pictures of primates. We also needed to organise the next stage of our trip, trekking in the jungle. Since there had been a fair amount of rain we had been informed, much to Liz's delight, that there would be a plague of leeches waiting for us. We each picked up a pair of these 'leech socks' which look strangely appropriate in our hotel room which had been (hardly) converted from a hospital room of some sort.

It was fairly inevitable that one of us would put one on our head. Here's Elinor doing her best Wee Willie Winkie impression.

Day 321- Sandakan, Borneo

SEPILOK ORANG UTAN REHABILITATION CENTRE AND LABUK BAY PROBOSCIS MONKEY SANCTUARY (18/11/09)

Most of the flocks of tourists that come to Borneo come here to see one thing- the Orang Utans. We had other things in mind too but the gingerest of the Great Apes was certainly top of our list. Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre rescues orphaned and injured apes before releasing them back to the wild. As part of their rehabilitation they are allowed to roam free, returning to be checked on everyday at set feeding times. These set feeding times also guarantee the tourist hoardes a sight of the Orangs and the money from the vast number of entrance fees is, theoretically at least, put back into helping the animals.

Anyway we joined the hoardes and were rewarded with the arrival of three Orang Utans, two adults and one infant. They are incredible animals to watch and when they, in turn, watch you there is a very tangible intelligence behind their bright black eyes.

The playful and acrobatic juvenile was very proud of his acquisition of a large bunch of bananas.

Liz captured this rather special meeting- this Macaque was clearly very surprised by a huge Orang Utan dropping out of the branches right in front of him.

As the food diminished the other two Orang Utans and most of the monkeys disappeared (along with most of the other tourists) leaving only this female eyeing us suspiciously from half way up a tree. She too disappeared into the high branches not long afterwards and so we reluctantly made our way out of the centre.

We stopped for a drink break just in time- once again the Monsoon rain was becoming more frequent. A 40 minute deluge gave Elinor plenty of time to try a drinking coconut. She was not impressed, they use unripe coconuts to maximise the liquid content but unfortunately at this stage the liquid had a mild, but slightly unpleasant, taste entirely unlike coconut.

Our next stop was at Labuk Bay, a Sanctuary set in the middle of mangrove swamp for the preservation of Proboscis Monkeys. This young male has not yet developed the characteristic nose, but we will include some pictures of fully fledged males in subsequent posts.

The Proboscis Monkeys share their patch of jungle with an almost incomprehensible number and variety of plants and animals- not least these Mudskippers, a semi aquatic fish able to walk on dry land.

As we waited patiently one of the young males came nearer to investigate. It is always an exhilarating feeling getting so close to a wild animal and one we don't think we shall ever tire of.

The source of his interest soon became clear- the rangers had left a small pile of large green beans on the viewing platform rather than putting them with the rest of the food.

Anyway we took advantage of his intimate visit to get a few close up pictures of a wild Proboscis Monkey.

Proboscis Monkeys are fearless and skilful acrobats. They will effortlessly achieve impossible looking jumps and seem to have no qualms about falling several stories before catching onto the lower branches of the adjacent tree.

Exploring the jungle and mangroves on a slightly rickety boardwalk.

It seems that where there is a source of food there is Macaques and Labuk Bay was no exception. For them it was a kind of snatch-and-run affair since they are terrified of the Proboscis Monkeys who are a least twice their size (Proboscis Monkeys are one of the World's largest monkey species).

As if the day had not been amazing enough it ended with us spotting this totally wild Orang Utan. Whilst it had been very special seeing the three at the rehabilitation centre it was still almost a given that they would be there. This lone individual was completely independent of humans and we certainly felt very lucky to see it swinging through the trees in it's natural environment.

Day 320- Indonesia to Malaysian Borneo

FLYING FROM JAKARTA TO KUALA LUMPUR AND THEN FROM KUALA LUMPUR TO SANDAKAN IN MALAYSIAN BORNEO (17/11/09)

Our long stretch of travelling was not over with the train journey- from the train station it was straight to Jakarta airport and on a flight to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital. Our flight arrived after midnight and since we had to be back at the airport for 5am to catch our next flight it was really not worth leaving. Spending nights in airports is never comfortable- they are clearly designed that way- but Kuala Lumpur had an added dimension. Despite the temperature outside being about 25°C the air conditioning was so fierce that we were freezing. Despite dressing up we spent a rather cold and uncomfortable night. Once we had flown to Sandakan in Borneo the next morning and got to hotel we spent most of the rest of the day catching up with some sleep in a warm bed.

Day 319- Train Yogyakarta to Jakarta, Indonesia

TRAIN JOURNEY FROM YOGYAKARTA TO JAKARTA THROUGH THE JAVANESE COUNTRYSIDE (15/11/09)

The next stage of our trip was to be in Malaysian Borneo but in order to get to Malaysia we had first to get from Yogyakarta to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. We decided to take the eight hour train journey and give ourselves a chance to appreciate the beautiful scenery of Java.

Despite the Oriental allure of banana plantations and paddy fields, you still need a good book for eight hours of it.

Some of the farming communities we passed through are so remote that they must be almost completely self sufficient.

As we journeyed the Monsoon which everyone had been warning us was imminent finally arrived. The heavens opened and the ensuing downpour filled us with a sense of Western guilt- we were annoyed at the rain and it's potential to ruin our trip despite knowing how the farmers had been praying for weeks for the life-giving water.

Day 318- Yogyakarta, Indonesia

YOGYAKARTA, JAVA (15/11/09)

Having only seen a small amount of what appeared to be an extremely vibrant and interesting city we decided to spend the day exploring Yogyakarta. What better way to get around than by bicycle rickshaw? We had to hire two for the three of us but it gave us plenty of opportunity to laugh at each other in the rickshaws.

Rickshaws are not just for people.

Not only an inexpensive and ecologically sound way to get around, but great fun too.

We were dropped by the rickshaws at Kraton, the palace of the old Sultan of Yogyakarta. The palace was rather garish, but we spent an interesting hour looking around.

Also at the temple every Sunday is a traditional Indonesian dance which we watched for a short while.

As at Borobudur we were stopped in Kraton by a number of students hoping to practice their English on us. Once again we were happy to help and got talking to their teacher (on the far right) who invited us to visit their nearby school. We were delighted to accept the invitation and set off with our rickshaw riders in tow. Much to the girls' amusement Adam gave one of them a ride up the road in one of the rickshaws.

At the front of the Santa Maria Catholic Girls School, along with our enthusiastic guides.

Having had a tour of the school buildings we posed for a picture in the school yard with our new friends.

Part of the girls' English project was to collect the names, email addresses and signatures of the people that they had spoken to.

Having had a great time at the school we set off once again along the busy streets.

Pedal power cannot match petrol power but the rickshaw riders seemed entirely unfazed by being surrounded by mopeds- unlike Adam.

In the evening we took a short walk to visit a traditional Indonesian puppet show. Since we arrived early we were given a tour of the workshop where the puppets are still hand made using traditional methods.

The finished puppets are true works of art- a shame really that they are only intended to be viewed as shadows.

Accompanied by a narrative (in Javanese) and a traditional musical accompaniment the shadow puppets sprang into life- slowly at first before battling each other in dramatic style.

To enhance the experience visitors are allowed to walk around the other side of the screen. Here you can see the puppeteer some of the musicians in the foreground.