Arriving into Sandakan, Borneo felt like heading into the wild. The aerial view from the plane was a sea of green, with dense rainforest as far as the eye could see. A change of pace from the amazing beaches I’ve just left behind.
Exiting the airport and being greeted with a set fare taxi rank felt like a novelty after a month of bartering in Indonesia. First thought: I think I love Malaysia already! I hopped in the first queued cab (such order!) and off we headed into the forest.
As the jungle thickened and we had to slow to a walking pace, the taxi driver hesitantly pulls over. “Here you now walk. Just turn left and head up the mountain”. Here we go…I don’t seem to have much luck with airport transfers. I round the corner and to my relief my accommodation is there and waiting with a very warm welcome.
I’m shown to my treehouse at Paganakan Dii Tropical Retreat (complete with air conditioning, an almost hot shower, and just be careful of the very venomous snakes that hang out around here). How cool is this? Apart from the snake bit…
Unpacking, feeling like I’m having my Jane moment, I get to thinking about how I’ve become rather ‘earthy’ in the last month. I realise…
I’ve not looked in a mirror in 5 days – the least of my worries when my Lombok hut needed the toilet to be manually flushed
My white clothes are looking a little tea stained – not the ‘me in a floaty white beach cover up’ vision I had when packing for this trip
I sometimes forget to wear deodorant – Eau De Bug Spray is what I’m bathing in these days
My current top has a hole in it and I pretend not to realise…to myself…
Will London Town ever let me back in???
Unemployed thoughts quickly put to one side, I dump my backpack and head to the Rainforest Discovery Centre for an educational canopy walk. 
They say patience is a virtue, but in the 99% humidity I didn’t do well at hanging around to see the exotic birds and butterflies this walk promised. I spotted one bird that looked an awful lot like a sparrows cousin, and that was about it. The soundtrack however was fascinating enough, and standing amongst trees that have stood for millions of years, as tall as my neck could crane had me in awe.
As there’s so much to do in Sandakan in the little time I have here, I decided to book a driver for the following day to make sure I get everything covered off. Mr Ashrad turns up with his disco light taxi and intense itinerary. We introduced ourselves, he put on Celine Dione’s greatest hits (loud) which was to be the soundtrack of our very own safari today. We saw Orang-utans, Proboscis Monkeys, Sun Bears…this video says it all…
When feeding time at the Orang-utan Sanctuary finished everyone carried on meandering around the walkway, but I was on a tight Mr Ashrad schedule so headed for the way out. Alone now I bumped into this fella…
We were told to always be at least 5 metres away from the Orang-utans at all times, but I couldn’t help having a moment with this beautiful creature before being caught and told to move on.
Thinking I’m now the primate whisperer, I thought I’d make friends with this dude too. Selfie time! 
And then this happens…
Ah yes, the reason for the 5 metre safety rule…
To round off my day I requested that we visit the Traditional English Teahouse for a slice of home comfort. The salad and mayonnaise sandwiches were interesting, but the scones with actual strawberry jam and actual clotted cream did just the trick. Complete with good old Frank Sinatra playing in the background. This day just kept giving. 
Do you have any safari stories? Feel free to share, like, comment, show some love X
@beach_pray_love 
Ah! Jealous. We really loved Borneo and some of the wildlife is incredible. You look incredibly smiley in the videos here! Delighted you’re having such an adventure.
When we were in Borneo we were sat out in the veranda one evening when the hosts spotted an Atlas Moth (google it! They’re amazing and the biggest moth or butterfly in the world) they squeezed with glee and we skipped off into the forest chasing it as far as we could in the dark.
Also in Malaysia, but in Penang this time, I saw a snake and started taking pictures and it kept getting closer until eventually it was about 10cm away and I was taking macro shots of its eyes.
On the way out (we were in a tropical spice garden) the lady asked if we’d seen anything interesting so I showed her the snake pictures and she yelped and told me it was quite poisonous and they always steer clear of them.
If you want a contact for kayaking once you get to Sarawak, I can sort you out! He’s the cousin of the woman we stayed with and is brilliant.
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I think I remember seeing that photo – you didn’t mention it was so poisonous??
I’ve moved on to Kota Kinabalu now, kayaking would have been awesome. Not visiting the river is my one regret – and reason for going back 😉
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