Mayfair Hotel Sandakan

... Musings<br>Who has the ultimate responsibility for the destruction of the rainforest? Should we be blaming the palm oil workers and loggers who are simply doing what they can to put food on the table at home or do we blame corrupt government officials who are making the greatest profit? What is our responsibility in the West? Is it not our everyday practices and habits that are fuelling the demand and need for the timber and palm oil?<br><br>While travelling this ...

... be released to the sea as soon as possible so that they dont burn up too much energy scrabbling around in the sand that they will need for swimming to safety once in the sea. The warden (by Warden we mean the bloke running the snorkle gear rental hut) gave the turtle to us to carry down to the sea and release. This made my day!! We carried Terence down to the sea shore - did a quick photo shoot with him - and set him down on the edge of the sea ...

... the deluge, and within seconds we were in the midst of a downpour so intense we could barely open our eyes and our faces stung with the impact of the raindrops. Thankfully we had remembered plastic bags for the cameras, but with no such protection for us we were sodden through within no time at all (yes, again) with water fast pooling at the bottom of the boat. We saw another frantically bailing out as our boatman somehow managed to navigate down ...

... had a quick look around. The toilets were a good 2 minute walk away down a raised wooden path. There were about a dozen huts for visitors and also a kitchen, dining area and a meeting hut.<br>Most of our down time was spent in the dining area playing cards with the other people. <br>We had a brief meeting to explain our program, followed by a delicious buffet style dinner and then headed out on the boats at about 9pm for our first jungle safari. There was a guide on the front of the ...

... with lids which an be open or closed. This trail was really beautiful and one of the highlights of our visit to this region. <br><br>The other highlight was Lily's cooking! Our host, Lily is Chinese Malay and a truly brilliant cook. The cooler temperature at 2000 metres allows the terraced farms to grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Lily took us to look at the local market <br>stalls and could explain all the varieties to us. She shops here for fresh food ...

... lot. He soon moved on aft** the crowd amassed and we both left happy with our encount** with the man of the forest! We moved on to watch a video about the sanctuary and the work/role they play in the rehabilitation of the orangutans.<br> Picked up by Uncle Tans we then headed off to our jungle camp which would be home for 2 nights and 3 days. Aft** a 2 hour drive by road and then by 4 x 4 through the palm oil plantations, described as a free body massage! We got to the ...

... least the leeches didn't get us! (poor steve) bed time came but it was a short sleep in order to be ready for the morning cruise. we spotted a wild boar, s'more birds, and more elephants (i even spotted one first!). then came the rain. and more rain. so it was time to head back for brekkie. had to leave for kinabalu park after food, so headed off with sarah, our new friend who's a PT for the UHN and knows mutual colleagues of leora. small world. westward we go...

... had been out diving when we left yesterday so we had not been able to get it all finished. Anyhow Vicky the lady from Singamata said it was close so I got her to talk to the bus driver to make sure they waited and sure enought the paper work turned up with time to spare and we set off after an amazing time in Semporna. The one thing i will say though is you would not want to stay long in Semporna town unless you were out diving every day. There is nothing to do and we ...

... hurt animals including the endangered Sumatran Rhino. During that time insde the centre it rained so heavily creating instant floods and the thunder and lightening was the strongest I have experience, actually shaking the wooden building and cutting out the electricity for a while. That in itself was quite a sight and so surreal to get our heads around being in the jungle of Borneo in a huge thunderstorm. However we thought that this was going to be to our bad luck as ...

... la gang, a decide de faire le show off. Il s'est promener sur la rampe du board-walk. Un bon 10 min, tout le monde prenait des photos de lui et il etait bien conciliant. Malheureusement nous n'avons pas eu l'opportunite de prendre une photo de nous avec lui. Certain lui on toucher , nous etions a quelques pouce de lui. En prenant ma douche, j'ai eu l'horreur de voir du sang partout sur la serviette. Panique (une deuxieme fois). Sensue no 2. He bien oui, je ...