Kinabatangan River, Malaysia - August 2010

Well, what an exciting time we have had. Certainly, our trip up the Kinabatangan River has been one of the highlights of our time in Malaysia. Within a few hours of entering the river we were spotting monkeys playing and swinging in the trees. Cameras poised we scanned and watched. As we progressed we passed small settlements and villages. Mile after mile we motored on. Yachts are able to go sixty miles in but because of some low power wires we only intend to go in forty miles. We met a yacht on the first night which had been up there four days and hadn’t seen an elephant. The sad part was, within hours of him leaving the next morning, we saw elephants right where he had been anchored. Luck played a big part but over the next few days we felt we optimised our opportunities by spending many hours quietly cruising the river and tributaries, forever looking and watching. At one stage Lyn complained of a sore neck from constantly looking up.

Elephants in the wild.......................................................How cute is that!!!


In for a swim...........................................................entry with style

Mother and baby......................................................Young at play

Front row seats..............................................In the thick of the elephants

We were rising and on the water before 6 am, took a break in the middle of the day and on the water again for the afternoon and evening. But we felt we were well rewarded for our efforts. We saw quite a variety of wildlife with the elephants probably being a highlight.

With there being only a thousand pygmy elephants in the world, all of which are in Borneo, we felt lucky to have seen around thirty of them over the week we were on the river. Dynes got some great video footage, especially the sounds of the elephants as they trumpeted and bellowed, rumbled and snorted. We will long remember the feeling of sitting in the dinghy on the river bank, hidden by bushes and listening and watching as twenty wild elephants thundered past. As one big male stopped and stared down at us Lyn said she was too nervous to push the button on the camera. But later we established that although wild the elephants seem used to people and the tour boats get in really close, so soon we too were up close and relaxed.

Morning on the river...................... Evening

Shower time in the rainforest.........................................Tranquil evening

White billed hornbill..............................................Egret


Rhinoceros Hornbill..................................................Red Eagle


Common Egret

One evening we hired a guide, Ahmed, who took us on a night cruise. His skill at spotting wildlife in the dark was incredible and we learnt so much from him. Another guide took us on a bush walk and gave us a run down on the plants and their uses.

Short of giving you all a nature lesson I think I will leave it at that and let the pictures tell the story.

On night safari.......................................................Kingfisher at night sleeping??



Viper.................................................................................Yellow skinned croc


Proboscis monkeys are a common sight..........Dominant male in action


Dominant male...............................One of his many wives

Daryl getting supplies at Sukau's store....................Family settlement

Kota Kinabalu – Sandakan, Malaysia. - August 2010

In Kota Kinabalu we welcomed Dynes and Lyn back on the boat for the third time since we began cruising. It was so great to have time with them again and share their positive energies.
Our time began with a couple of chill out days in the resort marina doing the usual things like sleep ins, pina coladas in the pool, marina café for meals and plenty of time to get addicted to playing cards. Then we stepped it up to include a trip to town to the central markets, the seafood night market and a fabulous day at the Koh Kawi Wildlife Park. Lyn and I have a common interest in photography so the cameras were snapping.


Lorakeets putting on a show


The big nose belongs to the dominant male.....and boy can he eat!!



Gibbon............................................and a sunbear, the smallest in the bear family



Snake and.............................................................at last I get to see a mouse deer



Pretty self explanatory...........great shots Daryl



Rhinoceros Hornbill...............................................an otter, so cute to watch

With provisioning complete we then headed out to explore some of surrounding islands and make our way around to the western side of Borneo. The first few stops were disappointing from a water clarity perspective but overridden by the pleasure of being able to swim and cool off. The first impressive island for snorkelling was an island called Lankayan Island. It was like arriving in paradise after months of muddy water. While I sat on the sideline with a minor ear infection Daryl, Lyn and Dynes spent hour after hour snorkelling the surrounding reefs. The balmy evenings were spent having social games and pot luck dinners with the other yachts at anchor with us. We had a morning at another gorgeous island called Turtle Island where we had a look at the work they were doing to conserve the turtles. After the turtle comes in and lays her eggs they are collected by rangers and reburied in a fenced area. Sixty days later when the baby turtles emerge they are gathered up and released. 3100 were released the night before we were there. Guests stay on the island and watch the laying and releasing. We desperately wanted to be a part of the action but as they won’t allow any boat activity after dark (to give the turtles unobstructed movement) we wouldn’t be able to get back to the yacht, so it was a ‘no go’. Both these islands were close to the Philippine border so there was a naval presence in the area. One cruising yacht accidentally (?) anchored at an island over the border and was given a short shift from an armed, unmarked Philippine patrol boat. Not an experience I want to have so we watch the charts closely.






Lionfish....................................................................Lunch at a deserted island

Next stop Sandakan, a busy fishing port. Fishing port means, yes you guessed yummy seafood. We brows the local market but Dynes and Lyn don’t feel like risking buying seafood in the searing heat of the day although they admit it all looks very fresh. We stick to eating it at local restaurants, with great success. We anchor outside the Sandakan Yacht Club, pay our membership which gives us, apart from the free tee shirt and hat, access to the pool. A welcome relief from the hot days as the harbour looks too polluted to contemplate cooling off in.
We fit in a bit of history by visiting the Agnes Keith Museum and also watch a movie based on a book written by Agnes Keith called ‘Three Come Home’. It was set in WW2 and depicts her experiences in Sandakan during the Japanese invasion. It was interesting and enlightened me as to what atrocities were experiences by the many troops that were here. In Sandakan 2400 soldiers were taken prisoners of war and only 6 escapees survived. The remainder were basically forced into such appalling conditions they died either of disease, exhaustion, starvation or injury, 1800 of these being Australian soldiers.


Fish attraction platforms by the hundred..........View from anchorage in Sandakan


City view...................................................................Pot luck on Cool Bananas

On a lighter note we had lunch at the Agnes Keith Teahouse where they went all out to transport us back in time to how it was for the English in Sandakan the 1930’s.
From Sandakan it is only a two hour motor to the entrance of the Kinabatangan River where our next adventure begins.


Croquet at the teahouse