Big and Little Paradise

I don’t know what Manukan and Manukit mean but if someone told me they meant Big Paradise and Little Paradise, I would believe them. We woke early and purchased croissants at the supermarket next door – the supermarket, incidentally, is awesome! It even has bacon!! If only I had a way to cook it!! Afterwards we ventured down to the jetty where we booked a seat on a boat out to Manukit Island (Little Paradise). Manukit is approximately 300 meters long and is all of one small stretch of beach where visitors can swim and snorkel out to the edge of a small coral reef. Fish swam up to me to say hello and one cleaner fish did me the kindness of clipping my leg hairs! I found a pair of clown fish nestled in the tentacles of an anemone. I watched them for a while. One fish stayed predominately near or within the safety of the anemone while the other ventured further out to intercept potential enemies from getting close to their territory. There were a pair of smaller brown fish which were routinely chased away by the clown fish. Interestingly, when I reached in with my camera to take a photo the brown fish attacked me (much to my surprise the first time!). But if the brown fish ever got to close to the anemone, one of the clown fish would chase the brown fish away. There is no fixed accommodation on the island but it is possible to camp

A short boat trip away is Manukan Island. Manukan is a slightly larger island with similar characteristics to Manukit except it is also harbours a resort and expanded facilities for visitors. The hillside chalets are hidden by the blanket forest over. While there are many visitors on Manukan, there are more secluded corners of the beach in which to relax. Throughout the afternoon I lay on white sand and swam in the clear water. The water is almost perfectly flat except for the fading ripples caused by the boats transporting visitors to and from the island. If you lay on your back in the water with your eyes closed, the sound of swimmers is drowned out so all you can sense is the warm caress of the sun on your face and the soothing cool of the ocean around you. A mask and snorkel reveals the plenty of fish darting in and around the coral in search of food or avoiding predators. I could have almost spent the rest of my trip on Manukan if not for my desire to see Monkeys and the Man of the Forest.

Stoways: Part 3

The turtles disappeared shortly after we arrived in Kota Kinabalu. They said they were going down to the bottle shop to get some rum but they never came back to the hotel. After their behaviour in Kuala Lumpur I was not surprised by this turn of events. I made some enquiries around town in between trips to the jungle to observe the natural wonders of Borneo. There were a few sightings here and there but no concrete leads. Finally, I tracked them through a local who informed me the turtles had been in contact with a renowned guide and explorer, Paul Nair. But that information came to me too late and  so I departed Kota Kinabalu not knowing where the turtles had gone but somehow sure I would see them again . . . if only when they needed something again.

Reflections on Sandakan

Sandakan is a city you can drive through for 20 mins before realising you are in it. It is a sprawling assortment of small strip shops and spaciously arranged housing until you reach the “city centre” along the Eastern Coast of Sabah. It is hot in Sandakan. Even the city sweats in the salty, tropical heat making everything sticky. Here you will find a collection of grimy buildings with small retail outlets on the ground floor and tiny apartments on the upper levels. You can find some respite along the water’s edge but mostly you have to retreat to an air-conditioned building. There are no great shopping malls or districts in Sandkan as there was in Kota Kinabalu. The markets here are filled with fresh produce and seafood so fresh it is still flipping in the fisherman’s basket when it is sold to you. But the locals are accustomed to tourists none the less and are friendly and accommodating in a way which makes experiencing Sandakan a real highlight of my trip.

Man of the Forest

The word Orang-Utan literally means man of the forest. The brochures tell you the gentle creatures are thus named due to their human –like qualities and behaviour. But what does that really mean? They peal their bananas and slice them up to put in their cereal? I don’t think so. The Orang-Utan sanctuary in Sepilok rescues Orang-Utans from human-settled areas and rehabilitates them for re-introduction into the wild. Visitors to the sanctuary are able to watch scheduled feeding events for Orang-Utans in the first stage of rehabilitation. Tourists crowd the observation deck pointing their zoom lenses at the feeding platforms in ravenous anticipation of a wild encounter. I can only imagine that the view from the feeding platforms would be akin to that of standing in front of a firing squad! However, this does not appear to concern the Orang-Utans who gracefully swing their way down from tree top to platform as easily as you or I would walk from the living room to the kitchen. The first to arrive was a female Orang-Utan with a small baby cupped under her arm pit. The baby was playful and climbed over and around its mother like she was a hairy jungle gym. It was clear in viewing the two together that the mother took genuine joy in playing with her child. She sometimes pulled the baby in and cuddled it to her chest or face. Shortly after the first arrival, a male Orang-Utan joined the mother and baby on the platform. Although the male was larger than the female, there was no display of dominance, nor was there competitive appropriation off food. There was simply harmony. The female lay on her back, the baby climbed over her body and onto her legs and the male joined them on the platform and stroked the female and played with the baby. The male cupped the baby’s head in his hand just in the way a father would his child. He then lifted the baby up by its hands and let the baby swing back and forth before climbing up onto his arm. Watching the three together was just like watching a human family. This was a family which was bound together by love.