Borneo Safari - Wet and wild

Unfavourable weather or not, the Borneo Safari is an event not to be missed.

I CANNOT speak for the rest of the world but 2008 was a good year for me. I got to tick off several boxes on my to-do list, including driving a topless Lamborghini through the hills of Bologna and bit of backpacking in Italy, all without any work involved.

But the highlights came towards the end of the year, when I got to indulge to the max in my passion – 4X4 adventure.

There was a bit of worry, initially. It looked like nature was going to pour cold water on my plans to enjoy Sabah’s famous Borneo Safari, with a weather alert warning of heavy rainfall towards the end of October.

The expected deluge might cause “flash floods and mudslides in low-lying areas and river banks”, the met boys warned, in “Sabah’s coastal areas and the interior”. (Call me an alarmist but wouldn’t that description cover the WHOLE state?)

This was to be a homecoming of sorts for me because I had lived in Sabah for several years in the early 1990s, and the 1992 edition of the Borneo Safari was my induction into the world of hardcore 4X4 (followed by the inimitable Camel Trophy of 1993).

In this hobby of “challenging nature”, rain means tough trail conditions. But that’s regarded as a promise, not a threat. It is something to welcome, not to dread.

Continue reading (incl. pics) at: Borneo Safari - Wet and wild

.