Sunday, March 17, 2013

The wonders of Borneo


We first visited the island of Borneo 5 years ago, spending most of our time in Kuching, capital of the state of Sarawak. During the month or so that we spent there, we visited many schools and children’s homes to conduct our free anti-smoking and drug awareness programs, along with another program about initiative and spending money wisely. The reception was excellent with some of the best behaved & respectful students that we’ve every come across, (a far cry from Caribbean schools!).

We also got to visit some of the state’s national parks—beautiful, pristine forests/jungle with lakes, waterfalls and wildlife. However our limited time didn’t permit us to visit one of Sarawak’s best natural wonders: the Mulu caves.

This time around, we made sure we had enough time to thoroughly explore this amazing Unesco World Heritage site. According to the guidebooks, there are several contestants for the world’s largest cave, including the Sarawak chamber that is so big that 40 Boeing 747s could be parked in it without their wings overlapping! Spectacular stalactites and stalagmites abound, and having to access many of the caves via river trips through tropical jungle definitely adds to the overall magic!

The most amazing sight takes place outside Deer Cave at dusk: bats start to exit the cave system in search of tasty flying insects that abound in the surrounding jungle. The trickle soon becomes a ‘wave’, perhaps 50 to 80 metres long, composed of tens of thousands of small bats. The wave continues to twist and undulate as it mounts higher in the sky, creating a really unique spectacle!

Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: The wonders of Borneo
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