Friday, April 22, 2016

KaliTravel: BORNEO – Santubong Sunset Cruise, Sarawak


We crossed back over the River Sarawak on the little ferry, in time for a ‘Wildlife Cruise’ trip, that we’d booked at a waterfront tour office, to see the Sarawak lowland marshes of the Santubong Peninsula.

A minibus took us to the Santubong Boat Club a short drive away.

We clambered into a small launch with the boatman, guide, and a friendly North American family with two children – Sue, the mother was born in Malaysia, an interesting lady, she gave us many interesting ideas for future visits, especially to the Sabah region of Borneo.

The wide Santubong river was calm, the meandering mangrove swamps awesome, and the scenery magical.

We were told the mythical legend of Mount Santubong as we slid by the mysterious mountain on our journey towards the estuary.

Our guide explained that at a certain point where the river water meets the salt water from the sea, there is a colony of unique Irrawaddy dolphins; the engine was turned off and we drifted – the dolphins soon came to see us, showing off their jumps and dives.

Following this, we were fortunate enough to spot a white-bellied sea eagle flying overhead!

Further down the river, big mean looking crocodiles lazed on the muddy sandbanks that border the river.

I passively shot photos but my husband tried to attract a croc’s attention… until it slithered into the water towards us, the brute almost the size of our boat! Crocodiles have been known to attack swimmers, and a few months previously one tried to take an adolescent who was bathing just off the idyllic beach that we’d just passed (but by poking his fingers in the animal’s eyes, the boy managed to get away).

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