I have always wanted to visit Borneo to see the orangutans, particularly after hearing my grandparents talking about their trip there when I was younger, and also as it is one of only two places in the world where orangutans live in the wild.
I had a few days spare on my trip so decided to make a flying visit to Malaysian Borneo!
I decided to do a tour in sandakan in north east Borneo with a guide as I didn’t feel safe going there alone.
I chose to go to turtle island, the orangutan rehabilitation centre, kinabatangan river and the gomantong caves on a 4 day search for wildlife!
Once I had finished my tour of Cambodia through to Vietnam I got an early flight to sandakan via Kuala Lumpur.
Turtle island
On the first day of my tour, my tour guide picked me up early from my hotel in sandakan and we then went to pick up two ladies from New Zealand who were both called Tash. He took us to the jetty where we boarded a speed boat to turtle island, which took 1 hour.
I slept most of the way there, but whilst I was awake I saw the tiny water bungalows where the locals lived and also many pretty desert islands on the way.
We arrived on the beautiful Selingan island, which is actually one of 10 islands that make up the turtle islands.
3 of these islands are Malaysian and the other 7 are part of the Philippines, but Selingan island is the only one which allows a few overnight visitors.
Every night the sea turtles come ashore onto the islands to lay their eggs, and the park rangers then collect these eggs to keep them safe until they hatch, when they are then released back into the sea.
Luckily the guide helped me carry my massively heavy backpack across the sand when we arrived at the island, and I checked into my chalet for the night.
Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Wanderingwhitbymermaid: Borneo - Turtle island
.I had a few days spare on my trip so decided to make a flying visit to Malaysian Borneo!
I decided to do a tour in sandakan in north east Borneo with a guide as I didn’t feel safe going there alone.
I chose to go to turtle island, the orangutan rehabilitation centre, kinabatangan river and the gomantong caves on a 4 day search for wildlife!
Once I had finished my tour of Cambodia through to Vietnam I got an early flight to sandakan via Kuala Lumpur.
Turtle island
On the first day of my tour, my tour guide picked me up early from my hotel in sandakan and we then went to pick up two ladies from New Zealand who were both called Tash. He took us to the jetty where we boarded a speed boat to turtle island, which took 1 hour.
I slept most of the way there, but whilst I was awake I saw the tiny water bungalows where the locals lived and also many pretty desert islands on the way.
We arrived on the beautiful Selingan island, which is actually one of 10 islands that make up the turtle islands.
3 of these islands are Malaysian and the other 7 are part of the Philippines, but Selingan island is the only one which allows a few overnight visitors.
Every night the sea turtles come ashore onto the islands to lay their eggs, and the park rangers then collect these eggs to keep them safe until they hatch, when they are then released back into the sea.
Luckily the guide helped me carry my massively heavy backpack across the sand when we arrived at the island, and I checked into my chalet for the night.
Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Wanderingwhitbymermaid: Borneo - Turtle island
.
