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Sitting in the backseat of the transport van and staring out the window, I saw all that there was to see within the first few minutes out of town. I looked up every now and then, but the only shock I had was at the number of palm tree plantations. Row after row after row, as far as the eye could see, thick trunked bases sprouted leaves and the occasional signage clarifying the property owner. Our driver spoke of Indonesian workers and some local families owning a piece of the fenced in crops, but it seems that a few of the big corporations have made some palm oil profits as well. I am no longer keen on ever owning a Toyota car or buying gas at Shell. This area had once been called the ‘lungs of the world’, but I’m afraid the original rainforest that covered the entire island of Borneo, has now shrunk down in size. But we have enough palm oil for cosmetics around the world.

But there are areas of hope! At 560 km. long, the Kinabatangan River is Sabah’s longest river. The green corridor represents 17% of Sabah’s land area, and 85% of Sabah’s wild orangutans, elephants and rhinoceros. The forest running alonside the twisty waterway is estimated to have the largest concentration of wildlife in all of Malaysia and it is only one of two known areas in the world where 10 primate species can be found. I have arrived at my happy place.

In between modes of transport (van to longboat) I popped into the local store in the village of Bilit. I think it’s important to look into the shops when travelling (even supermarkets) as it helps to understand how the local people survive. The 7foot x 5foot room had five tiers of shelving on three walls. The products ranged from toothpaste (3 tubes), mini oreos (12 packets), tins of sardines, candles and baby powder. I treated myself to an ice cream alongside my bottle of water. And reminded myself not to complain when my local supermarket is out of my favourite granola.

Taking in the breeze as the boat cruised past water rooted trees, I already felt revitalized, as if the pure quality of my surroundings rid me of the shameful palm trees. Houses along the shoreline were simple, with corrugated tin roofs and a front patio. Rubber boots lined the bottom step and I saw chickens scurrying around the side of the house. The couple of locals we dropped off from our boat were full of laughs the entire journey.

Our boat pulled straight up to the steps of a long boardwalk surrounded by trees. Ferns had rooted in all possible nooks while white butterflies danced through the horizontal shafts of sunlight that made it through the canopy. I pulled out my camera when a black and blue butterfly, the size of my outstretched hand, rested on a branch-but of course, he took off as soon as I was ready.

Richard, the owner of the Kinabatagan Jungle Camp stood on the large wooden balcony welcoming us with his smiling staff. Richard’s wife runs the Forest Edge that we just left in Sepilok, so I’ve tapped into the best support system I could have asked for. We dropped our bags into our rooms before an extravagant lunch of peppered beef, green beans, sweet and sour chicken, shrimp salad, barbecued fish with rice and noodles. Having consumed so much food, a short rest was definitely called for, in order to be ready for our afternoon riverboat tour.

I woke to thunderous vibrations and the sound of torrential rain hitting the ground and streaming into little rivulets all around the property. The lightening caused an eerie effect within the trees that dripped and swayed in the quick winds. This thunderstorm was unlike any I’ve ever experienced, and I know I’ve said that before-but it was! It also meant our boat cruise was cancelled until it cleared. I searched for my rain poncho in the meantime, realized I had left it to dry on a chair after the mountain climb-damn I hate the forgetfullies!

Our tour set off when we could see through the rain. I wore an extremely large garbage bag that kept me perfectly dry-perhaps entertainment for the monkeys I was hoping to see. The brown river remained flat though the water seemed to be moving at quite a pace, unlike our boat ride earlier. Our driver directed us around the u-bends as we studied the trees looking for wildlife. We saw one long tail hanging off a branch and then realized that the entire tree was filled with monkeys. And these monkeys were certainly unique as their big noses jumped out even from 50 feet away. Not only does the male proboscis monkey have the biggest monkey honker known to monkeykind, but apparently he’s notorious for gas as well (eating too many greens ya see!)

Our guide’s eye was sharp and he was able to point out snakes, moniter lizards, double hornbills and numerous other birds that I had a hard time keeping up with. The drizzle seemed to bother none of them and I was pleased we managed to get out despite the storm. We returned to camp a few hours later for more glorious food followed. A few wild pigs had strolled onto the property but I was too busy stuffing my face with food that I left my camera out of reach. But they were big black pigs. You can imagine what they looked like.

The morning boat tour set off at 6am and I crossed my fingers that we might be one of the rare and lucky tourists to spot a couple of the 200 known elephants from the area. We headed off to different mangroves and grassy edges that had us ducking our heads under a few leaning branches. It was a more confined water way that made me feel like I was starring in a thriller movie as some crazy tribal warrior was surely hiding behind a tree. A hidden lake opened up and lilly pads covered the surface of the water. We saw plenty of evidence that elephants had been near as the green growth had been trampled down. But we saw no elephants.

We saw the curve of a crocodile’s tail as he plunged beneath the water. We saw more birds, more monkeys and even a baby orangutan building a nest in a tree top (thanks to binoculars). We returned to camp and had some more good food and talks with the team. And then the time came to keep making tracks to the coast, so we made our farewells. I think this is when I might have lost my camera case….with a full memory card of photos. Gulp-my worst nightmare. Luckily, I had backed up all but the morning boat tour. I blame my lack of gooooooood coffee for the recent bout of forgetfullness.

The next blog entry will be covering Semporna & Mabul….otherwise known as beach and diving paradise!