Yesterday returned from my eagerly aniticipated trip to Sabah, Borneo

I did the 8 night 9 day excursion, combining the 'usual' haunts of Sukau and Sepilok etc with 2 nights in Danum Valley.

First night in Kota Kinabalu set the precedent. Upgraded to a suite at the Hyatt Regency - get in! Our local agents in Borneo deliver a slip to our room to let us know we are still being picked up tomorrow for our tour. Which is good!

First day in Mount Kinabalu national park. Some light trekking (in the rain)Then on to check in to mountain lodge. Most awesome views of the mountain. The room was well appointed with air con, clean water, hot water etc. Complimentary water (you need it) and a torch to use whilst you're there. trekking includedviewing some rare orchids etc at the Mount Kinabalu orchid garden. Also watched a video in the education centre before some more light trekking in the afternoon.

Second day, poring hot springs. Canopy walkway (girlfriend lost it hahaha) and a sulphur pool. Lots of breeds of butterflies outside the butterfly farm (even more inside). Some wonderful photo opportunities. Then take a light trek to one of the waterfalls at Poring, very refreshing. After Poring it's just down the road to the Tropical Garden, a kind of respite area for injured animals (not dissimilar to Sepilok). Set in the jungle, spot long tailed macac monkeys. Overnight once again at the mountain lodge. The food isn't so good here, quite repetitive evening meal. The packed lunch they give you is ok though and breakfast is tasty enough. Bar serving beers and wine by the bottle, limited choice though obviously. The staff were very friendly, the owner of the site Sonny even inviting me in to his home at midnight so i could watch the football. The malay people are very warm, and i won't forget the experience of crowding round a 14" portable TV with 6 malay people in a while, even if England's performance was as usual, forgettable.

Day 3 - depart Poring for Libaran Island. Quite a long drive across Sabah to a jetty not far from Sandakan. lovely cruise through the Mangrove area out to sea.

It's worth noting at this point that the excusion with Magic of the Orient was superbly organised and implented every step of the way. We had our own personal guide who stayed with us every step of the way for the whlle 9 days. All our transfers were private in a 4 x 4 vehicle, or a private boat. Wonderful.

Libaran Island was very picturesque. Think 'castaway' style. I think there are around 20 lodges on the island. Again well appointed, with air conditioning - quite spacious etc. Again the food wasn't the best, well except the first night when a local fisherman offered us a freshly caught lobster for 40 RM. (about 7-8 quid) bargain! One of the vilage people cooked it in a garlic sauce, very tasty. Again a limited bar serving predominantly beers (stella here!). A wonderful sunset and a good time to catch a rare afternoon of relaxation.

Next day libaran island, again quite relaxing. A morning walk with the guide round the local village and school followed by an afternoon of quiet sun worship. One comment about Libaran is there is a small volume of litter which collates round the island. The village people in Sabah often aren't that well educated about hygiene etc. It wasn't a common problem, but there was litter on LIbaran which did spoil the ambience a little. Late afternoon depart for Selingan Island (turtle island national park)

Turtle Island is beautiful. Attractive beaches and again a relaxing environment. Our guide managed to get us one of few double beds. Room wasn't as bad as i thought, relatively small but it did have air conditioning. Washroom/toilet facilities are shared in blocks. 10pm thw first turtle came ashore, the ranger leading us to the beach to see a huge green mother turtle doing her thing. A very nice moment. He then takes you to bury the eggs in the sand, on then to give you an opportunitiy to hold the baby turtles that have hatcehd that day and to help release them in to the sea. Wonderful. Worst nights sleep of the trip though a family of Geckos living in the room, tippy tappy of feet and their trademark squeek saw off any chance of sleep for me. If you do go, don't go in block B! Food is quite basic, with a small bar serving soft drinks and beer.

Departing turtle islands we saw some pig tailed macacs in the mangrove section feeding on fruits

Sepilok orangutang sanctuary next. They take you at feeding time so you get best chance of seeing them. The younger ones can't feed for themselves yet so they're reliant on the ranger for the first few years. Whilst walking along the boardwalk through the jungle there was one in front of us on the boardwalk. he disappeared up a tree so we carried on walking, and he came down the tree and walked straight past us. Literally 2 feet away as if we weren't there! Lovely day though, when the orangs were being fed some cheeky pig tailed macacs were stealing their food. Very funny

Gomantang caves next, not the nicest experience it had to say. The view was impressive etc, but the smell and the thousands of red and albino (!!!) cockroaches was pretty grim. Not to mention the milipedes etc! when you look up you just see all the bat and bird poo falling down. Saw a RED LEAF monkey or two on the way out, or as the locals call them "david beckham monkey". It's all in the mohawk apparently. One group we met up with later thatr day in sukau who had been to the caves encountered a wild orang drinking water out of a pot hole in the road.

On to Sukau river next staying at the sukau riverlodge. Went on a dusk cruise. Saw the probiscus monkeys (very funny) one fell in the water and nearly drowned. They just launch from the tree and try to cling on to something very clumsy. Saw more long tailed and pig tailed macacs. Lots of birds, including a few different species of hornbill. Also saw two crocodiles underneath one of the lodges who walked off and then swam happily down the river! Not too big though. Although the week previous a plantation worker had his stomach ripped out by one...

Some trekking the day after in the Oxbow lake. Leech central, and the first glimpse of the highly unnattractive and unfashionable leech socks. The food in Sukau is of a good standard, with some live cooking of omelletes for breakfast and steaks/fish in the evening.

On to Danum Valley which is where the WWF field research centre is. Hardcore and pristine virgin rainforest! Some freaky stuff here. Now this is Borneo, this is true borneo rainforest. However 'selective logging programme here', so logging trucks with trees hundreds of years old leaving the compound all hours of the day. Not nice to see, but i guess it's a better fate for the rainforest than the Palm Oil plantations which litter the rest of sabah. The 5 hour odd drive from KK to sandakan and the drive to Sukau highlights just how much of Borneo's rainforest is now pal, oil plantations. Also resent news that there's to be a new 1.5 million hectare palm oil plantation, the biggest in the world, to be construction in Inodnesian Borneo. Very sad.

On arrival in Danum Valley we went straight on a trek and saw 4 wild orangs building nests in the trees. Also a Borneon Gibbon within an hour too, sat outside the lodge watching Borneon Gibbons feeding on a fig tree - romantic! Lodges at DV were very well appointed, the most luxuriouys we had come across. Very spacious, with his and her washbasins. No air conditioning though bizarrely. No glass windows, just moquito nets and it makes for a very relaxing sleep listening to the sound of the rainforest. Lots of honeymoon couples there. Went on a night safari and a "coffin trek" to see a 200 year old coffin and the human remains. Nice! Stop off at a waterfall on the way back. Lots of in DV leeches and those sexy leech socks once again. Leech socks can be puchased at Sukau for 15 Ringitts, a few pounds. Saw lots of freaky insects, HUGE grasshoppers and moths bigger than bats. Weird white and green things and two tarantula species that had to be caught and taken back to the inner jungle. The food in Danum Valley is pretty good, live cooking at breakfast and a good selection. A comprehensive bar serving international spirits, beers, wines and cocktails can also be found.

The Shangri La Tanjung Aru resort is fantastic but you know that already.

Anyone looking at a tour of Borneo really should take in Danum Valley. As far as i'm aware Magic of the Orient are the only operator who can offer it as part of your Sabah tour.

If you're looking for the true Borneo experience rainforest experience then Danum Valley, Tabin Wildlife Reserve and Malau Basin (where they are currently contrsucting a 2km canopy walkway) need to be in with a shout. They're not as well publicised but they offer a better array of wildlife and true rainforest as apposed to small pockets of forest dwarfed by the surrounding palm oil plantations.

What a trip, beaches, rainforests it has it all. Borneo is fantastic.

Sorry for the monster post!