Best plan...let go of details!
The most common word I’ve heard this trip, other than “Sir”, is how lucky I have been! I really have been but it is not without some input of my own! Before leaving home, after a couple weeks of intense planning, I make a choice to see “forward” in the most positive way I am able. One habit I have, before leaving my home, is to pave my way “ahead” of the experience.
I say something to this effect while feeling what it is like for it to be true: “Wow wasn’t that an amazing trip I had next week!” Before going to the airport, before landing in a new city or experience, I choose to focus on how it flows, connects, supports and generally brings me in touch with a lot of joy!
Native American elders I’ve met as well as healers from the Philippines asked me “how” I go to the mountains to go camping. How? What they suggest: ask permission from the nature spirits! They won’t no but it’s a sign of respect and aligning energy before going to the mountains.
Years ago, I met a fly fishing guide with a Zen twist. Similar to advice on asking for permission, he guides people to breathe, relax, find their center and connect with the natural environment before they will have success fishing! His sense: bring the hectic energy and multi-tasking energy from your city life and nature can feel it!
What the Shaman have suggested….come in calm and centered, ask permission, and nature will reveal itself to you! It’s as if nature can feel your presence and whether you fit or not.
When you feel harmonized with nature, magic happens!
Seeing the "Big 5"...
People come to the Kinabatangan River searching for the Big 5! Check those off the list!
I don’t have a list. I simply want to experience! I’d hoped to see a tarsier! And it happened! One of my guides has been guiding for 15 years, he’s only seen one! I saw it my first night in Sepilok! That’s not on the “Big 5” list!
The Bornean Orangutan, the Bornean Pygmy Elephant, the Proboscis Monkey, the Estuarine Crocodile and the Rhinocerous Hornbill…those are the Big 5! The tarsier is not! But it was awesome!
Flowing!
At home in Colorado, I worked hard and diligently to nail down details for my trips…yes, plural. Traveling single, they charge for two people minimum. One by one, I contacted places I wanted to go, coordinated with joining other groups, arranged or learned how to make my own transportation and then felt pretty good about the plan. Once the first place was solid, the others fell into place.
Then, things changed! Uncle Tan’s was picking me up after picking up a couple other people. When they arrived, I was the only guest. The others had canceled at the last minute so they honored the cost they had quoted. I had all guide services to myself and acce s to all guides for any question! They grew up in the area or have guided a long time and were amazingly knowledgable!
After arrival and orientation, we set out on a sunset safari followed by a night safari….4 1/2 hours with a guide to myself! First thing we saw on the river: a crocodile! Before leaving, I saw wild orangutan in the trees along the river but also spotted something they haven’t seen. Walking back from the bathroom one evening in the dark, I flashed my light up to see if I could spot a frog at eye level. No frog but there in mid air, floating toward me, was a flying squirrel! It was so small, I thought is must have been a flying mouse! It was the Hose’s Pygmy Flying squirrel…rare indeed! Lucky! Yes, right!
More Magic!
So many little things showed up! River otters, helmeted hornbill’s, the slow loris, elephants…and more.
Traveling from Uncle Tan’s was a bit confusing! We’ll drop you at a bus stop but maybe somebody will drive you. A bus every 30-40 minutes…so I sat for an hour waiting and NO bus. Then a man walked up, asked me where I was going and offered to drive me for a few ringgit! He dropped me at the crossroad. Same thing! Hour of waiting then a man stopped…he drove me directly to my new hotel in Sukau! Over and over…little things!
Today, from Sukau, Greenview hotel drove me all the way to the bus stop. The driver then sat with me waiting 45 minutes to make sure I got on the correct bus!
Arriving in Lahad Datu, I received a concerning message! I had this end of the trip, my final stop in the jungle, all confirmed. But today, they wrote and told me that we would not be here in time for the 1:00 bus, I’d need to take the 2 o’clock bus. But I couldn’t find one! I walked, talked, called and asked questions even walking to a loosely named “bus stop”. No doing. The day I leave, they have no 2 o”clock bus. ARGGGG! Tired, hot, disappointed and frustrated, I didn’t know what to do?
They offered a private car to drive me and get me here in time…cost would be 3 1/2 times the cost of my hotel in Sukau! And that is a discount! I told them I was disappointed and only made these arrangements after they told me it would work!
Response: after discussion, we will provide the driver for you at no cost to you! Such an honest gesture!
Right timing, listening and at the ready!
At the end of the day yesterday, on my final boat safari, we spotted the Rhinocerous Hornbill. It was flying overhead and I was able to capture a shot! You can see where the name comes from! From the bird chart, here’s what they look like up close!
And then this happened in the Oxbow Lake
Leaving the lake, we spotted a fishing eagle. Then another. We sat and watched when one started turning around on the lake! I had my camera ready. Here’s the sequence I got. Not great but you get the idea!
Yes, it caught the fish!
Oh....almost forgot!
Before visiting here in 2009, I had never heard of Pygmy Elephants! Then, I saw tracks from one. Since then, I’ve wanted to see one!! Before now, I had never had the opportunity! This time, I heard there was a good chance of seeing elephant upriver.
Our first afternoon river safari in Sukau, we headed upriver. Tall grass on the sides of the river dwarf’s the elephants. People report seeing grass moving but not seeing elephants! Adult elephants will be somewhere around 2.3-2.5 meters tall. At 6’4″, I’m roughly 1.9 meters tall. So, not much higher than me!
So far, I’ve spotted and experienced so many amazing things. Seeing an elephant would be icing on the cake. But we didn’t see one.
They cross the river twice a year. The afternoon I arrived and headed up river, this was the moment they chose to swim across. We spent a couple hours watching three groups of elephants totaling over 40 swim across the river! Amazing!
Tomorrow, I head into the Danum Valley. I’ve been looking forward to this for ages!! Now, it’s here. They pick me up at my hotel, drive me to buy my bus ticket, and then we head into the forest. At roughly 130 million years, it’s one of the oldest original primary forest on the planet. For one…I’m simply looking forward to being in the forest, sitting, listening and feeling! Then, I’ll head back to civilization and a city!
