Travel experiences: Brunei, Borneo

I have been a member of various charities and organisations for years and decided to adopt 2 baby orangutans from the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Borneo so naturally as a sponsor I had to go and see how they were getting on!

I landed at Kuala Lumpar and waited for my connection to Sabah the home of the highest peak in Malaysia Mt Kinabalu.

Borneo is green and lush the rainforest’s were once the home to tens of thousands of orangutans but now the numbers are few due to deforestation as our need for palm oil in our daily diet threatens to wipe out their home forever, some are found and kept as pets as local villagers try to look after them.

I woke early to catch a flight to Sandakan and a short drive to the centre, the volunteers leave food on two feeding platforms twice a day, the centre is in the rain forest and some orangutans are never seen again at the feeding platforms, and others return daily to catch up with friends.

The centre is completely dependent on donations and the babies stay in the nursery for 2 years where they are cared for and looked after by local volunteers, when they have learned their lessons how to climb and swing from the highest treetops, skills they would have learned from their mothers if they had not have been killed, they can then move on to the next “school” where they remain until they are about 15 then when they are ready are allowed to go into the forest where they may or may not be seen again.

The sights of the young ones eating bananas and playing with each others does tug at your heart and when they look in your eyes you can see they are telling themselves “hey you look like me”.

There are other primates along the river banks of Borneo but some are hard to see, macaques are common and the proboscis monkey with its big nose will try to get close to you to steal anything in reach.

As the day was nearly over I said goodbye it was hard to leave such a tranquil place where tragedy and sadness had sealed the fate of these adorable orange babies.

The next days I was off to Brunei, I have always had a fascination for ornate architecture and have visited most of the worlds Mosques, but the gold dome ones in Brunei were the ones I was eager to see.

Brunei is one of the smallest countries in the world and one of the richest, it is a reminder of colonial British legacy, the economy is from oil from offshore wells, so as long as the oil lasts the rainforest’s of Brunei remain safe.

This is a strict Muslim country so if you wish to stay here you must remember there is NO ALCOHOL it is virtually unobtainable and they search you at the airport to make sure you are not bringing any in, there is NO NIGHTLIFE so early nights are on the agenda.

Hotels are rare there are only a handful and if you want one on a beach there are only two but if you have some cash then stay at the opulent Empire Hotel it cost over $1 billion to build and no expense was spared the sultan himself was involved in its initial plan, it has a magnificent beach.

Sight seeing was next so decided to find a guide in the hotel who would take me to the best mosques, it was Friday so was not allowed inside the prayer calling had begun “allah aw akbar” I was informed that the chandeliers inside the Jame’Asr Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque were Italian crystal and worth over 1 million, the wonders were outside, the main dome was solid gold as were the spier’s the beauty as the sun shone on the reflective gold was a sight to remember.

This little country in the south china sea is worth a visit once in your lifetime!

Take a trip to Sepilok you too will come home with more than memories.