Traffic in Sabah has its hairy moments now that texting is all in vogue. I told him how I had had cataract operations on both eyes and now I was eagle-eyed. This comment was taken literally with great surprise, so I had to say it was just figurative phrasing.
Lahad Datu airport is a small affair where Tabin Wildlife Reserve also has its office. Mr. Ahli shouts us a kopi susu (milk coffee) in the airport which has unexpected free wifi. Next, we meet our super guide Mohammad - bright, bouncy, full of energy and a mine of information. As usual, Gen is quite a surprise as the photographer, with me as the wrangler, spotter, ears, and helper.
The drive into Tabin entails a massive back-to-school traffic jam, then paved road, and the final hour on unpaved road through huge tracts of palm oil plantations. Many of the workers are Indonesian. The work is tough, plenty of snakes, and the trees fruit or have harvestable fruit every fourteen days.
We drive past established plantations and expanses of tiered, cleared land, where the soil is being replanted and fertilised with palm oil compost. Hybrid cultivation now means that fruiting maturity can be reached in a mere couple of years as opposed to previously waiting 5-10 years.
Pig-tailed macaques and long-tailed macaques bound along in front of the minibus or watch us warily from the roadside.
The Lodge is a former research centre, turned over to tourism in 2003. The location is attractive to wildlife because it is at the juncture of secondary rainforest and monoculture, whilst a small core of primary forest is hidden deep within the reserve.
The Lodge is composed of lovely buildings spread beneath the forest alongside a rushing river where riverside rooms are perched with balcony over the waters. The tropical jungle feel is heightened with wooden walkways, open, breezy construction, dark brown wooden fittings, and ceiling fans.
Delightful staff, bright and cheerful look after us really well.
Straight away, our guide takes us to a tree of the lychee family. On the trunk sits an amazing colourful lantern bug, one of three species in Borneo. The nozzle nose gets it into the sap of the tree.
Our first night drive heads out in an openbacked truck. Our guide stands up in the back with a yellow spotlight attached to a car battery. The rain has cleared, the temperature is cool, the air is full of the forest scent - the full moon peeps out from the clouds. Cicadas emit strident noises. A leopard cat hunts by the side of the road. Pure magic.
Suddenly, the guide spots a bull elephant in the bushes beside the road: we see a dark shape merge effortlessly into the bushes and are left with fresh dung pats and the unmistakeable smell of fibrous matter from the rear end.
Second day.
Up early, we do a morning forest walk following elephant tracks to see gibbons and hear them hooting and duetting. In between rain showers, we bug hunt during the day and find a katydid, a tiger leech wriggling in anticipation of our blood, a pill millipede which defensively rolled into a ball, and a massive web with equally massive horned spider. Feeling a light sting on my back, I extracted a brown leech from my back and casually flipped it away without a wimper!
Massive downpours all day, bring the waters from higher ground rushing downriver. With river levels rising, staff come out to sit below our room, monitoring if we need to temporarily evacuate our room.
The rain clears in time for a brilliant afternoon drive through golden late afternoon light into dusk. Standing proud, the koompassia or mengaris tree is spared execution in the deforestation because it is hollow thus not considered of value, although bees love it because the very smooth bark deters raiders and makes the Bornean sun bears work hard for their sweet treats.
We spot a variety of wildlife, including crested serpent eagle; bearded pigs; and a range of animals, including monkeys waiting for the plantation's solar-powered electric fence to be turned off at 6pm. Then in they go to raid the oil palms for fruits.
At dinner, we are enthralled by a cheeky gecko slipping its nose under the fruit dessert cover and slurping fruit juice.
Our night walk to go bug hunting proves such fun, with so many different species. Highlights include: finding delicate lizard, blinking ashy tailorbird, beautifully camouflaged huntsman spider, oh so delicate flower mantis, and a bush with little fingernail sized froglets on every leaf. The backdrop soundtrack for all this activity is a spectacular symphony of frogs.
Third Day
With a mischievous smile, Mohammad brings a durian fruit to show us. Using a cleaver, he points out the neat lines between the spikes which make it easy to dissect.
The fruit, much loved by orang utans, is soft inside, smelling of shit. Scooping out the fleshy pods, we appreciate the smooth and creamy taste. However, we are left with funny shitty smell and aftertaste. I hold my nose, consume for Queen and country, and decide to stick to durian ice cream. Smells like Hell; Tastes like Heaven.
The day drive takes us out for more wildlife spotting: highlights include female orang utan with baby swinging down from the trees at the roadside; and a Marten - apparently packs of them have been known to attack humans. Also spotted were Civets - one species is known for digesting coffee beans which are then collected, after passing through the back end, for a special tasting, exorbitantly priced coffee.
Ascending the step into the truck, Robert exerts enormous pressure on already taut trousers: there is a loud ripping sound, and voila, deluxe airconditioning for his right leg!
Our second night of bugging extends long after 10pm. What a treasure trove of insects and wildlife we find, including harlequin frog; a third lantern bug species, completing the hat trick of Bornean species on the wall of the cookhouse; a giant thorny stick insect male reacting with threat posture; a hairy, russet-coloured huntsman which had lost a couple of legs in combat; another huntsman with an eggsac; an unfortunate bush cricket with parasitic mites; and a moth with a transparent band on its wings.
Fourth day
In clear weather, we drive through sub-primary rainforest towards Sepilok Orang Utan Project's release areas to a lookout tower. As the forest becomes thicker and thicker, the temperature in the half-light of the understorey becomes cooler. Wreaths of mist waft strong earthy scents. We spot a magnificent jungle fowl cock which is the ancestor of our domesticated roosters, a good flyer and famed for cockfighting prowess.
We stop the truck and pick 'pakis' (jungle ferns) to be steamed with garlic for our meal later. The food at the lodge is tiptop Malay - beef, prawns, chicken and fish served with all sorts of herbs and spices such as galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime, plus delicious vegetables.
We asked about the story of the Australian vet trampled by a bull elephant in December 2011. She insisted on getting close to the elephant which was in musth (mating frenzy), and she even got nasty with the guide when she was told to stay back. Refusing to follow the guide, she went too close, taking flash photos. When the elephant charged, she dived into the jungle instead of staying on the track. The angry animal ignored desperate attempts by the guide to deflect attention to himself, but focused on the origin of the irritating flash, then gored her with its tusks. Mohammad was part of the team that brought the body out of the forest.
He recounts his experience walking on the track with tourists and meeting an orang-utan female with baby. She raced towards them and reached out to grab M.'s water bottle, unscrewed it, took a sip, gave some to the baby on her back, then tossed the bottle.
M.'s uncle recounts how many years ago, local villagers were amazed when David Attenborough decided to climb up a tree and sit in an orang utan's nest for several hours to film.
Attenborough and Steve Irwin were childhood heroes of Mohammad, bringing Borneo wildlife to the world stage in the BBC, Animal Planet and Nat Geo programmes.
Fifth day
Relaxation is the spirit of the day. We go to have a soothing footbath in hot water infused with galangal, turmeric, lemongrass, and other herbs. Little tuff stones are included in the bowl for us to abrade dead skin off our feet.
Also on the menu is a mud mask facial using volcanic mud from the nearby volcanic wallow used by local wildlife. The mud dries and I feel itching as it does its best to banish wrinkles.
Later, we dry our feet; rinse off the mud; and drink chrysanthemum tea whilst chatting with Mohammad and a family of Bostonians from Singapore.
Our guide introduces us to exhibits in the room, and gives us a demonstration of how shamans used to use their shaman stick complete with orang utan skull.
The assembly room we are sitting in also has a memorial stone for the Australian vet killed by a bull elephant. The story gets retold with details of the vet's friend being in massive shock, but later urging the vet's lawyer father not to sue because it was the vet's fault.
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