Tabin to Lahad Datu

Today is farewell to Tabin and a fast drive in a brand new Toyota 4wd to the Lahad Datu B&B. On arrival, we are served a delightfully presented welcome drink made from the butterfly blue pea flower.

We have booked dinner at the B&B and just beforehand we are told not to go outside because ‘fogging’ of mosquitoes is in full swing – a mobile anti-mozzie machine blows huge clouds of fog into the air. Once the fog has settled, we are served on the balcony an absolutely amazing Filipino-Malay dinner.

Eating off banana leaves, we glug a bottle of Merlot with raw mango salad, aromatic baked fish, and an array of the most delicious spiced dishes; followed by a baked banana with homemade caramel and nuts plus ice cream. That has to be the best meal I’ve had so far.

We retire for the night and drift off to sleep with the thin, then swelling call to prayer of the muezzin from the mosque; and a cacophony of large and small dogs woofing – part of the security for the neighbourhood where almost all houses have strong steel grids across all windows.