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Two NWS clients embark on a wildlife-filled journey through Southeast Asia
My friend Diane and I have travelled all over the world together, but still we were just a little unnerved with Borneo and our country’s travel advisories. We really weren’t sure what we were getting into when it came to the degree of civilisation (or lack thereof). In the end, we were pleasantly surprised at what we found.
After a rather convoluted flight course from West Papua, Indonesia to Sandakan in Malaysian Borneo over two days (even though they looked so close on a map!) we were met by Jeffrey, our first of three guides in Borneo. Jeffrey would later prove himself to be a veritable fount of knowledge gained over 25+ years of experience, and imbued with the patience of Job.
We had only seven days in Borneo so we wanted to make every minute count. Jeffrey drove us right from the airport to our first encounter with the orangutans at Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, just in time for the late afternoon feeding… I can’t explain how excited we were to have our first sightings of these great apes, even if it was in a sanctuary and on a feeding platform.