Heaven

Another early morning so we could finish packing and get ready to move areas again. We had a quick breakfast of toast and fruit…too early for the noodles, squid balls, fried eggs or other things on offer, then piled into the minibus (6 of us this time…us, J&B and I&D) and headed back to Lahad Duta to register to go into the Danum valley reserve. Two and a bit hours to get there, and we chatted on about other holidays we’ve had and what we hope to see and what we8d done so far. Arrived at the reserve’s office to a lovely cool waiting room, lovely coffee and a film on a loop about when Judi Dench visited the lodge. We’re convinced that after our David Attenborough experience we’ll be staying in her suite…B&J think they’ll be staying in Prince William’s (we were both disappointed…neither of them stayed overnight here but did helicopter in/out trips…what a waste! Late edit…turns out William and Kate ‘freshened up’ in our room! :)).
Transferred into 4x4 vehicles to do the next leg of the trip…they wanted us to split up 3 in each car but V made sure she squeezed in with me, B&J and we set off down to Danum Valley….chatting about trips we’d like to take. V told B&J all about Canada and Alaska, and they told us about Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand….sounded amazing! We also chatted about pre-retirement jobs…they were both journalists and had had some wild adventures.
We were all (particularly V!) very excited for this leg of our trip as well be deep in primary rainforest, no secondary, no palm oil plantation, just 13 million year old environment. We sang the Jurassic park theme tune as we rolled up! T&Kt said they loved it here and wished they’d stayed longer, so we’re staying three rather than the usual two nights here.
Gorgeous big lodge and we were given the usual warm and solicitous Bornean welcome, with cups of ginger tea with what J&V thought were eco-straws but were (to our hilarity!) sticks of lemongrass! We had a briefing about the lodge, meals etc and our rooms then an intro to our guide Nicholas whose English is very good, then they suggested we have lunch until our rooms are ready for us. Oh my! The food, served buffet style, was incredible! Huge spread of traditional Malaysian and western food with a good range of vegetarian, seafood (large crab legs and claws), build your own laksa, soups, salads, everything and all very delicious! I had rice, beef rendang (my favourite Malaysian dish), some local fermented vegetables and a delicious steamed sticky rice cake with peanut sauce and beef floss on top. Spectacular! Dessert was fruit (but rather than only the usual watermelon, pineapple and papaya there was also dragon fruit, mango, apples, pomelo and two different types of melon. Also cakes, fruit tarts and various set milk jelly type things served with thick coconut milk/cream (delicious!). We were a bit overwhelmed but delighted as we sat on the B-road deck overlooking an incredible view of the shallow river and a long hill behind that is covered, every inch, in huge tall trees. Mind blowing!
After lunch we went to the gift shop and decided to splash out on some safari shirts as everything else we have, despite being proper moisture wicking material, is too clingy and uncomfortable in the heat and humidity. We had trouble with the sizing and had to try on several different ones, in the process wrecking a display (cue more fits of the giggles!) but managing to put it all right again and choosing two we liked. We were shown to our rooms…but once again they’d put us in a room with a king sized bed, so thee was some confusion till it was sorted. Sabrina from reception was very good though and told us to get changed and freshened up in that room whilst she sorted it out. We got into our trekking gear for an intro walk around a trail near the lodge and felt quite the thing when we met up with the other four. Nicholas took us up the first part of the trail, learning what we were most excited to see and what we’d already seen. He showed us some wild banana plants (where the fruit grows upwards rather than hanging down) and we saw a large forest snail shell, before a call came over his radio that one of the orangutans that live around this area was spotted. I thought V was going to burst! She and he set off at a fast pace to the place where Khai the 19yr old male had been spotted and we spent ages just marvelling at him as he sat so high in an enormous tree, slowly picking leaves and eating, sucking his thumb and occasionally and slowly moving around along the branch. There was a telescope to look through, and we all took turns to see him up close. Spectacular! We learned about his mother Beth who also lives here, is 45 and has two more sons, one of whom is only three. Khai meets up with her and the wee one sometimes and he pats and plays with the toddler and stays with Beth for a while before going back to his solitary life. If he defeats a dominant male he’ll be able to mate, but as he hasn’t grown the flanges around his head he may not be able to challenge yet. He’s still young though.
It was magical…..what a find, after only being on our first trek for a few minutes! Some people apparently don’t see one at all on their visit, which must be disappointing although that’s the excitement of being completely in the wild, you’re totally dependant on what the animals and nature generally want to reveal to you. We’re gob smacked at the difference in the primary forest…we learned about how the canopy evolves, how young trees have evolved to ‘wait’ at a certain height without much light until a giant topples, then shoot up and the first one to reach full height then prevents the others maturing. Saw enormous trees more than 300 yrs old hollowed out by termites but kept standing by strangling fig that has encircled the trunks, and that it may be one or two hundred years before they finally topple. I love the trees here….they’re very humbling.
We saw a few more plants and birds on our way back to the lodge but were mainly still reeling after our encounter with Khai. V very emotional as seeing an orangutan in the wild was no 1 on her bucket list so it was a big deal, and to do it on our first trek here was perfect. Back at the lodge thee were drinks and snacks out on a viewing platform over the river, and we chatted with the guides about their jobs and the area and marvelled at how lucky we are to be here (or as I was singing to myself from Hamilton, ‘how lucky are we to be alive right now, in the greatest city (forest) in the world’!)