We had a thoroughly enjoyable trip with terrific people and a wonderful tour guide. We could not have asked for any more.
The busy city of
Sandakan has a strong Cantonese influence which is evident in the lively
harbourside market, the many Chinese temples and the local cuisine. Well, we visited the temples and tasted the local cuisine. We also dodged the holes in the local footpaths, stepped around the rats and tried not to notice the rubbish.
Set in lush
tropical rainforest, the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre was
established to prepare domesticated or orphaned orangutans to return to
the wild. What a very special place to visit! We also visited the Proboscis monkeys - what characters they are!
One of the larger islands in the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine National
Park, Manukan Island is beautiful place to explore, snorkel with
tropical fish or simply kick back and relax. And that's exactly what we did. The reef and fish were very special. It is such a pity that the place is so littered with rubbish. The Malay just don't seem to get the whole 'put the rubbish in the bin' concept.
Sabah's historic
capital. The end of our trip. Rather sad! We had time to wander around and explore a little before heading to the airport. After following our tour guide's instructions for ten days and not having to think about anything other than not leaving our belongings on the bus, we were not quite in the right head space. We discovered that we were a day too early!! We managed to get tickets on a flight that evening- and payed to travel business class - that was a first!