I'M BACK!!!

Well i'm home from my exciting 2 week adventure in Sabah (land below the wind) in Borneo.

IT WAS AMAZING!!

I'd quite like to go back now. I've been home 5 hours, I think that's long enough!!

A quick summary of the things I did:

• Went to turtle island and saw a turtle lay eggs, released baby sea turtles and went snorkeling over a coral reef.
• Went to a bat cave and got pooped on, saw lots of insects and the sight for collecting edible birds nests.
• Went on a river cruise through the rainforest and saw wild proboscis monkeys, orangutans, silvery langers, and long tailed macaques.
• Went on a night walk and saw frogs, insects, a mock viper and got leaches attached to me.
• visited the Sepilock orangutan sanctuary and saw some protected orangutans.
• went to Monsopiat the village of the head hunters tribe, where I joined in tribal dancing, used a blow pipe and ate a live insect (not a small one either).
• visited a zoo where some enclosures I was impressed and others I saw truly socked. i also rode an elephant.
• went out on a boat to go fishing but didn't catch fish, instead I jumped 15 feet off the boat and into the water (very fun).
• visited Kinabalu national park and saw some very endangered plant species.
• went on a walkway through the rainforest canopy (very dangerous but lots of fun) and hummed the indiana jones theme tune.
• went swimming in a hot springs and forgot to bring spare clothes.
• met a semi wild male orangutan (I will write more on that later).
• had a domestic orangutan come to the resort for us to simply be around and interact with a little, which was interesting and enjoyable.
• went to a local market which was fun except for them selling pets and not looking after them properly.
• went white water rafting only grade 1 and 2 (gentle) but it was still fun. and I got pushed in by spider man (the instructor's name, don't ask).
• also sampled lots of local cuisine and drank lots of cocktails.
• Even the plane journeys were fun, I watcher 6 films, flew over Iraq and saw a lightning storm in india from above.

So all in all it was everything I expected and more. I would do it again in a heart beat. I've learned so much about the country, culture, species, rainforest and in-situe conservation programs.

Over the next couple of weeks I intend to write a series of blogs about the things i've seen, done, learnt and thought about while in Borneo. I will look at some moral and ethical issues raised during the trip.