Travelling around the third biggest island in the world

Bornéo is the third largest island in the world after Australia and Papoua. It is divided between a Malaisian (1/5 of the land) and an Indonesian side. We mainly covered the Malaisian side. Travelling was easy  and quick. From Kota Kinabalu in the north, we left for Mount Kinabalu, a 4,095 m summit, it is the first time we got cold on our trip. We spent a couple of days there and we then carried on to Sepilok to meet orang outans and sunbears. Two conservation centres take care of those endangered species, OO mainly because of the deforestation, and sunbears are hunted for their gallblader which apparently have some medicinal benefit. These are rehabilitation centres. The orang outans get fed twice a day, whereas the sunbears don’t as the employees want them to have some kind of autonomy so that they can release them at some point. 

We then went to Semporna in order to dive in what is supposed to be one of the best spots in the world : Sipadan Island. And we were not disappointed.  It is quite tricky to get there as there is no accomodation anymore, and the administration only deliver 120 diving permits a day. We were there during low season though so we got incredibly lucky and dived there the two days and even ended up doing the same spot three times and it was incredible. The amount of sharks we saw was unrreal, as well as a huge school of barracudas, and the biggest grouper I had ever seen, so big that I thought it was a small whale… the place is stunning and because it is now protected it has kept a real nature feel to it. It remains to this day my favorite diving spot ever.

From Semporna, we went to the Kinabatanga river. One of the guys we met travelling gave us the address of Osman, an amazing guide, who also chaperoned David Attenborough on some of his documentaries. We spent four days there next to the crocodiles infested river, in their house that we shared with Osman’s family, 6 kids and 6 cats, and other visitors. He is quite a character, tells the weirdest and quite graphic stories about really random things (how indian do their bread, and the various infections he’s had), yet he politely asked us to refrain from kissing in front of his kids, as he didn’t want us to give a bad example. mmmm

Everything is lush, green beautiful. We saw crocodiles, kingfishers, some snakes, beautiful birds. But the best moment was when we randomly found a herd pygmee elephants bathing very early in the morning. One of the other ladies in our little boat mentioned to Alex that this would be the perfect time to propose, his face was priceless. 

Onwards ! We then went through a few cities and towns, which I will not even mention because they were all fairly unremarkable. The southern side of Borneo is still pretty much off the beaten track, to the point that even the lonely planet had only a tiny paragraph on it. We travelled blindly for a few days, and possibly stayed in the worst B&B so far. All this to arrive in paradise : the Derawan archipelago. Those islands are still very untouched, we only saw one tourist in three days while we were there. There is not much there apart from a few locals houses and some sandy white beaches. The only downside is that there is some pollution on the beach and in the water as there is no waste management at all. The northern part of the island was untouched and it was absolutely stunning. What an incredible place but such a shame that again it is spoilt. We toured the island around ours and they do deserve the title of paradise. A lot of hotels were being built. I understand why, fortunately or unfortunately. 

A last word on the deforestation happening currently in Borneo. See for yourself. 

The deforestation of the island is mainly due to two factors : the export of tropical wood and the culture of palm oil. Palm oil plantations take 5 years to produce the first seeds that can they be cultivated. Without going into the details that will bore everybody, Osman was catastrophied to see that the forest he once knew had nearly disappeared. The forest is now a strip of land, animals do not have anywhere to go hence their numbers decreasing every year, and last but not least this considerably accelerates global warming due to a lack of trees.

Finally, the population  is forced to move out ; either because their land is taken back by authorities, or because they do not have enough natural ressources anymore to survive. Each country has its own problems, but it is very sad to know that whatever we saw and that enchanted us is bound to disappear in the next few years.