Welcome to Borneo

25 July 2010
After an early morning flight we arrived in Sandakan, on the island of Borneo in the Malaysian state of Sabah. We quickly made our way to Sepilok, home to one of four orangutan rehabilitation centers in the world and the starting point of tomorrow's trip up the Sungai (River) Kinabatangan (try saying that 3 times in a row). This marks the start of 3+ weeks exploring Borneo- the third largest island in the world, a haven of biodiversity, and a place where the battle between conservation and economic development is waged on a daily basis.

After settling in to Uncle Tan's, our base for the night, we set out on foot for a visit to the Rainforest Discovery Center. The Center is home to a beautiful botanical garden, several miles of trails, canopy walkways and bird observation towers. Walking on the trails amidst butterflies and scurrying lizards we arrived at the Hornbill Observation Tower. Hornbills are large forest birds with large bills, which are symbols of the islands faunal diversity. As we climbed the observation tower, perched well over 100 feet high into the tree canopy we tried to ignore the distant thunder and darkening clouds on the near horizon (it wouldn't pour on us our first day in Borneo, would it?). After minute or two at the top, we could not ignore the approaching storm. We watched as a strong persistent wind suddenly appeared and the thunder took on a more ominous tone. Just then we notices hundreds of brown "helicopters" aloft emanating from the dipterocarp trees, which dominate the forest canopy. The seeds of these trees are perfectly suited for wind dispersal and took flight beautifully in the stiff wind. Fearing the worse we hightailed it back in the direction of the Center's headquarters-hoping for a weather miracle. About half of the way back we were caught in the storm, but we were serendipitously close to a nearby shelter-yes! There, in the shelter, we spent the next hour or so-waiting out the storm. If you have ever experienced a hard tropical rain you know that rain gear is no match (you would just sweat inside it anyway) and umbrellas offer little real protection. If it weren't for the shelter we would have been drenched to the bone an hour away from home in mere seconds.

As the storm began to pass and the thunder faded into the distance we made our way back to our guesthouse. About half of the way back we noticed three large bird silhouettes in a dead tree not to far in the distance. Upon closer inspection and after viewing their shape in flight their identification was unmistakable. Hornbills!

And, so starts the Borneo portion of our adventure. Tomorrow we visit the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center to learn about the resident great apes and the efforts to conserve them. In the afternoon we head out for 3 nights on the Kinabatangan River, where we hope to see orangutans and much more in the the wilds of Borneo.