Travel Agent Leopold

My family and I have always had a love of Asia and in September we decided to head off and discover the delights of Malaysia.
Our first destination was Kota Kinabalu, where we spent 4 days exploring this lovely, tourist friendly town. Our resort at Pacific Harbour was amazing and just a few minutes by hotel shuttle bus into town for shopping or beautiful balmy nights spent at the water front discovering the great food and local beer! From KK we took a day tour to the volcanic Mt Kinabalu which towers over the city skyline, a beautiful rainforest area with fantastic scenery and lovely villages. While visiting the Poring Hot springs we were lucky enough to have an encounter with a rehabilitated orangutan! The tree top canopy walk and Australian war memorial were also memorable visits.
Our next stop was further out of Kota Kinabalu to the Shangri La Rasa Ria for a couple of nights. This beautiful resort is set on its own magnificent stretch of beach and has its own wildlife sanctuary including an Orangutan rehabilitation centre.
After a few day R&R by the pool we flew off to Sandakan on the East coast of Borneo. The flight over the vast jungle was fascinating and really stirred the imagination. On our arrival we headed off to the forest area of Sepilok to visit the Orangutan rehabilitation centre, we made a few visits to the centre over the next few days and found the Orangutans coming in from the jungle to feed - fascinating.

Then it was off by boat to the Turtle Islands. This group of 3 islands is a National Park and the number of visitors is restricted. Each tropical island is only tiny, the beaches are beautiful, great snorkelling, but it is the turtles that are the drawcard here. We sat around after dinner relaxing and waiting for the Ranger to call “turtle time” which rang out loud and clear about 9pm. We were then led in a small group to watch a turtle laying its eggs in a nest it had dug in the sand. Once she had finished the eggs were carefully carried to a hatchery where they were safe from predators until they hatched in approx 30 days. We then helped with releasing baby turtles which had hatched during the evening. There were 35 turtles come ashore that night laying more than 3,000 eggs and another 1,500 hatchlings released, an experience my children will never forget and definitely a highlight for us all.

Next day, after lots of travelling by boats and road we arrived at the Kinabatangan River where we were transferred by small boat to a jungle camp. The camp was very remote but well worth the journey. In the evenings and early mornings we drifted along small tributaries peering into the dense jungle of this area and the wildlife was amazing! The trees abounded with thousands of monkeys including rare Proboscus monkeys, pythons, monitor lizards, every kind of birdlife you can imagine and we even spotted a family of Orangutans feeding in the trees. The jungle was a wonderful experience and we were very sorry to leave.

Then it was off to Kuala Lumpur for a few days shopping, eating, sightseeing and enjoying everything it has to offer. KL is a vibrant city, well set up for tourists, easy to get around and a great place to end our adventure.