Sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate very well while you're on vacation. It's a bummer because it can seriously put a damper on your plans! One of the days we were hanging out in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo this summer, it decided to drizzle all day. Instead of sitting inside doing absolutely nothing, we decided to visit the plants and animals at Lok Kawi Wildlife Park. First of all let me say, I would have much rather watched these animals in there natural habitat (we were lucky enough to do with some later in our trip). The park itself was pretty clean, however a lot of the animal exhibits needed some updating (painting, fencing, housing). The animals seemed pretty happy: well-fed, lots of toys, treats, plenty of water. I was most excited ... Read More
Sandakan: River Adventure
There are some remote places in the world we have the opportunity to visit maybe once or twice in our lives (if we're lucky). These places are special because they they are 'untamed' or 'untouched' by human influence. Being able to experience a natural habitat to simply observe is one of the coolest things I've ever done. Borneo, Malaysia is such a place. Sure there's lots of culture and city development, but give it a good hour or two drive, and you're out experiencing the wild. A wild where animals aren't afraid of you. A wild where you could literally get lost and not be able to make it back (it's probably a good thing we had a guide eh?) We took our first river adventure cruise when we were up north in Kota Kinabalu. When we told our ... Read More
Looking for Saltwater Crocodiles
Well sort of. One of my lifelong goals is to see a giant saltwater crocodile in the wild. I don't know why, but I'm strangely fascinated with these ancient looking 'dinosaurs.' Maybe it's because the only English channels we seem to get here are Discovery and NatWild. I was probably a little overly excited when our jungle river tour-guide told us the river was home to quite a few of these giants. Unfortunately they like to be closer to the ocean and we hadn't the time in the day to venture that far. Before our trip it was also rumored that we could see pythons (!!!), pygmy elephants, long-nosed monkeys, a type of firefly native to Borneo, monitor lizards, and of course various other monkeys. I'm a huge fan of the outdoors, and the ... Read More
Snorkeling Borneo
I've always loved the water. I have a more than healthy fear of the ocean, but give me a safe-ish environment and I'll swim and play all day. You better believe I was super excited about our all-day snorkeling tour we had booked with Scuba Junkie the day before. I should put a plug in for Scuba Junkie and just say that the staff (namely Mel) was fantastic. As previously mentioned in my last Borneo post, we had planned on getting our dive certifications as well, but just didn't have the time and ended up having to cancel our classes. The 8:00am drive into Kota Kinabalu (once again in the tiny van/buses) went quickly, and before you know it we were out to sea headed straight for Gaya and Sapi Islands found in the Kota Kinabalu Marine ... Read More
[BORNEO] Sunsets and Coconut Water
FINALLY! It's been almost exactly a month since our vacation to Borneo, Malaysia. I promised myself I would start posting right away so I didn't get behind, but that didn't happen. After browsing and carefully selecting photos from literally hundreds, we're ready to roll. We had a pretty smooth flight on the most uncomfortable airline I've ever been on: Air Asia. Not only do you have to pay for literally EVERYTHING (blankets, meals, water), but the seats were TINY! We left at 10:00am from Busan and landed around 8:00pm in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo. We had a shuttle bus picked us up from the airport and take us straight to our resort (Langkah Syabas Beach Resort). It was dark and we weren't able to view the scenery that night, but I was ... Read More
We’re Back!
We're back from the jungle, and feelin' the Monday blues. Borneo was incredible, and definitely a very different vacation than Derik and I normally take. We're used to basking out in the sand and sun, getting sweet tan lines, and enjoying a cocktail on the beach. In Borneo there isn't time for that! Sure, there's plenty of pristine beaches, but why lay out when you have an entire jungle to explore?! Our 9 days in Borneo were chalk full fun things to do; we didn't even have time to get our scuba certifications like we had planned (oh well, we have Thailand and Hawaii coming up in January). We saw hordes of monkeys, did some snorkeling, cruised down a couple of remote rivers, and ate way too much local food (that extra five pounds doesn't ... Read More