Deep in the Bornean Jungle
It’s really amazing how far technology has advanced! Today we started the day connected to a high-speed internet connection in our hotel room. I was answering emails, checking up on servers I administer, and discussing plans for IT setups, and Grace was monitoring her trades, communicating with students, and researching on the markets for the week ahead.
After that we piled into a SUV and drove 3 hours through paved, then dirt road to the middle of the tropical rain forest of Borneo! Once there, we got on a small motor boat on the Kinabatangan river and headed off to see some of the amazing wildlife. This river is the second largest in Malaysia and is around 580km long. We started about half way through the river and only went about 6km down a small channel where wildlife abounds. We wish we could have gone all the way! 
The first animals we saw were a group of rare proboscis monkeys! These monkeys are highly endangered and only found in the island of Borneo. They are easily recognizable by their peculiar faces, and large noses! Watching them jump around and eat in the trees, living in their rain forest habitat, it wasn’t hard to imagine we were back in time when all of the island was covered in lush tropical rain forest.
Our next sighting was of a kingfisher sitting on a branch and then diving into the river for food. How this bird can see into the muddy waters of this river is hard to imagine since I could barely see a few inches into the water. Beautiful bird!
One of the animals we frequently encountered were macaques. These playful monkeys like playing and feeding on the branches near the river, and on one occasion we saw them swarm on a monitor lizard and chase it through the forest floor!
In a certain muddy part of the river bank, we saw elephant tracks! Our guide told us that a herd of wild pygmy elephants had been down this part of the river last month. Unfortunately for us though, they have since moved further down the river and we were unable to see any. But with all we had seen, including many species of birds, lizards, and of course the different primates, how could we complain! 
This is pure wildlife, not a zoo where animals make scheduled appearances!
The boat ride did have a rather abrupt ending though. A sudden torrential downpour forced us to return to land a bit sooner than we would have liked to! Grace did not get to see the hornbills she’s always wanted to see.
But the most amazing part is that after a day like this, we can go back to our hotel room, get high-speed internet access and keep up with our work!
(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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which hotel are you guys staying in ?
There are only two hotels that are over 3 stars in Sandakan. One is called Sabah Hotel Sandakan, the other Hotel Sandakan. We could only get a room in Hotel Sandakan as Sabah Hotel Sandakan was fully booked for these dates. It’s a 3 star hotel but it has internet in all the rooms which is what we need.