Flying out

After months of planning and years of imagining, it's finally here - my trip to Borneo! Now the brutal part - the flights. First a 15.5hr flight to Taipei, then Taipei to Kuala Lumpur, then to Kota Kinabalu. That's about 28 hours in transit and that's just getting to the island of Borneo. Then after an overnight in Kota Kinabalu, we get up super early to fly to Lahad Datu followed by a bus transfer to Tabin Wildlife resort.  That's where the fun will begin!

The first 2 flights are on EVA airways - one of the top 5 airlines in the world, out of Taiwan, with a special affinity for Hello Kitty. So far the first flight has been quite comfortable. Of course, I slept about 12 hours of the first flight, missed 2 meals, but the 3rd one with congee and thousand year egg and fish floss was quite good.

Maybe some morning dim sum in Taipei?

Getting ready for Borneo!!

T - 4 days before my 2 week trip to Borneo. Specifically, I'm going to Sabah, the northern portion of Malaysian Borneo.  I'm going to be staying in jungle lodges and taking boat rides down rivers and hoping to see pygmy elephants, orangutans, proboscis monkeys, sun bears, and a variety of other flora and fauna, as well as really pretty insects.  I'm super excited! I'll be bringing my awesome new macro lens, my regular lens, and I'm renting a special 100-400mm lens from www.lensrental.com especially for this occasion. 

I was originally planning on going to Borneo to do a super trek into the undisturbed rainforest and diving the Sipadan islands - some of the best diving in the world.  However, I realized that I'm not adventurous for a 9 day trek with 6-8 hours of trekking every day to get into the awesome Maliau Basin. Maybe one day.  Also, I decided against diving the Sipadan islands this trip because of the continued concern about Philippino rebel attacks and kidnappings. 

Instead, I booked the "Best of Borneo Wildlife" tour with Borneo adventures which includes the Danum Valley, Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Kinabatangan River and Sepilok. plus an add on day in the Orangutan rehabilitation center, Bornean sun bear santuary, and Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary. I'm hoping that covers all the awesome animals, birds, flora, and bugs that Borneo Sabah has to offer. 

I also considered going with Sticky Rice travel which was rated by National Geographic but Borneo Adventures was more responsive so I went with them. Maybe if I ever go back for that hard core trekking trip I can use them.

Here's some videos of the awesomeness of Borneo:

Short videos:
https://youtu.be/1jm0maXVieA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqyTqWRvz2c&t=18s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4Uku2CwbDY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jm0maXVieA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lay7d8iR5pU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhBSXFidyUU
https://youtu.be/lypWv6fC2JA

Long video:

Danum Valley - 30 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA4fmqvwNMY
Wild World Borneo - 43 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b83abwOzOQk

last day in Bonaire

Gone in the blink of an eye. 

Sorry I haven't been as good about keeping a blog this trip.  It's a combination of getting a little injured on our dive day 2 and getting a little sick.  But nevertheless, I've had a fantastic vacation.  We did 6 days of diving:
Day 1 - Bari's Reef and Something Special,
Day 2 - a little mishap at 1000 steps and an aborted dive then Angel City and Bachlor's Beach,
Day 3 - The cliff, the lake, and something special again
Day 4 - Oil slick, Alice in Wonderland
Day 5 - Funchi (east side), Invisibles
Day 6 - Hilma Hooker, Alice in Wonderland and Something Special (yup, for the 3rd time)

Drumfish

Burrfish

Spotted Moray Eel with Banded Coral Shrimp

Christmas tree made of Christmas Tree worms

Queen Angelfish

cute blue fish in the shallows

Porcupinefish

Baby trunkfish sucking up some mucus

vibrant Filefish

What is this??

flounder

Green Moray Eel

Eagle ray

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Day 1 in Bonaire - Diver's Paradise

I absolutely love this place. After the amazing apartment at Den Lamen last year, I had to come back. This year, I have an even better apartment - ocean front with a wrap around balcony that fits a full dining table and 2 lounge chairs with room to spare. It's really luxurious.  

Today was our first day of diving and it was by far the most amazing first day every.  On our first dive, we saw 2 octopuses, one of them just out in open. I've never seen such a thing. There were so many groups of fish and pairs of fish. Really beautiful.

Our second dive was at Something Special which is always a favorite. Beautiful plentiful fish as always.  We must have seen 5+ eels, 3 spotted sea snakes, a lobster, and 5+ porcupinefish which I totally love.

Banded Coral Shrimp

Mr. Octopus 

And his lady friend

Sea Anemone

Spotted Moray Eel

Burrfish

Queen Anglefish

French Angelfish in transition

Sea anemone