The family is lovely and welcoming. We ate generously at every meal. Our 4 days here were spent wandering around, appreciating the amazing views and all the while acclimatizing to the altitude. The kids felt nothing, Alex and I managed the headaches at night but all in all, what a magical time we spent here. The locals are dressed colorfully and bear huge smiles. ​

The island is extremely calm with no cars and only a few motor bikes here and there, but mostly locals walking along the unique man made stone road circling the island. Often, they are seen carrying their loads and accompanied by their sheep. Funny story, when we asked how long the sheep live on average, the answer was “3 years... then we eat them”! ​

Travelling south east Asia for the part 8 months has been amazing! But all good things come to an end... apparently. Our last stop before going home is the Republic of Fiji. composed over 300 islands in the south pacific ocean. A vacation from our vacation! On the agenda: beach, snorkeling and lot's of chilling! We were a bit worried about budget but we found a few great homestays that are right within our budget.

We landed in Nadi, on the main island of Viti Levu. We spent only 1 night here before embarking on quite the adventure to Taveuni Island. The plane ride to this destination was absolutely out of this world amazing!!! 

And just like that, the ride was over... arriving on the small tarmac and crossing the open air "airport", we had arrived in the first of a few paradis we were about to discover in Fiji.

A taxi was here to greet us and drive us to our home stay. The owners were not on site, however, their nephew Jason with whom we shared the home proved to be an outstanding host. We were here to stay for 9 days. The house was perfect. Solar powered with a gas stove. Sitting up on the hill, the views from the balcony out on the ocean were breathtaking. To top it off, the two house dogs were of excellent company and the gardens were beautiful. 

We also explored the hidden treasures of the island. First we head out to play like kids in the Islands natural waterslide.
​The Waitavala Waterslide is hidden a short hike through the jungle. It's a natural rock slide that we couldn't get enough of!​

On August 11th, we treated Éloïse to some horseback riding for her birthday, something we all enjoyed very much!!!

Jason introduced us to the neighbors who graciously invited us to share a traditional evening meal. We spent the afternoon participating in the preperation and the cooking. Basically, they call un underground oven a "Lovo" and so a lovo meal. Making the oven is a process in itself.

As a family, it was quite complicated to visit these dive sites but ultimately, we put in the money and found an acceptable option. We therefore ended up staying here for 8 days in an all-inclusive dive/snorkel resort on the island of Mabul. All we did was dive/snorkel and eat all day long under the splendid sun. Sipadan is renowned world wide for it's amazing diving, especially it's large schools of fish and the size of the others. Legend has it you can loose your dive buddy in a school of Jackfish ;)
The schools of barracuda are huge and come together in large tornados... and the bumped head  parrot fish are as large as the divers... the underwater world here is just out of this world impressive!

There were a few monitor lizards wandering around the property, you can witness here they were not tiny!!

Since it is really hard, not to say impossible, to describe what we saw during this amazing week, here is a lengthy video compilation (almost 8 minutes) of our best of moments of Sipadans underwater world. Hope you enjoy!

One moment that we didn't get on camera but that felt like a live National Geographic take happened as follows:
​The kids and I are snorkeling when I notice a local guy swimming around with his tiny boat. To make this more visual, this is what I am seeing, a wooden boat barely longer than the guy lying down in it with half his body hanging over the backend of the boat. 
He is wearing his googles and I am not so sure what he is doing... so I get up nice and close to have a better look.
Now that is when it happens, right there in front of us, live a movie without the borders of the TV screen.
​The guy was stringing along an octopus decoy on a fishing line. It is hanging close to the bottom when a real live octopus cames out from hiding, chasing after the decoy. We see it so well, out in the open swimming after it's prey and then boom! The fisherman is in the water, grabs the octopus which quickly wraps itself around his arm. Without hesitation, the fisherman takes a bite in the neck area and that is that.. supper goes into the boat for the fisherman and his family before he settles right back in to his original position and its out to fish for another victim. 
​What a scene!!! Very, very impressed to have witnessed this live!!

After observing the Probiscus Monkeys in the wild when we visited Bako National Park, I really wanted a chance to see them again. These monkeys are shy by nature so we were lucky to have seen them from quite close in Bako.  And yes we did see them along the Kinabatangan river as well but from further off.

​The Sanctuary in Sabah offers a similar opportunity to the Orangoutang sanctuaries we visited in that they have feeding platforms that allow visitors a chance to get a really good look. I was also hoping to see some babies which we had not yet seen.

It did not disappoint! Yes they are free to come or not to the feeding platforms but who would pass on a free meal?! They are feed modified pancakes to suit their dietary requirements and they seem to love them. They are also quite relaxed in the presence of us humains, making it easy to observe their every move and enjoy trying to understand the complex hierarchy that they live by.  

Although this is a Probiscus Monkey Sanctuary, it remains a wild space and so they share the habitat with Silver leaf Monkeys which we also had the chance to see up close,  babies and all :)

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by a crocodile farm. It is privately owned, not sure I liked seeing the living environment for some (some of the enclosures seamed too small and cleanliness optional) but in the end, we did see a lot of crocodiles! A lot as in... hundreds! They came in all sizes, from the little ones measuring in at 30 or 60 cm long, to the biggest one that I would estimate measured at least 4 if not 5 meters long. That would be the one in the picture below. So he was captured years ago in the Kitabatangan river after he attacked and ate 3 local fisherman. He was released to the crocodile farm to be kept captive in the objective of keeping the locals safe! It's hard to tell without a reference beside the beast, but just the snout part was at least 1 meter in length!

Oui Oui...ENCORE des Orangutangs!!! Après tout c'est une des raisons principale qui nous a attiré à Bornéo!!! Ici, tout comme à Semenggoh, les animaux sont en liberté. Le concept est le même que le premier que nous avons visité, mais tout en étant pareils, l'expérience était différente.
Ici, c'est aussi un centre de réhabilitation actif (partie non accessible au publique) et ensuite ils profitent d'un milieux de vie protégé. Le program de réhabilitation comporte plusieurs phases allant de la pouponnière puis la garderie où ils apprennent à grimper aux arbres  et finalement la cours de grands où ils sont jumelé avec un autre orangoutan et où ils apprennent à être ce qu'ils sont: des singes! Quand ils sont prêt, ils sont relâché dans la nature  entourant le centre et où ils viennent et vont à leur guise.
La population est grandissantes autour du centre et ils se reproduisent avec beaucoup de succès! Les plateformes pour nourrir les animaux permettent aux visiteurs de les observer de près. Ils sont nourrit avec ne variété de fruits 2 fois par jour. Le centre d'information à l'entrée du site est très complet et vraiment interessant! Dire que nous avons une génétique qui est à 97% identique à la leur!!! Évidement qu'on y retrouvent de ressemblances frappantes en les regardant!

À la différence de Semenggoh où nous avons observé entre autre 2 gros males alpha et une très vielle femelle (une cinquantaine d'années), ici nous avons vu beaucoup de bébés avec leur mère. C'est juste fascinant à observer!

Une rare occasion de voir que, comme chez l'humain, les petits partent de loin! Regardez ce petit qui prend des premiers pas loin de sa maman!!

Après un court passage dans la ville de KK (Kita Kinabalu) aéroport oblige, nous nous sommes dirigé vers Kinabatangan. Ici, nous voulions explorer la jungle primaire et ces animaux en profitant d'excursions organisées en bateau le long d'une rivière isolée.... bref c'est ce que nous nous étions imaginé. La réalité fût tout autre. La jungle est plutôt une forêt secondaire qui peine à résister à l'exploitation d'huile de palme des locaux. La rivière est donc bordé de quelques mètres de forêt protégé qui elle est bordée d'habitations et de plantations de palmiers. Évidemment que notre premier sentiment en est un de déception, mais voulant faire du mieux avec la situation, nous avons cherché le positif de ce que la nature nous offrait. Nous avons fait 4 sorties en bateau sur la rivière, avec un guide à l'oeil bien aiguisé! Nous avons vu plusieurs bêtes dans leur habitat naturelle et sommes tout, ce fût une belle expérience!
Nous avons pu observer de près des "Hawksbill", ces beaux oiseaux au bec coloré. Nous avons également vu des Nasiques, un petit crocodile, et à la tombée de la nuit, une multitude d'oiseux dormant sur des branches basses et des hirondelles par centaines dans leur nids perché sur la falaise.

Et rien de plus simple que la présence de chats pour rendre ma grande fille heureuse! Un beau séjour de 3 jours et 2 nuits :)

Home to the Proboscis monkey, off we went hoping for some close encounters. After the beautiful sightings of the Orangutangs, we were still ravelling about the beauty of nature in Borneo and just couldn't get enough!
We left Kutching  on the local bus for the total sum of 1 Malaysian ringlet each... so basically pennies. A short hour later, we hopped on a local boat that dropped us off in this small paradise. We spent 3 days and 2 nights here. We were practically the only ones there overnight which was perfect since the day tours brought a few tourists and the animals seemed to show up before the day tours arrived or after they had gone :)
We were not disappointed. We saw many Probiscus monkeys as we walked around this lovely park, sometimes they were high up in the trees, other times just chilling down close to our porch. 

Such a peculiar animal. It is one of the largest of the apes present in Asia with males typically reaching 50lbs. They are excellent swimmers and live mostly in mangrove areas of the island. Their huge nose is a cartilage mass that comes down below their nose at a length reaching 10 cm. This nose is seen on the males and is thought to be a sexual selection by the females who prefer the loud vocalization  the larger nose can carry out. 
When we observe them, it is quite funny to see this large floppy nose dangle as they eat. And their vocalization sounds like a loud honk! 
Needless to say, we spent hours just watching them live their quiet lives.

Apart from their nose, males have another attribute that serves them in concurring the laides. As one of the rangers said to us, they have a big red pepper that they exhibit proudly! Have a look for yourself ;)

Also native to the same area is the slivery lutung monkey. We saw plenty roaming the mangroves. Their little ones exhibit a bright orange color.
One evening we came across a pack of them jumping around and about. It looked like they were playing hopscotch on the railing of the boardwalk !

Finally, also walking around freely in the park were some wild boars. 

Who does not think of orangutans the minute you read or think about Borneo. We certainly had high hopes to see them in their natural element. Off we went for a day trip to the Orangutang  wildlife center of Semenggoh.
Originally, in 1975, the sanctuary was used as a rehabilitation and release center for injured or orphaned orangutans or for those held captive as illegal pets and rescued. The sanctuary covers 653 acres of protected jungle. Today, they serve as a home for orangutans that have been successfully released in the past and that are now completely autonomous and reproducing successfully.
However, although the sanctuary is large, it is not sufficient to maintain and feed the current colony of orangutangs living here especially outside the fruiting season and so they feed them twice daily. The animals are free to come or not to these feedings that basically serve as a supplement to their diet. And so, as regular as clockwork, the orangutans swing down from the trees for a free hand out of fruit. It is one of the rare places in the world where visitors can closely observe their otherwise shy jungle cousins.
These feedings allow scientists and park rangers to keep a close eye on the colony, ensure their health and even provide them with medication once in a while when necessary. It's also the opportunity to educate le visitors about the animals and increase the sensitization around this endangered species. 
The sanctuary is only open a few hours a day around the feeding times. The rest of the time, it is closed to the public in an effort to limit the exposition to humains for the animals. 
We were so keen on observing the animals that we chose to go for the 2 daily feedings. In the morning, we saw one of the 2 alfa males and many others (possibly 20 in total came to the feeding). We felt privileged to be their and watch them move around so gracefully et effortlessly. Beautiful, just beautiful!

- 97% of their genome is shared by humains!
-In Malay language: "Ourang" means person and "Hutan" means forest
- Females stand 4 feet tall and can reach approx. 40kg while males stand 6.5 feet tall and can reach 80kg
- Reach sexual maturity at age 15 and only have on offspring every 6 to 9 years!
- Life expectancy: approx. 30 years
- Estimated population in Malaysian Borneo: 12 000 individuals

Notre visite de Bornéo commence à Kutching, ville principale de Sarawak. Nous avons bien aimé. Cette ville a un petit je ne sais quoi qui nous a charmé. Le rythme de ville est lent, le sourire des locaux contagieux et sans raison évidente, on s'y sent tout de suite bien. La ville nous aura servi de point de chute d'où nous avons rayonné pour explorer la région. 

Depuis Tioman, nous avons rejoint l'ile de Penang, au nord ouest de la péninsule malaisienne. Nous avons donc fait la route inverse depuis l'ile en traversier (3 heures) puis avons pris un taxi jusqu'à l'aéroport (1h30) pour enfin prendre un vol de 1h30... mais avec notre chance, le vol a été retardé de... 4 heures!  Mais bon, un fois rendu, on a vite oublié le long trajet. À Penang nous sommes venues surtout pour explorer la variété culinaire. Avec des influences indiennes, chinoises et malaysiennes, cela promet d'être délectable! En plus, les guides de voyage ne manque pas de louanger l'endroit comme étant l'excellence ultime des destinations culinaire. Bon soyons franc... nous avons bien mangé, mais avons préférez le Vietnam ou encore Kota Kinabalu à Bornéo. Il est vrai que nous avons passé notre tour sur les cours de cuisine ainsi que les "street food tours" mais ces activités étaient sérieusement hors de prix. Donc nous nous sommes contenté d'explorer par nous même. 

Le proprio de notre hébergement était absolument charmant. Il a bien gâté les enfants avec des platées de fruits frais, et des pommes... beaucoup de pommes au plus grand plaisir d'Olivier! Il nous a aussi fait des bons jus de fruits frais, juste parce que ça lui faisait plaisir de le faire. Quelle gentillesse!

Nous avons visité le "3D museum". Nous avons eu bien du plaisir à faire des mise en scènes avec les décores de la place. Voici quelques une des photos.

4 jours passée ici et nous étions prêt pour notre prochaine étape.... Bornéo, here we come!!!