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!!!

Tioman is a little piece of paradise, located on the south east coast of Malaysia... a long ways from Kuala Lumpur! Not so easy to get to: starting with a 1 hour taxi ride to the bus station at 5am, a 5 or 6 hour, super comfy bus ride to Mersing and then following 4 hours of waiting time at the harbor, a 3 hour ferry ride to the island... so basically a full day of travelling but all well worth it!

We stayed on a small beach on the north east side of the island (Salang Bay), in a small homestay right on the beach. We were able to snorkel right out front. Éloïse saw a blacktip reef shark here. The coral were honestly not so great. The water was so warm it's no wonder the corals have bleached. The temperature of the water was literally as warm as I would take a bath, warmer than the air temperature which was easily over 32 degrees Celsius! But, we did hire the boat of the owner for a day and he took us out snorkelling to the near by island called Coral Island. It's name did not deceive. The corals were lovely and the fish life abundant. We saw a variety of marine life and for the first time, we saw some baby blacktip reef sharks that were about 30 cm in length. They were so cute!!!

The last evening we were there, we had an amazing diner with the same couple we met on the boat. We had a BBQ feast with fresh squid and fish. My mouth still waters just at the thought of this meal!

We arrived in Malaysia after long travels from the Philippines. It was late into the evening that we made our way out of the airport to what seemed like a sleeping city. Lights were on but everything was so quiet (cars and the few pedestrians made no noise) and clean! Quite the difference with Manilla we had just left behind. At first we thought it must be because of the time of day, but it turns out the next 2 days spent in Kuala Lumpur were just that. The city is clean, almost sterile, and quiet. Don't know where people were but we didn't see the typical asian crowds here. What we did find to our great delight, were some fresh fruits (rambutans, mangosteens, mangoes) and delicious street food! 
We of coarse detoured to see the Petronas Twin tour by night and enjoyed a lovely water fountain symphony. The water, lit by all the colors of the rainbow, dancing to the music was mesmerizing. 

 As we were walking around, we noticed there were some electric scooters (trottinettes) for rent just about anywhere off the street. Alex and the kids got super excited at the idea of trying them out. They managed to convince me (I wanted to call a cab) and after some fumbling around to download the app to access them, off we went on 2 scooters, whining around the area on our way to the Petronas Twin Tours. Funny thing is, they are programmed to keep out of certain areas in the city and stop dead in there tracks if you cross these unseen and virtual lines... so we didn't quite make it to our destination as planned... good old feet, they take you wherever you want to go!

We only spent 2 days relaxing here before moving on. Those who know us well know we are not into cities but rather nature and wildlife and that is what we are after here in Malaysia!

Malapascua is an island off the north of Cebu. It is where we intended on diving with the Thresher sharks that Carla told us about while we where staying with her in Apo Island. Bonus, the island is beautiful and we stayed in another homestay, Bebot's who is Carla's aunt. 

We spent the first day relaxing and enjoying the hammocks and exploring the village. Then, day 2 was all about getting out to see the sharks! It was an early morning dive, we set out by 6am and were in the water by 6h30. At this time, the sharks are likely to be found at the cleaning stations slowly cruising while the wrass fish are busy cleaning them up. It's the best chance to see them up close! After a 1 hour dive and then a 1 hour surface time, we were back in for a second dive.

The sharks where there as if we had an appointment with them! They are quite impressive and different than other sharks we have seen. They are relatively large, more or less 7 meters long and weighing unto 340kg. They have a shiny silver color (as opposed to the dark and mat color we normally expect of shark skin) and their eyes are huge!!! Plus their tail is really long almost half the size of the shark's body. They use their tail to wack their victims as they hunt their prey. 
We saw several and that we got to see really well, one of which swam up to about 1 or 2 meters from us as we starred into it's big eye!! It was mesmerizing!!!
The pictures below are not one's that I have taken but I wanted you to see what these beautiful creatures look like. It is exactly what we saw :)

On day 3, we also went out for 2 dives. Beautiful sites, lots of corals, nudibranchs, turtles, Murray eels and on the second dive, we saw 4 or 5 big white tip sharks just laying on the sandy bottom. Quite impressive as well :)

We had such a lovely time here with Bebot and Carla, felt like a second home. We also took a nice boat excursion around the island, snorkelled a bit and just enjoyed the views. On afternoon, we came across a group of Japanese fasting on sea urchins on the beach. They we quick to offer us some to taste... they where still moving they where so fresh! They are eaten raw... not my thing but Alex really enjoyed :)

We spent the last evening, siting in the ocean, watching the sun go down on this piece of paradise. So grateful!