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September 4th 2023
This July we ventured to unfamiliar territory on our three-week adventure to Borneo. We found ourselves challenged both physically and mentally, as I hope you will appreciate through this selection of memories.
On Tuesday 4 July, we bid farewell to England’s pleasant pastures green and travelled 12 hours to Singapore Airport. We endured turbulence and the mediocrity of aeroplane cuisine, before, at long last, touching down at midnight UK time. The entire cohort was exhausted. The first of many challenges was surviving the airport hustle, which we had to endure for a nine hour layover. This was tough, though we were in high spirits as we managed to catch some sleep and travel on the Skytrain in Changi airport. After a short flight to Kota Kinabalu, we were met at the airport by our local guide Jun, and filed onto a bus to travel to our hostel. Sticky with humidity, we then caught up on some well deserved rest.
The third day of our trip required a seven hour drive to Sepilok; on the other side of Borneo, where we were exposed to palm oil plantations making our inner geographers roar with excitement. Speaking of Geography, we simply cannot ignore the delicious statistic of 100% attendance of the Lower Sixth geographers, which speaks volumes about the values we uphold in class and our resilience and inquisitiveness for the world.
Day 4 entailed not one, but two treks to gander at the ‘men of the forest’- the tragically endangered orangutan and sun-bear sanctuaries. It was simply incredible to see these animals in real life, swinging from ropes, consuming miscellaneous fruits, and thriving in the Bornean rainforest. When dusk fell, we found ourselves on the first of several night walks. We witnessed a multitude of spider species, swooned over bush babies and stood, open-mouthed, in awe of the beautiful birds in their natural habitats.
The next day, we travelled further afield by boat to the eco-camp, which gave us a flavour of the forest to which we would become more accustomed (or scared of) later on in the trip. We saw wild orangutans and settled into the camp; the showering facilities were decked out with the finest cold water and buckets we have ever been privy to. We ended the evening with another adventurous night walk.
We spent three days in total within the eco-camp: one of which included tree planting with the help of machetes. They were needed to eradicate the elephant grass, and in its place we dug a crater for the saplings to reside in. As a team, we planted 50 trees and regenerated an area of forest, and we were promised we will be updated on their growth and the species that start to live there in due course.
We bid farewell to the eco-camp and made our way to Kinabatangan to stay with local families in their houses. This was a truly cultural experience - we were fortunate enough to enjoy the local cuisine and get to know our host families; one group of students in particular enjoyed a four hour karaoke session.
During our homestay visit, we participated in several community projects. This included building prawn and fish traps for the local people, and visiting a primary school for half a day, where we did lots of activities with the kids including dance, music and teaching them Maths and English. On our last night, we were adorned with traditional clothing and assembled in the village hall for a party; a great evening to let loose and really get our groove on!
The next day, we travelled back to our origin; Kota Kinabalu. We got comfortable in our chaotic but luxurious accommodation - as up to ten of us were sharing a room. The next morning, we caught a boat which took us to the idyllic tropical island for a day of pure rest and relaxation. It was gorgeous weather and the sea was clear, although the merciless sun radiated such powerful beams that some of us were victim to sunburn.
By comparison, the following day had unforeseen torrential wind and rain, which made our planned mountain biking trip a bit more challenging, but we powered through and had a lot of fun.
Our next adventure saw us into the jungle for four days and three nights, where we found ourselves traversing through the wilderness, and sleeping in hammocks every night. This was not easy; but we gained more of an insight into the wildlife of Borneo, and it brought our team closer together. On the penultimate day of our travels, we reached a riverside camp, and we all swam amongst the rapids to cool ourselves off.
Having completed the jungle trek and gained a sense of self-fulfilment, we hopped into some rafts and hit the river for a paddle. Carried by the rapids, we travelled at speed, and even got to jump in.
The following day, we were enticed out of bed at an early hour by excitement for the looming zip wire activity. We felt free like the hornbill we encountered on our earlier endeavours, as we all zipped over the rushing river. To conclude our day, we took a trip down to a well-utilised beach, and we were saddened by the sheer amount of litter. To help, we each collected the debris and detritus under the scorching sun.
Face to face with overwhelming elements, sadly our conservation snorkelling activity was cancelled. Upon hearing this news, we collectively decided to catch up on rest and enjoy some shopping, and a large portion of us wound up in a delectable Mexican restaurant, where we even got to pose in sombreros!
On our final full day, we ventured to a mangrove plantation, which simulated a wave of nostalgia for the A-Level Geography students who had studied this but a few weeks prior to departure. Unbeknownst to us, the day entailed planting our own mangrove saplings, which would involve wading through the waist-high mud and dirt, so unfortunately a lot of us had to sacrifice our clean trousers, and even bid farewell to the odd welly boot which was firmly cemented in the slurry due its suctioning forces (popular with the Physics students!). In the afternoon, we went on a guided tour of the wetland, and got to scale an observatory tower and learn in more detail how they contribute to biodiversity. That evening, we went out to a Hungarian restaurant all together and reminisced over our personal journeys throughout the trip.
On the day of departure, we bid farewell to our youth hostel, which had become a home away from home for us. Prior to our flight, we had some time to kill in the local market, where we splashed our Malaysian ringgit on souvenirs to commemorate our trip. We then boarded a flight back to Singapore, with a much shorter layover time, we were travelling inbound back to Heathrow. Upon exiting the plane, we felt alienated from the bleak, dull, yet oddly comforting weather of humble England. We are most grateful for this trip, and can all agree that it was an incredible once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Tamsin (U6WIN) and Ami (U6DEM)
