Run Away And Join The Circus

I thought life could not get better than being in Bali- I was wrong. After spending 10 days in Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo) I have seen it all (well, actually not quite yet). I decided months ago that I couldn’t possibly leave peninsular Malaysia without a trip to BORNEO! There were only two things that I just had to do- see wild Orangutans and SCUBA Dive in Sipadan-I did both, and so much more.

Sarah and I arrived in Borneo and stayed the night in KK. The next morning we took a crowded mini bus to Kinabalu Park to see the highest peak in SE Asia. We completed the longest hike in the park besides the summit- the Liwagu trail.

Kundasang and Ranau: The next day we took a bath in a natural hot spring, walked dozens of meters high on a canopy walk, spent lots of time in a butterfly garden, ate amazing food, and saw the worlds largest flower (the Raflessia).

The Raflessia Flower: roughly 1 meter in diameter!

View from the canopy walk in Poring Hot Springs

The third day we took a bus from Ranau to Sandakan (was supposed to come at 2pm- ya right, were still in Malaysia). After waiting for the bus for nearly two hours, it arrived, though not as we planned. The driver told us that we had to buy tickets ahead of time and all the seats were full. We had to take that bus, so we sat on the stairs in the bus for a 4.5 hour journey. I was honestly just happy to be on the bus! After arriving, a friend I met on couchsurfing picked us up at the bus station, took us to a wonderful dinner on the rooftop of a building in Sandakan, and helped us find a cheap dorm. It never ceases to amaze me how many great people there are in the world, that are always willing to help you out!

The next morning we took a slow mini bus to Sepilok to start our wildlife adventure!!!! The start of our 3D/2N trek with Uncle Tan’s started and we were off to the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre. We saw two semi-wild Orang Utans!!!!! After that, we left for the Kinabatangan River to see wildlife! Sarah and I were expecting to be possibly the only college students- nope there were three others- Natalie and Briony from the UK and Elise from the States! The five of us had a blast! The jungle camp we were staying at had no running water, electricity for only 6 hours a day, and we slept under mosquito nets- it was amazing!!!! The first night we went on a night boat ride and saw the largest bat in the world (the Flying fox), the Buffy Fish Owl, Hornbills, a Malay civet, and tons of other species.

The two semi-wild orangutans from the sanctuary

The following day we woke up at 6am to do a morning boat ride- we saw crocodiles, monkeys, birds, and others. A few hours later, we went on a jungle trek and ran into 3 WILD ORANG UTANS!!!!!! There was an adult male, female, and juvenile Orang Utan. The male was not thrilled at our presence and kept breaking off large tree branches and throwing them at us. It was crazy!!!!!!!! We also saw the coolest insects I have ever seen! -the Lantern bug, and its babies.

Lantern Bugs :)

There were tons of amazing species of butterflies

And lots of dragonflies

A wild juvenile orangutan in the WILD!!!!!!!

The next boat ride allowed us to see Proboscis Monkeys (the ones with the huge nose). There was a troop of over 30 of them and they were amazing! They made quite funny sounds as well.

Proboscis Monkey!

That night we went on another jungle trek! This was my favorite- our guide Leo could find anything!!!! We found sleeping Scarlet Rumped Trogons and Black and red Broadbills. Leo was also able to spot a File-eared tree frog from over 15m away! The spider species that we saw were also incredible!!! WOW, BORNEO IS TEEMING WITH WILDLIFE!!!!

File-eared tree frog :)

Sleeping Scarlet Rumped Trogon

My favorite bird the entire jungle trip (besides the owls)- the Black and Red Broadbill

Morning we had to leave- saying goodbye to our new friends

On the third day of being jungle people, we went on another boat ride back to the dock (a 45min trip) and Sarah and I were off the Semporna so I could get my permit to dive Sipadan!!!! Well, we didn’t make it to Semporna in time and I missed the ferry to the island. We sat in an incredibly packed mini bus for over 4 hours in awful traffic! At least we made it to Semporna that night so we could take the ferry in the morning. We woke up the next day and we headed to Mabul Island! The second we arrived, the divemasters told me they were waiting for me to leave for Sipadan (a forbidden island that only 120 people a day are allowed to visit). I was so excited that I forget to put on any sunscreen and I just grabbed my swimsuit and ran. I picked out my wet suit, BCD, and other dive equipment and jumped on the boat. I was too excited to be nervous but Sipadan is generally a place that experienced divers go, and I am not to that level yet. But, my adventurous self just had to do it- and it was 100% worth it!!!! I have never done anything more exciting; I was smiling so much at some points that my regulator would leak water. 6 other divers, two divemasters, and myself headed to the first dive site. The second site, Barracuda point, is one of the top 10 dive sites in the world and I now know why! I swam in a school of nearly one thousand chevron barracuda (each over 1m in length), schools of thousands of jack fish, and a school of nearly one hundred Pumphead parrot fish (some the size of a table!). I saw over 50 sea turtles (most green but some hawksbill) and dozens of reef sharks! The dives were all wall dives, so I was swimming with walls of intricate and vibrant coral on my left and the abyss of the open ocean on my right. This was the first time I dove in water that there was no floor in site. It was extraordinary!

View from the ferry ride to Mabul

Water off the shore of SIPADAN!

ME DIVING WITH BUMPHEAD PARROT FISH AND A SEA TURTLE!!!!!!

Reef sharks galore :)

Friendly sea turtle :)

Schools of Chevron Barracuda surrounding me!

Bye bye Sipadan- I will definitely be back in the future!

After completely three amazing dives at Sipadan, I knew that diving was definitely my favorite thing ever- so I spent the rest of my time in Borneo diving and getting my Advanced Open Water Certification. The night dive was my favorite- I got to see a sleeping turtle, 2 lionfish, a Spanish dancer, a PYGMY OCTOPUS (I was so excited I went crazy!), and a million other spectacular things. One of the greatest things I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing is putting your torch to your chest, the whole sea being pitch black, and waving your hands in the water. The bioluminescent plankton begin to glow and the ocean looks like a night sky full of stars. I also got to do my first deep dive- that was also great! I got to learn about underwater navigation and guide my own dive- pretty cool!

Although I did not have an underwater camera with me some kind divers took photos and sent them to me! A French couple on my dive boat had a camera and they were so amazing and took photos of me (photo credit for the diving pictures goes to Priscilla and Tristan- you are the best!). I figured that I would love scuba diving but not this much! Now I have 2 of the most expensive hobbies possible- travelling the world and diving. Dang, I am just going to have to make sure I have a job one day that allows me to do both. If anyone knows of one, let me know!

Next blog will hopefully be about my adventures this past weekend in Cambodia :)

It has been over a month since I have updated my blog- here it goes. I figured this blog would contain the stories from the last month (school and Thailand) but my mid semester break in Bali changed my mind. As cheesy as it sounds, the eleven days I spent in Bali were both eye opening and life changing. For one thing, I am certain that I will never stop travelling and I also need a career one day that will allow me to do A LOT of it- bye vet school. Back to Bali: it is a magical place! The culture, environment, mountains, ocean, flowers, people, food, and attitudes, are something so special that words can’t describe. I imagined Bali to be amazing but the way that the island maintains such a high level of culture while sustaining thriving tourism, is incredible.

Just a few of the amazing flowers that are found throughout Bali

What made my experience so fantastic to start out with was getting my PADI DIVE CERTIFICATION in Tulamben, Bali!!! This is something I have dreamt of doing for years and it finally became a reality. Although I have very few fears in life, one of them was (past tense!) a fear of deep ocean water. I don’t know if it’s a fear of the unknown that exists down there or what but it frightened me a bit. I figured I may be a bit scared of diving but that was not the case. The moment I first put the regulator in my mouth and jumped in the water, I knew it was meant to be. It also helped that our Balinese dive instructor Erik was awesome! I know I am getting ahead of myself but diving is the greatest thing I have ever done in my life- nothing compares (so far). I honestly was teaming with joy and I could have stayed underwater the entire day. The first day of diving I got to swim right beside a 2+ meter white tip reef shark, lion fish, stingrays, tropical fish galore, dozens of species of coral, sea fans, sea squirts, sea slugs, seahorses- pretty much everything!!! The next day we got to dive to 18m deep and inside a ship wreck from WWII! I got to see a massive barracuda, eels, pumphead parrotfish, octopus, and about a million other marine animals! When I spotted the octopus I swam down to its level and stayed there till it went under the coral. Just staring at an animal bores some people but there was nothing going through my head but utter bliss. I know I am a complete nerd but diving is my new favorite thing! It even made me realize more than ever that a career in marine bio may be exactly what I need to do!

Right before my first open water dive!!!!

Erin, Sarah, and I taking the plunge!

Some of the incredible species we got to see!!!!!

NEMO!!!!!!

I love the anemone fish!

Us and our dive instructor, Erik :)

Sarah and I lookin' super fine...

Lionfish that we spotted!

The eye of an octopus as he hides in a coral garden

Swimming in the ship wreck!

Exotic Sea-slug!

Diving was not the only great thing…the town of Tulamben was on the same level to me as a few of my small favorite towns in Costa Rica. The Balinese people welcomed Erin, Sarah, and I with open arms and I certainly felt at home. It might be bad of me to say, but while I love Malaysia, I hoped that I could wake up in Tulamben knowing that I could stay as long as I wanted. The Balinese people introduced us to their traditions, customs, stories, food, music; you name it- we got immersed in it. We went to a restaurant that had a live band- and became friends with the members. After the restaurant closed we all sat around a table and sang songs as the band played the music. Something as simple as sitting with seven Balinese people and making music was so special to me. They even knew some of my favorite songs- and sang Sweet Home Alabama for Sarah-haha.

Views from our hotel!

The dive center gave us a motorbike for the time we were there so we got to explore the entire town (and even eat one of the best meals I have ever consumed!). Erin, Sarah, and I squeezed onto one motor bike- of course they made me drive- and we had a great journey! We could not drive more than 10m without people waving to us and smiling. Everyone in Bali was happy and had brighter smiles than I have ever seen before. We randomly picked a small restaurant on the side of the road to eat at. What we didn’t realize is that everything on the menu was octopus! In the same day that I got to swim alongside an octopus, I also ate one- I am gross. But it tasted sooooo good!

Mountain vista from our "joyride" around Tulamben

View as we drove through the town :)

What's on the menu for tonight? OCTOPUS soup!

The last night in Tulamben we hung out with our dive instructor and Balinese friends and went to the beach to sing and play the guitar. Before the beach I took a pit stop to see a valley between two mountains where you can see the ocean from one side and the jungle from the other. As I stood there, I looked up at the dark sky, which normally contained hundreds of bright stars, and all I saw was two. A few days before I was listening to the Balinese people tell stories about their culture. The one that remained with me the most was the fact that to the Balinese, stars are reflections of lost souls who no longer reside on Earth. When I looked up in the night sky and saw those two stars I was filled with the appreciation that I have for my life. I hope that doesn't sound too lame but it was a really eye opening moment for me. I realized that have so much to be thankful for and I am so grateful to have so many adventures to go on in my life! This semester abroad, which still has half remaining, is an experience that is priceless...

The last day in Tulamben, Sarah yelled to me and said that there was a HUGE lizard. I figured it was maybe a couple inches bigger than the normal ones but I still came out to see it. It was far from what I expected, if fact it was a large male Tokay Gecko. After watching him for a while and taking photos, I thought it would be brilliant to try and pick him up. So, I reached down, grabbed him, and then it went sour. My left hand was bitten, hard I might add, but I am the idiot that didn’t put him down. He then bit my right middle finger and then a knuckle on my right hand. The last bite was hard enough that he wouldn’t let go and had to be pried off using a knife. I didn’t scream or make any noise during the encounter but as soon as I saw the knife, the only thing I could do was rant to the men not to hurt the Gecko. Luckily he was fine but my hand looked awful. The skin on my knuckle was ripped down the bone and both hands were dripping blood. At least Sarah was awesome and helped me out :) I am glad she at least got to witness my stupidity so that it wasn't a complete waste. I don’t know how but all three bites are already perfectly healed and I learned my lesson BIG TIME. Never again will I mess with a wild animal like that!

The Gecko that I was defeated by...

We left that day from Ubud, a quaint and hippish town in Bali. We stayed in home stays pretty much the entire time left in Bali. The first night in Ubud we found a nice home stay but they had no room for three people. While we were walking to the next home stay, the young man came to us and said he had one room we could stay in- his room. We made our way into the homie room with a huge king size bed! His toothbrush, deodorant, and all his possessions where in the room. His family was some of the nicest people I have ever met. In Ubud I got to see a monkey temple, a traditional Balinese trance dance, ate SUSHI for the first time in Asia, and saw beautiful rice fields!

Artwork at the secret garden

View on the way to Ubud!

Traditional Balinese trance dance in Ubud!

The next stop in Bali was Uluwatu- one of the best surf spots in the world. Sarah and I figured we would stay for a night or two but we stayed there the entire rest of Bali. On the first day of being there we walked down to the beach and Sarah lost a shoe. She ended up finding a small black sandal to use as a replacement. Who would have guessed that losing a shoe would cause you to meet some great friends? A very tan girl asked Sarah if she was missing another black shoe- the shoe that went with the one she took. From that moment on, we had met some awesome people! We all went to eat at Silver Fish, a bar and restaurant above the surf, and hung out with our new friends for the next five days. We became instant friends with three Canadian- Veronica, Tracey, and Jessica and an Australian named Sid. What made me even more excited was that Jessica was from the very north east of Canada and is an Eskimo! She lives in a town that has seals, whales, polar bears, wahhhhh!!! I am now friends with my first Eskimo! By the end of the five days we referred to each other as a family- it is amazing how much you can get to know people in such a short time. We ate breakfast together, sang songs along with the guitar, star gazed, made homemade Salsa, went on motorbike rides to neighboring towns in Bali, went to a pool party, made homemade Sangria, swam in the ocean, and had tons of other adventures. We also met people from all over the world coming to surf- people from Germany, South Africa, New Zealand, Britain, Costa Rica, Morocco, you name it!