Borneo is the 3rd largest island in the world, the first and second being Greenland and New Guinea. It is divided into 3 countries, the largest part is Kalimantan to the south which is part of Indonesia, in the north are Sarawak and Sabah which were incorporated into Malaysia in 1963 and also the tiny country of Brunei. I visited Sarawak and stayed at the capital city of Kuching, known as the city of cats. Sarawak is famous for the Orangutan which are only found there and in Sumatra, so obviously that was on our list to visit. We were very lucky that we saw 6 of the animals, all from one family as they came for food at the Semenggoh Nature Reserve.
From our base at Kuching we also took a tour to the amazing Bako National Park. Our minibus took us to the Bako jetty from which we took a shuttle boat which took up to 6 people for a 20 minute trip to the park HQ at Telok Assam. Here we were able to go on a hike and see the proboscis monkey which is endemic to Borneo, silver-leaf monkeys, flying lemurs, monitor lizards, bearded pigs and a variety of birdlife as well as a viper.
We spent an amazing 4 days in Kuching, where we visited the Borneo Cultures Museum, the Chinese temple, went for a sunset cruise along the river and watched the nightly light display at the Darul Hana bridge. We then moved on to the Sarawak Cultural Village.
This is a living museum where there are replica buildings representing every major ethnic group in Sarawak. All buildings are staffed with members of the ethnic groups in traditional costume and carrying out traditional activities such as playing a stringed instrument called the Sape. We visited a mock-up of the Iban tribe house, the Iban were once feared due to their practice of ‘headhunting’. These days they are peaceful people who live off the land but their other traditions are still carried out today and they still live in longhouses built on poles high above the banks of the river.
Our visit to Borneo ended with 2 days at the Damai beach resort to enjoy the tropical rain forest and beautiful beach.
