Amat victoria curam!

The Sandakan Death Marches were a series of forced marches during the very end of WWII in Borneo from Sandakan to Ranau which resulted in the deaths of more than 3,600 Indonesian civilian slave laborers and 2,400 Australian and British POW. Only 6 Australians managed to escape during the marches and because he Japanese did not spare anyone and killed even the few survivors of the grueling marches trough the jungle - these men were the only ones who could tell the story...

On a hill here in Sandakan overlooking the bay of the Sulu Sea is the house of Agnes and Harry Keith. Probably you never heard of them - as did I. But I got intrigued when I visited the house (now the Agnes Keith Museum) and learned about this amazing woman. Born into a wealthy family in Oakland IL. she became a reporter in SF, met an English man, Harry Keith who worked for the North Borneo Government as the Conservator of Forests and Director of Agriculture. They maried and sailed to Borneo in 1934. In her trilogy she describes first the live in pre-war Borneo (Land Below The Wind), her stay in the Japanese camps during the war (Three Came Home) and their final return to Borneo (White Man Returns). I couldn't help and bought the books right away and haven't start reading since... They are warm, funny and a excellent description of life in Sandakan in the 1930s. When there were still people living in the jungle who never had seen ice (stone water) planes (flying boats) or what have you. She also gives a compelling account of here adventures while walking trails in the jungles week after week and to try to deal with the bugs and having apes as pets.
Her story about here Japanese Camp years was made in to a movie with Claudette Colbert in 1950. You can see it on youtube here. After their days in Borneo, Agnes and Keith lived in the Philippines and Libya she even went to Japan to reconcile with here Japanese captures. What an amazing full life she must have had.
But no time to waste now: I HAVE to return to the books

http://archive.org/details/ThreeCameHomeClaudetteColbertHankrip
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Newton_Keith

How could we not have x-mas dinner without our friends around/on our table :-) See you soon guys.

Vogue: Strike a Pose

at least 4"...

Very dangerous monkey on a Rainforest canopy walk

Here in the more rural parts of Borneo Tall White Guys like Eddie and I are something of an attraction. Especially young boys flock around us and start smiling, jumping and shouting. It is a bit of embarrassing on one hand and on the other just heartwarming.

Wild telephone lines

Apartment blocks

No need for washing dryers here - always high 90s' and dry

Sandakan is a pretty little town right on the northern part of Borneo. Here you will find the famous sepilok orangutan rehabilitation center and other interesting nature discoveries. The town itself is still as it was in the 1950's except for the brand new high rising Sheraton Hotel which is a sort of island of western "civilization" here. As everywhere the Malay people are super friendly - but it seems that here they are even more friendlier. Eddie and I are greeted by virtually everybody - people in cars, on the street in restaurants - where do we come from? And wow: we are tall!

Sheraton in Sandakan - 23 floor

Le Medridien in Kota Kinabalu

The engine runs on wood

Everywhere children waving as the train passes villages

How do you like my new hat?

In the early 1900s' the britsh build a railway at this part of Borneo and nowadays on Saturday the steam locomotive is taking tourists from Kota Kinabalu to Papar and return. It was an excellent quite colonial train voyage through the jungle and mangrove forests.

Not bad for $1.00

The Durian is a Borneo fruit that smells like used gym socks - but taste like ripe Mango... Everywhere it is sold here - however seldom you can bring it inside a shop, restaurant or a bus.

Crossing the croc invested river

millipede

Boardwalk in the cave

Sun Cave

We did a daytrip from Miri to the Niah Caves. Here you will find thousands of Swifts nesting on the ceiling (a pity that there nests are being "harvested" for bird nest soup - not sure whether I enjoy that by the way) and bats flying around while producing sonar sounds. In the caves it is pitch dark so you need a torch light to get along. In the light you can see trizillions of bugs flying around you - so better not watch to closely and be happy for your ample usage of DEET (50%).
Because we were the only visitors it was also quite silent (except for the birds and bats that is) The humidity was even higher then in Bako Park so we were soaked when leaving the cave.

Borneo must be butterfly paradise - I never saw so many varieties of Butterflies as here in the jungle while walking around. All colors, sizes and patterns. I guess if I wasn't dripping of DEET they would sit on my shoulders while I am admiring them...

Nice boat ride on the South Chinese Ocean

Safety First!

proboscis monkey

an other proboscis monkey

Humidity 1000%

Jungle Trail

Huge trees and Ferns

On the beach

Nice rocks

Baby boar

Mangroves (Bako in Malay)

Colorful rocks

The proboscis monkey or Orang Blanda (Dutch Ape) in Malay is named for his big nose and belly - so Eddie blended in very easily today :-). he only lives in Borneo and here in Bako Park you can find him if you are lucky - and lucky we were :-)
Bako means Mangrove and it is full with wild life and a super real jungle with simmering temperatures, huge ferns, lots of termites and streams and the occasional Salt water Croc. We spend a full day here and with all the jungle sounds and bright colors it was like we were walking in a David Attenborough nature episode. Which was actually true. Eddie tried the nibble fish whom eat dead skin cells are a common in sallow pools here and luckily all his fingers are still accounted for...