We left Lahad Datu, the rally boats stuffed to their gunwales with guests who were joining us for a party at Silam, our next destination.
Before that, we squeezed in a trip to the mud volcano of Sabah’s famous Tabin Wildlife Sanctuary. The smaller sister of Danum Valley, but still packed with pristine rainforest and wild animals, one day wasn’t long enough to spend trekking through the jungle here.
With rivers and sinking mud to cross, gumboots and leech socks were the order of the day.
The road trip to the sanctuary took us through valley after valley of palm oil plantations. Over decades the rainforest has been logged for industry and agriculture, resulting in deforestation on a vast scale.
This hit home when we learned about ‘Iman’, Borneo’s last Sumatran rhino who died in 2019. Her body has been stuffed and arranged in the on-site museum, where we walked through an exhibition of the devastation caused in Sabah since industrial-scale logging began.
To find out more about this critically-endangered animal (there are estimated to be fewer than 80 left in the world, living in isolation on Sumatra) check out National Georgraphic’s 🦏 Sumatran Rhino Rescue or watch the one minute video.
The short passage to Silam was a chance to sail. Although the winds were light, it gave us an opportunity to break out ‘The Kraken’. For once, we were sailing with other boats and were given footage and images from our friends of the Code Zero in full flight.
Thank you for your support and for encouraging our travel story-telling.
Peace and fair winds,
Liz and Jamie xx
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