// Trip Reports  

Report name	Wellingborough School Leader report
Date submitted	Sep-07

Our 28-day expedition to Sabah in Borneo commenced on the beautiful tropical island of Mamutic in order for the team to acclimatise and relax on a beautiful tropical beach. The team were given safety briefs and a reminder of jungle training as well as time to appreciate swimming in the warm waters of the South China Sea. This was then followed by a BBQ dinner at sunset and then the group’s first night sleeping in hammocks on the beach (with a few spills!).

The expedition then flew into the Danum Valley where the acclimatisation continued by trekking through the pristine primary rainforest and gaining more knowledge about the rainforest at the Danum Valley Scientific Research Centre. The team were rewarded for their long journey by being visited by a wild orang-utan and her baby whilst they eat dinner in the centres lodge.

Acclimatised, the expedition team then travelled to the protected rainforest of Tabin where they carried out project work with the rangers of SOS Rhino and UK Orang- utan. The team were delighted to being given the rare opportunity to visit and carry out maintenance work at the Orang-utan Post Release Observation Camp located a 3hr trek deep within the primary rainforest. A once in a lifetime experience the team worked within close proximity of three young orang- utans Toby, Brock and Susanna who were being rehabilitated back into the wild. Toby entertained the team with his antics, which included swinging in the hammocks, breaking into staff accommodation and running off with washing!
After a lot of hard work the team successfully rebuilt broken walkways at the camp and painted the orang – utan holding cage to allow a much-needed roof to be constructed over the top. Whilst at the camp the team also went out tracking into the rainforest with the rangers of SOS Rhino in search of the endangered Sumatran Rhino. Trekking back out of the rainforest the team stayed over night at the SOS Rhino Field Centre where the group learnt more about the plight of the Sumatra Rhino. Lynne, the field manager was delighted when the group presented her with two GPS and a financial donation for the charity.

After an exhausting week the group then travelled by 4 x 4 to the Kinabatangan River lodge for a well-earned rest where they enjoyed a sunset river safari to watch Proboscis monkeys and wild orang-utan amongst many other jungle creatures.

The following day the team travelled to Sepilok Oran – utan Sanctuary. Again the team enjoyed an amazing experience especially when a large male orang – utan climbed onto the viewing platform, the team realised what an amazing privilege it was to have been able to visit the post release centre at Tabin.

From Sepilok we travelled to Mount Kinabalu National Park headquarters where we stayed at the park lodge and prepared our kit ready to climb Mount Kinabalu the following day. A 8am start, the team began the climb to Laban Rata Rest House, which took this very fit group only five hours to reach a height of 3272m.
To allow the team to reach the summit by dawn we started our climb at 3am and walked in the dark. We crossed the huge granite slabs following a route steadily to the summit. The views from the summit overlooking the rainforest were unforgettable as were the impressive rock formations on and around the summit. After a rest and time to appreciate the views we descended by the same route to Laban Rata for breakfast before descending further to the National Park gates.

Emotions high at successfully summitting, a very tired team travelled to the city Kota Kinabalu for a nights rest before white water rafting on the Kiulu River the following day.

A very energetic team, we then travelled from the city on a very long journey to the village of Long Pasir deep into the centre of Sabah’s rainforest. It was a chance for us to rest very tired limbs before commencing a 3-day jungle trek. Upon arriving at Long Pasir the team split into smaller groups to stay with host families in their homes. An early start the next day we set off into the rainforest with Hanry, our Lun Dayan guide. Each day we trekked for approximately 5 hrs and having set up low impact camps in some amazing locations, the rest of the day was spent with Hanry showing the team jungle survival techniques. Some of the team made cutlery and cups out of bamboo that actually worked!
A now very tired but exuberant group, everybody agreed that the trek was certainly a highlight of the expedition Well Done Wellingborough School.

Lee Barry
Expedition Leader – Borneo 2007