Fantasy Island

I spent the last few days on a beautiful island called Mataking, with my friend Gil. This island is about 45 minutes by speedboat from the mainland. It is a small island with one resort on it. I knew it was going to be good, when on the boat ride out, we passed Bum Bum Island. I am not kidding.

The resort was pretty empty, with only about 4 chalets being occupied from what I could see. The primary purpose of the resort is for scuba diving (I know I should learn some time), and most of the guests there were there for that purpose. But it's a nice place to relax and do nothing. It's very casual in the resort. Shoes are not allowed in any of the buildings, so you have to remove then whenever you arrive at the restaurant or reception. The food was included, and was pretty decent.

One of the things that Mataking Island is famous for, is that there is a smaller island that you can walk to, during low tide. They call it the Moses Walk. We did that on the day we arrived, and had to wade through thigh-high water on the return, as the tide was coming in quickly.

I wanted to snorkel while I was there, so we signed up for some lessons and a guided tour of the local reefs. After a brief introductory lesson we started off to explore. It was not long before we snorkeled into a school of jellyfish. They were beautiful to look at, but their beauty was far outweighed by their sting. I think I got 6 stings. Gil got 5, and the guide got several too. Back to the dive centre for some antiseptic, then back in the water. This time, we avoided the jellyfish, and found some amazing reefs and fish. The guide pointed out many beautiful sea creatures, including a barracuda.

One night, we went on a Jungle Trek, in search of turtles and coconut crabs. The crabs are large and climb palm trees in search of the coconut. We came across one, but it was a baby, and not the large adult one we sought out. And, no turtles to be found, either.

This morning, we left the island, and headed to Sandakan. Sandakan is the 2nd largest city in Eastern Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. It's quite developed, compared to Tawau. The trip to Sandakan was challenging, at best. There was no choice of transportation other than bus or private car. Getting the bus was difficult, but we finally got it. It was a horrible ride on a stinky non-air conditioned bus for 6 hours. The bus stopped many times to pick up people from the side of the road, and we pulled over to replace a flat tired. It was not a fun trip.

Tomorrow, we will be visiting Sepilok, where there is a sanctuary for Orang Utan apes. I am looking forward to seeing them. Orang Utans were my father's favourite primates, so I am happy to go see them in his honour. Later tomorrow, I will fly on to Kota Kinabalu, the largest city on the island.