We travelled a half-day up river, passing ever sparser settlements, to arrive at our lodge, where we spent four days tracking local wildlife....
...Jane trying some creek fishing, watched by
young and old alike....
and returning to the relative luxury of our bungalow to reapply lotions and potions, preventative and remedial, not least the endless and poisonous anti-malaria tabs.
Some of the orang utans were far from camera shy
We boarded sea-going boats at Sandakan's town jetty, for an hour and a half's journey to Turtle Island
reaching this idyllic haven where everything is dedicated to protecting and studying turtles; an average of 10-20 females beaching every night inseason to deposit their huge clutches of eggs.
...the one we were lucky enough to witness was a newcomer, and we counted her 115 eggs plop into the warm and incubating sand.
Dawn the next day showed up many turtle trails in the sand and the island's rangers reported 18 productive maternal landings.
We returned through early fishing boats to Sandakan.
What a wonderful experience!
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