Welcome to Borneo, Malaysia!

Hello, everyone! Sitting in a sarong and swimming costume sipping on a coke while Pete does an afternoon dive, his 3^rd of the day. Just finished watching a turtle the size of a 6 seater table float between the little legs of the local sea gypsy children swimming in crystal water the same colour as the sky. Every guide book raved about it, everyone recommended it, but that still doesn’t prepare you for the wonders of this place.

We arrived on Mabul yesterday morning after a short sleepover in Semporna, the gateway to the archipelago. The trip from Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur as uneventful except for the maniacal taxi ride from the airport to our accommodation. Oh, and the exceptional similarity between the locals’ facial features with those of many a resident in Cape Town. (The term “Cape Malay” takes on a whole new meaning now!) We keep expecting to hear, “Ja, waaaar kom jy vandaaaaan” but everyone still has their front teeth so no luck as yet J.   

We have 4 days of diving booked while staying on Mabul Island. 3 Days will be spent diving around the island at places like Lobster Wall, Artificial Reef and Stingray Gardens. Tomorrow we head to Sipadan, the crème de la crème of dive areas in South East Asia and one of the top 10 dive sites in the world! If the last 2 days are anything to go by, I have a feeling we will be blown out of the water. Sharks are a virtual guarantee (but don’t worry, no great whites…only hammerheads and reef sharks!), shoals of fish and barracudas into the thousands, possible whale sharks and even manta rays…holding thumbs for them all.

Yesterday was an amazing reintroduction to diving with sightings of creatures that belong more in an episode of Star Trek than in front of your eyes. Tiny little wriggly fish called Juvenile Harlequin Sweetlips, ginormous prehistoric turtles that I still can’t quite believe are real, fish that vary in colour, size and quantity it would be impossible to name them all. It blows my mind that someone actually has! And that doesn’t even cover the corals which vary in as much colour intensity and variety as the fish. There is a backdrop within a backdrop within a backdrop of activity going on here. Like a “Where’s Wally” picture, the more you look the more you see. We just have to be careful not to get too close to all the Mooray Eels that suddenly lurch out of their hiding places with an underwater hiss.

Stunningly, there is as much going on sociologically on the island as there is biologically. I mentioned sea gypsies earlier. Yesterday, we were told by our dive guide that the people living on shacks and boats moored next to the dive accommodation are literally sea gypsies who have drifted down from the Philippines and set up shop. The Bajau, as they are called, have been declared illegal by the Malaysian Government and therefore are not entitled to schooling or healthcare. A school has been set up by the local dive schools for the stateless children called School of Hope, but it follows more of an environmental curriculum than a traditional scholastic one. There is a large focus in general on conservation here for adults and children alike. We were lucky enough to enjoy a lecture on sea turtles last night and there are a number of people walking around with awareness t-shirts about shark finning. With any like we might even see a sea turtle hatchery before we leave as they frequently nest on the beach right in front of the resort!

But now, I’m off. Pete’s just got back and there’s coffee waiting downstairs. We have a night dive booked for tonight, before our early morning 6am start to get to Sipadan. Will fill you in more again soon.

Lots of love  

6am start!

30C water!

Diving Bliss!

Nice spot for lunch!

Sea Gypsies.