Three Day Trip to Pulau Banggi – April 2009

An exciting email arrived saying that the Sabah Society was planning a three day trip away to Pulau Banggi over the Easter Weekend in April 2009.   We had no idea where Pulau Banggi was, and had not experienced jungle trekking,  but it all sounded very exciting and we quickly signed up for our first trip away with the Sabah Society.  Little did we know we were in for an “Extreme Sport” weekend!

The first challenge for newcomers to jungle trekking was finding the right gear, after first learning the jargon!   Kampong Adidas ?   Leech Socks ?   What were we getting ourselves into!

Finally the day arrived, and kitted out with backpacks and probably far too much other gear, we set off on the drive to Kudat for lunch at our meeting place at the Kudat Golf Club.   Leaving KK the sky was blue and sun shining down, but as we approached Kudat two and three quarter hours later, a threatening front of clouds blew in over the town, and, as we watched golfers completing their final hole near the clubhouse, rain started falling over the golf course.  It all looked very ominous for our weekend away….  We had arrived early at Kudat and as we waited we were entertained by monkeys playing along the course in the rain, and watched a Monitor Lizard being swooped down upon by birds obviously trying to protect their nests from this large predator!

We all introduced ourselves as everyone arrived at 12.00 o’clock and sat down in a private, air conditioned room in the golf club for what can only be described as a banquet!   Platter after platter kept arriving – large prawns, scallops, fish, squid and vegetables.  It was a great start to what would be a fantastic weekend away!

By the time we had finished lunch and set off to meet the World Wildlife Fund boat that would be taking us on our journey, the sky had cleared and the sun was shining auspiciously down upon us!

At the boat quay we met up with Rebecca from the WWF who was to be our guide for the next three days.  We parked our cars and the twelve of us boarded the boat for our 45 minute cruise to our first stop of the day at Pulau Maliangin Besar, or Large Maliangin Island.  As we pulled away from the quay Rebecca told us that the many large fishing boats that we could see with their platforms of lights to attract the fish, would not go out fishing for the next few nights due to the full moon.

Maliangan Besar is a beautiful, pristine island designated to become a wildlife park, where fishing will be restricted to allow the reef and reef wildlife to flourish, and eco-tourism encouraged instead.   The Sabah group visited the cultural village houses which have been built on the island. Just a handful of families live on Maliangan, and Rebecca said around 100 people make their home here.

The crystal clear water soon tempted some of our group to don snorkels and masks and head out to explore the reef.   About 100 metres from the shore we found stunning live coral – large purple fan corals, beautiful clams, and many other types of living coral, and small, brightly coloured fish.

An hour later, and we were back on board the boat with our driver, Damsek, carefully inching our boat safely over and through the coral at low tide.   At this point we could see the coral from the comfort of the boat, but the water was too tempting, and a few of us were soon back in the water snorkeling.

Our next stop was a five minute boat ride to Pulau Maliangin Kecil, or Little Maliangin.  This uninhabited paradise has beautiful beaches, tall coconut palms and untouched jungle – yes the TV ads are true!

Damsek and the other WWF staff first harvested and then opened a coconut each for us and we were soon drinking the refreshing coconut water in the afternoon heat.

We left Pulau Maliangin Kecil and headed for Pulau Banggi, a ten minute boat ride away.  Pulau Banggi is the third largest island in Malaysia, and has an official population of 20,000 people.  It is very close to the border with the Philippines.

Arriving at the quay at Pulau Banggi, we unloaded our backpacks and walked into the village to find our accommodation, the Bonggi Resort.   We were soon unpacking and washing off the salt water from our day’s activities.  The resort was built a few years ago and provides clean rooms and a basic bathroom with some rooms air conditioned.

Maimie had kindly provided sundowners and we sipped our drinks on the lawn outside our rooms as we watched the sun setting over the sea before heading across to the waterfront restaurant (hawker’s centre) opposite the Bonggi Resort.

We picked the restaurant with the only table that could seat 12 of us and waited to see whether they could cope with all these foreigners!   To our amazement the young girl serving us could remember twelve different dishes and twelve drinks without writing anything down!    The food was excellent and inexpensive! When they had finished dinner, Ming Cheong, Murphy and Wiki said they were heading back to the resort to go “Sea snake hunting” and to our amazement when we arrived back, we discovered they had found two sea snakes.    These snakes, the Yellow Lipped Sea Krait are amphibious and they come ashore to mate.   They lived up in a large tree at the resort and were just heading back to the sea when the trio spotted them.

The next morning, after a great night’s sleep we were back for breakfast at the previous night’s venue.   A smile crossed the maitre d’s face as we headed to her table! It wasn’t long before we had drunk her completely out of her stocks of Kopi!

Joining us on our activities on our second day was a group of volunteers from the WWF. Rebecca had been camping with the volunteers on Maliangin Island for the night.   They arrived at the boat quay soon after we had finished breakfast, and we all piled into two trucks to make the journey to the start of our jungle trek.

The journey lasted around an hour and, whilst we started our trip on a tarred road, this soon become gravel, and we bumped our way along through the countryside, over precarious looking bridges on the way to our destination.

After passing through small villages, we finally turned off the dirt road onto a small grassy track into dense jungle!

Those on the truck who could see out through the awning realized we were heading to a mountain, and we began to wonder whether we were in fact going on a climb rather than a jungle trek…..  Sure enough we finally stopped at the foot of Mt Sinambung!   This mountain stands just over 500 metres tall and we were heading straight up!  For beginners to jungle trekking in Borneo it was quite an experience!   The track seemed to go up and up and up…We slipped in mud, clung onto branches, roots or any other obstacle in our path!  Our guide assured us that he could do the climb in about thirty minutes!   For the majority of the Sabah Society this translated into about one hour and thirty minutes!   However, exhausted and puffing, we reached the top.

Bill was like an antelope up the mountain, and kindly stopped to help when the going got hard for other less sure-footed climbers!

The views from the top of Mt Sinambung made the hard slog worthwhile, and we spent about half an hour roaming around at the top, congratulating one another and enjoying the beautiful surroundings.  Looking down we could see Pulau Tiga in the distance.  We had beautiful weather and the views were stunning.

About an hour later the first of the group arrived back down at the bottom and an hour after that we were ready to head back to the Bonggi Resort.  We were all extremely tired, but pleased with our day’s achievements!  There were a few nodding heads in the truck on the way home!

We watched the sun setting over the sea from the lawn outside Bonggi Resort, once again sipping sundowners, and then headed to our favorite restaurant for dinner.

Sunday morning found us all up and packed by 7.00am.  Following breakfast we wondered back down to the boat quay where Rebecca was waiting for us in the WWF boat.  It was sad to leave Banggi Island as we had had a great time there.

The weather had changed this morning, and dark thunderstorms threatened.  However it was dry but grey as we set off on our 45 minute boat trip to Balambangan Island.  We could see rain storms falling all around us, but somehow, or through clever driving by Damsek we remained relatively dry!    We pulled into the boat ramp at Balambangan Island and went ashore to take the traditional Sabah Society photograph, and to pick up our guide who was to show us the caves on the island, which was the reason for making the trip out here.

However we were advised that the guide had gone fishing (well who wouldn’t!) and so once again our valuable boat driver/guide/coconut provider, Damsek, now became our Cave Guide!

We boarded the boat again for our short ride around to the entrance to the caves.   This was in the middle of the mangroves and Damsek gently nudged the nose of the boat through the mangroves and just close enough for us to climb down onto the rocks.  Rebecca warned us that crocodiles inhabited these waters, so we were quite wary as we moved from rock to rock!   It was eery as lightening was flashing around us, followed by rumbling thunder as we gingerly made our way across the rocks and mangroves and climbed up into the dark caves.

There were fine examples of stalactites and stalagmites as can be seen below.  And for those still confused by which is which, remember that “When the lady’s Tights fall down the Mites crawl up!”   So stalactites form downwards and the stalacmites up!  We saw bats flying around and heard their sounds of echolation.   Damsek explained to us that the Government issues permits to nest hunters each year.  Once the eggs have hatched and the young bats no longer need the nests, the hunters are allowed to harvest the nests which are then used for local medicinal purposes.

After half an hour of exploration we all made our way safely back through the mud, rocks and mangroves to our boat.

The wind was whipping up the sea and Rebecca asked us to wear our life jackets as we were in for a bumpy ride back to Kudat.   It was over 30 nautical miles back to Kudat and we all bunkered down for the blustery, bumpy trip home.   There were many nervous laughs as our boat pounded up and down in the waves, but our dependable Damsek knew his boat well and brought us safely back to Kudat, managing to miss the rain storms which were all around us!

Once back on terra firma, we said our goodbyes to Rebecca and Damsek who had looked after us so well and all headed to a Chinese restaurant recommended by Wiki where Kim ordered another Chinese Banquet for us!    We tucked into Jellyfish, Fish spiced with ginger, onions and chilli, Pepper Beef and the restaurant’s signature dish of Beancurd, amongst other dishes.  It was a great way to end a perfect trip, before heading back in our cars to KK.

A big thankyou to both Maimie and Veronica for all their hard work organizing a fantastic trip away with the Sabah Society!