Adventures in Borneo, Part 2

All of the "attractions" in Sarawak (with the exception of the first day) are about an hour's drive away from The Kebun. This meant lots of time in the Green Bunny, but it also meant we weren't able to see everything we wanted to see.  While we missed out on Bako National Park which is supposed to be amazing (and I really wanted to see the proboscis monkeys), we felt like we saw enough to give us a good sense of the flora and fauna of Borneo.

Another favorite adventure in Borneo was visiting the Fairy Cave and Wind Caves.  As usual, we weren't sure what to expect, but our expectations were greatly surpassed. Not to diminish the incredibleness of them both, but in many ways they felt like Disneyland - except they weren't figments of someone's imagination.  We really felt like we had entered worlds that someone had created - because we couldn't imagine places like this actually exist.  These posts won't do them justice - you'll have to go see for yourselves!

The Fairy Cave was my favorite.  We walked up 5 flights of stairs in what looked like an old building attached to a mountain, and entered a light-filled cave  with colors and views that the photos can't do justice to. Maggie and I talked about how it looked like what we pictured the scenery to be in her book about China that we had just read:

From there, we were on to the Wind Caves.   The Wind Caves aren't beautiful - they are dark and full of bats.  The screeching of bats echoed through the first cave, and once we convinced Luke and Maggie (Jacob was completely nonplussed by the sound) that fruit bats aren't carnivorous, we walked (briskly) through cave #1.  Cave #2 was full of micro-bats and the kids learned about echolocation (how bats "see") and guano (bat poop).   Here is Maggie in Cave #1 (note: just like bats, you can't see much, but you can hear the video!).

We got home from the Caves and the kids decided to try fishing in the Fish Ponds. They were hooked, no pun intended.  Jacob and Luke both caught fish the first day, and Maggie caught one the next day. While Luke's fish made an impressive getaway when Brian tried to get it into the bucket, the fish caught by Maggie and Jacob were cleaned, cooked, and eaten by my mini-fishermen (and girl).

Our last great Bornean adventure was to see the famous Rafflesia, which boasts the largest single bloom flower on Earth.  Rafflesias only bloom for a few days, so trekking to see one that has bloomed is an important part of Sarawak tourism.  We got to Gunung Gading National Park (the only place this species grows) just as the rain clouds burst, so after waiting out the worst of the storm under a shelter, we traipsed through part of the forest to see a newly bloomed Rafflesia that hadn't finished blooming, but was the biggest in the park that day.

We also encountered a millipede who took a liking to the kids.  Brian and I weren't going anywhere near it, but the kids would have kept it as a pet, I think!