Borneo to Singapore
My Way
Mike Kopman
Tue 23 Dec 2008 06:20
Hello All,
Yesterday afternoon after saying goodbye to Don and Karen (who hopped in a taxi for the airport to
fly home via Jakarta and Bali) we weighed anchor and headed out of the Kumai river for Singapore. Within
15 minutes of our departure a tremendous rain squall enveloped the boat (we couldn't even see the river banks on either side) and pretty much didn't let
up 'til sometime early this morning. It looked like it was going to be a repeat of the trip over
from Bali; three days of miserable upwind slogging with waves crashing over the decks. Fortunately,
things have moderated a little and we're making fairly comfortable progress on slightly flatter
seas, though not without problems: this morning's jobs included stitching a rip in the spray
screens, tracing a diesel leak that has had the inside of the boat smelling awful, and fixing a
cracked water filter that dumped most of our fresh water into the bilge.
We had an amazing stopover in Borneo, or more correctly Kalimantan. Borneo refers to the whole
island, including Brunei and the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah, whereas Kalimantan is the
Indonesian region that we visited. We took a three day river trip on a local 'klotok', a small
wooden river boat with a wheezing diesel engine, a wiry young captain called Waahed and a smiling
guide called Eddie. It was a real treat being looked after as a guest rather than working as crew!
We lounged on the shaded deck sipping thick strong coffee and watching the swirling muddy waters and
the spectacular jungle scenery slip by. Of course the real attraction was the Orangutans. We saw
more unkempt orange fur than we could have imagined, from tiny youngsters swinging in the tree tops
to the brooding dominant males lording over bunches of bananas. Living exclusively on Borneo and
Sumatra, they grow to around 120kg and are eight times stronger than a human, with enourmous hands
and an arm span aproaching three meters. We took loads of pictures and will send some from
Singapore. We also spotted several energetic troups of Proboscis monkeys. With their giant pink
noses and immaculate coats, these gangly acrobats are found nowhere else on Earth.
Unfortunately it looks like we may be spending Christmas at sea as we don't expect to get in to
Singapore until the evening of the 25th.
Lots of love from Mike, Sarah, Dave and Jackie