I did a report about Borneo in the 3rd grade. We had learned about the rain forests and how they were being cut down- and how this would impact all the animals. Beyond just the report, I created a game called, “Welcome to the Jungle”- before GnR’s time 😉 I drew a poster of all the animals you’d find in the jungle- and frankly, for a 3rd grader especially, it turned out really great. I remember the only animal I really wasn’t happy with was the scorpion- but in all, I remember being very proud of it. I even kept the poster for years and years…

But I never forgot about this magical jungle island more than halfway around the world. I’d like to thank Mrs. Linda Evans for that- and hope you will somehow find out that I fulfilled this dream I’d held onto for so long.

We’d gotten home from Africa and back into the “grind” and both of us started to get depressed. We had some other issues going on as well- including a court battle for justice for our little pup, Zelda, who was killed by our former vet (see @Zelda’s Journey on Facebook for more)…I really had a tough time, especially when the anniversary of her death rolled around- which also happens to be our wedding anniversary!?

Needless to say, we needed something to look forward to- and we only had 2 weeks to do it in.

We had learned from our Africa trip that while it is a long way, it’s not so far that you couldn’t make a good go of it in a 2-week jaunt. Africa isn’t as far, nor unattainable as we thought- so the rest of the world was fair game too!

Bryan suggested Borneo, since he knew of my desire and that 3rd-grade project- and that was that!

We started planning and investigating more about what to do and see- especially as there are a lot of animals there unique to the island including proboscis monkeys, sun bears, orangutans in the wild and black squirrels! We also wanted to dive, as there are some of the nicest reefs in the world, including Sipidan- and we hoped to see hammerheads and whale sharks as well.

We got the trip together in a couple weeks, just a few short months in advance of our departure- in our usual form…and come April 13th, we’d be flying through China on a more than 30 hours journey to this amazing land!

Read about our journey which includes discussion about vegetarian food, animals, ecology and the Malaysian and Muslim culture of the area. Enjoy!