Borneo
Separated from Peninsular Malaysia by 600 miles of the South China Sea, Sabah, on the northern tip of Borneo, can be reached by direct flights from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Known as 'The Land Below The Wind', Sabah is an adventure playground, home of the world's oldest jungles and one of South-East Asia's highest peaks, Mount Kinabalu. Sabah also offers the unique opportunity to see orang-utans in their natural environment.
The capital and main gateway to Sabah, Kota Kinabalu is a new city built upon the ruins of Jesselton, which was badly damaged during the Second World War, and designed around the gold-domed State Mosque. From Signal Hill there is a good view of the city and the surrounding mountains and sea. Just south of Kota Kinabalu is the resort of Tanjung Aru, where the beach complex has been designed with both business traveller and holidaymaker in mind. There is also a ferry-shuttle service into the town.
Nearly 250 miles from Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan is the old capital of Borneo. The Sandakan Orchid House displays a rare collection of wonderful orchids and is a must for green-fingered enthusiasts. Also of interest is the Crocodile Farm, located outside Sandakan along the 7th mile Labuk Road. Over 1000 crocodiles, of varying sizes, inhabit the farm at any one time. 15 miles from the town is the Sepilok Orang-Utan Rehabilitation Centre, home of the 'wild men of Borneo', the world's largest orang-utan population. The sanctuary is a rehabilitation centre where orang-utans reap the benefits of inhabiting virgin rainforest in a protected environment. Now one of Sabah's top tourist attractions the centre is no flippant tourist site as it actively manages to take in injured or orphaned orang-utans and return them to the wild once they are rehabilitated. There is no guarantee of seeing an orang-utan, but they usually turn up for their twice-daily feedings.
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