Trips - Borneo
Borneo 2009 -
This expedition starts on 10th July in the Outdoor Education Block at Kingsbridge Community College where the team will work through a build-up programme to prepare for expedition. That night all expedition members will travel to Heathrow Airport ready to depart at 12pm the following day. After a long flight, including a change at Kuala Lumpur, they arrive into Kota Kinabalu on 12th July. The team then have the rest of that day and most of the following day to chill out, explore the city, visit the Embassy and buy provisions for their next phase. They will then make their way to the base of Mount Kinabalu in preparation for their climb – the first major challenge of the expedition!
The team will spend 2 days climbing Borneo’s highest peak. At a height of 4,095m, Kinabalu is the highest mountain in the Malay Archipelago and is a fantastic challenge for any discerning expeditioners. The lower slopes of the mountain are swathed in jungle which will give the team their first introduction into the wonderful flora and fauna that Borneo has to offer. The first part of the trek will be a hard slog through the jungle and the team will be resting in Laban Rata Hut, perched at 3,300m by the end of the day. They will need an early night as at about 3am on day 2 they will leave the hut and trudge up the naked, granite rock on the upper slopes to reach the summit in time for sunrise. Once they’ve had time to relax and enjoy the (hopefully) gorgeous sunrise and stunning views over Borneo, they will then spend the rest of the day making their weary way down to the very base of the mountain.
It will be a challenge, but this is a team that is physically fit and highly motivated and I know they’ll work together and enjoy the experience and adventure. They will camp near the base of the mountain and the following day head to some local hot springs to chill out and relax their no doubt aching muscles!
Following the summit of Mount Kinabalu the team will head to Sepilok for a couple of days where they will visit the orang-utan sanctuary and enjoy the jungle experience, before making their way back to Kota Kinabalu and spending some time buying provisions for their project phase.
The team have now got to day 11 of their itinerary and will spend it making their way, by air, to Sarawak. They will fly directly to Miri where they will be met by 4x4 jeeps which will immediately whisk them away deep into the jungle of the Baram Basin, to Daleh Long Pelutan where there project will be based.
This is a Kayan village where just over 100 families live together in a very tight community. Previously feared head-hunters in the past, the Kayans are now peaceful people, and all are Christians. The villagers are mostly farmers and oil palm cultivators.
Apart from the logging road into the village, the only means of travelling between this and other villagers in the Baram basin is along the Baram River by boat. Each village has a landing site for boats, but these are often slippery and difficult to climb, especially after a heavy rainfall. The team will therefore be helping the villagers to construct a pontoon, under the careful supervision of the villagers themselves, and our leadership team, and will hopefully get to see this pontoon completed and being used whilst they are there.
The villagers will be cooking traditional Kayan food for the team and they are likely to also hold a cultural evening for the team with a showcase of some traditional singing and dancing. It would be fantastic if the Kingsbridge team can get their own ‘cultural performance’ together to show to the villagers in return.
The team will spend 5 full days working on the project, so there is plenty of time for them to also help out in the village school and kindergarten, teaching English and organising games etc for the younger children. The school have already said there is an opportunity for 1 or 2 students to teach English each day, should they wish to, and they have also said that they are happy for a couple of team members to take a whole morning session daily at the kindergarten, so the team can rotate these roles if they wish to. It will be a fantastic opportunity for the team to learn about a very different culture and way of life, plus teach the villagers about our own way of life back here, and even pick up some of the local language!
On completion of their project, the Kingsbridge team will begin their trek through the Baram basin jungle. They will be guided through the jungle by some of the villagers. The route they will follow will be a Kayan hunting route and along the way the villagers may teach them some of their skills – how to set up animal traps and catch fish, which wild plants can be eaten, which are dangerous, which have medicinal properties, and various other jungle survival skills. It will be a very exciting trek and a brilliant opportunity to learn even more about these wonderful people.
Following the trek the team will have a day to chill out in Miri before flying back to Kota Kinabalu where they will spend their last few days. The team plan to have a day of white water rafting then to visit one of the nearby islands and spend a night camping on its sandy shores. There will be opportunities to shop for souvenirs, soak up some rays and see the tourist hot spots that KK has to offer. The team will then have their final review and, if they’ve managed to budget wisely, they may even have enough money left over to splash out on a meal out to celebrate the end of a successful expedition.
All too soon the time will come for the team to leap back onto the plane and head back to Britain to regale us all with stories of their adventures. They are due to arrive at Heathrow Airport at 0550 on 8th August, where they will be met by their Expedition Manager, Charlie. They will then head back to Kingsbridge by coach and aim to arrive at the College for around 1530 later that day.