Nearly
two years ago, we booked this trip after
seeing an advertisement for it; it was a
good price, and it would take us to a
tropical climate for a  short
break when winter was ending. Finally, it
came around.
And, while it was enjoyable, it wasn't as
good as our previous trips with "Inspiring
Vacations" have been. There was nothing
wrong with it; everything went smoothly, and
no-one in the group (of 8 couples) was a
problem. Perhaps it followed too quickly on
our trip to Japan, and the motorhome drive
to WA before that; perhaps we should have
looked for a trip with more walking in it?
Perhaps we're less interested in seeing the
wildlife than some people are?
 We
flew to Kota Kinabalu, in Malaysian Sabah,
via Kuala Lumpur. Quite a long flight, and
neither of us likes flying as we used to;
airports seem to have become less enjoyable
places, and the planes are usually much
fuller. But we got there with no problem,
and took a taxi to the hotel easily. That
night the tour took over, and apart from
having to find ourselves lunch and dinner
sometimes, we just did what our guide, Mark,
told us to do. From that point of view, it
was very easy.
 So we
did have 10 days in tropical warmth; we swam
in warm seas over coral reefs; we walked in
tropical rainforest (at one stage having to
go off-trail, around a 1.8 metre long
monitor lizard, who refused to move off the
path); we saw wild orangutans and proboscis
monkeys, and pygmy elephants; we saw a huge
turtle laying its eggs on the beach, and
tiny hatchlings heading into the sea.
We saw huge areas of palm oil plantations.
We ate a lot of rice, but (unlike Japan)
didn't see any growing.
And now? After going away a lot over the
past four months, we have no definite plans
to take any more trips anywhere.
Simon's
Journal
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