Maliau Sipadan Jun03

This trip is for regular trekkers to whom Maliau Basin needs no introduction. One had to be fit or has to get fit to endure the long hours of jungle trekking. After a tough 4 days, we will "lepaked" in the famous islands of Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai. Its probably one of the best snorkling areas in Malaysia.

Day 1 Agathis Camp: We were a party of 8 pax (3 ladies) and met up early morning in KLIA. We arrived in Tawau at about 1pm and was transported to the Maliau Conservation Area Office for settlement of fees and shopping for souveniers. After lunch, we stopover at the market and purchased crabs, prawns and fish at a third of teh cost in KL. The journey to the Base Camp Agathis took up most of the afternoon. At night we feasted on the vast quantities of seafood and vegetables, expertly prepared by our members.
Day 2 Camel Trophy Camp: The start of this 7km trek was a steep climb and with a backpack, it was quite challenging. All the ladies opted for personal porters to carry part of their belongs and provisions, while the men struggled through. Most arrived at 1pm and the back-enders about an hour later. After a quick refreshement and snack, we walked another two hours return visiting the Giluk and Takob Akob waterfalls. This Camp is actually a bungalow with solar lighting and proper beds and mattresses. It was donated and built by the Camel Trophy Sabah Expedition in May 1993.

Day 3 Bambangan Helipad: After about an hour into the 8kms (five hours) trek to Bambangan, we reached the beautiful heath forest. The full-grown Kerangas trees are stunted by the nutrient-deficient soils and the diameters of the trunks never exceeded two inches. The floor of the forest was filled with mosses, lichens, pine trees, orchids and the six species of Nepenthes (Pitcher plants). This section reminded me of the famous Milford Track in New Zealand. The backenders took loads of time for photography and only arrived at 230pm. We all proceeded to the Maliau Falls 2km away and had a good soak and of course, more photographs.
Day 4 Agathis Camp: Its 2kms to Ginseng Camp followed by another 6kms back to Agathis. Ginseng Camp is named after one scrawny Ginseng plant, standing 8 feet tall. The 40meters nearby waterfall is also named Ginseng. The main party arrived in Agathis at 1pm while the tail-enders came in at 3pm. At night we feasted on fresh "Udang Galah" purchased from Kalabakan and it was more than "finger-licking" good. After dinner we went on a two hours jungle safari with spotlights. We saw one wildboar, two barking deers, a family of musang, one civet cat, an owl, a slow loris and an unidentified cat-like creature.

Day 5 On to Semporna: We depart by 4WD and lunched at the town of Kalabakan for more of its well-known "Udang Galah". We were dropped off at the minibus stand where we hired a 12-seater van to take us to Semporna 1 1/2 hours. We celebrated once again by having an expensive seafood dinner at the best restaurant in town at the Dragon Inn.

Day 6 Sipadan & Mabul: Our twin-engined speedboat left the jetty at 830am and we arrived firstly in Mabul where we dropped off our stuff. Then its was a short 20mins hop to Sipadan Island. Two of our party negotiated a diving session while the rest snorkeled and circuited this small island in 20mins. After lunch, we snorkeled some more along the 600m drop-off line. At about 4pm the boat took us to the snorkeling spot in Mabul. We finished the day resting by the jetty amidst a beautiful sunset.

Day 7 Kapalai Island: After breakfast we boated to Kapalai Island 15mins away, which is actually an atol. For me, it was the best snorkeling site with very rich marine life and wonderful corals. There's only one small resort here and the waters around are the cleanest. We had a long session of snorkeling before going back to Mabul for lunch. Then it was a final walk around the island, visiting the 5-Star SMART (Sipadan Mabul Resort) before going back to Semporna. We arrived at our hotel at 5pm with plenty of time to clean up and go for "ice-cream". We even had time for a short stroll to the Bajau Sea-front village.

Day 8 Seaweed Farm & Go Home: We visited the Tawau market, bought some fishes to take home and went on traditional boat ride to the numerous seaweed farms and other islands off the Semporna coast. Despite clear waters, most of the islands have poor corals because of bomb-fishing. We went onto one of the seaweed farm houses, belonging to the boatman's relation and enjoyed the interaction. The seaweed grown here are introduced species, which are used for making "agar-agar". We returned to the mainland for lunch and headed to the Tawau Airport at 3pm for our flight home.