When it was still warm in Beijing I started dreading the winter. My first months-long winter in ages, with temperatures going well below zero. Icy winds cracking skin and chilling bones. So, apart from winter-proofing my life with a bathtub, an electric blanket and floor heating, I started looking for respite. I found a cheap return flight to tropical Borneo and packed my snorkeling kit as well as leech-proof boots and socks. In early December I spent ten gloriously hot and sweaty days spent exploring Sabah, a fraction of this huge island.

Great-aunt Sister Regini
Before I left I made an interesting discovery – connecting my family history and even my own name to Borneo. I knew my middle name Regina came from a maternal great-aunt who was a catholic nun. She passed away not long before I was born. What I didn’t know was that she spent 36 years living and working as a missionary. She was based in Kalimantan, the Indonesian (then Dutch) side of Borneo.
Curiosity piqued, I set out to discover more. I had a delightful conversation with Sister Gerda van Gogh, the Mother-superior of the order of Franciscan nuns that my great-aunt Regini was a member of. My great-aunt was well-liked, a sweet woman who taught Dayak girls at a boarding school. Mother-superior Gerda had also lived and worked in Kalimantan and told me more about life there. Before internet and cheap international flights their only contact with home was through letters that took months to arrive. In addition, there was a yearly phone call at Christmas.
Thoughts on how I feel about imposing ‘our’ religion on ‘their’ culture aside, I think it’s amazing that my great-aunt (and other women) had the chance to choose a different path from family life in the village where they were from, going into the world hoping to bring something good to other people. I’m not religious but definitely feel an affinity with how these strong women chose to shape their lives. I’m very touched by feeling this connection with this remarkable relative of a previous generation, in a different time.

Sister Regini in Borneo
Sabah
Borneo is the third-largest island in the world (after Greenland and New Guinea) and my flight arrives in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Malaysian Sabah on the northeastern side of the island. This is about 1500km away from where Sister Regini once lived and worked and I decide to plan a future trip to her old stomping grounds. This time, I focus on the other draw of Borneo: nature.
In preparation I read Redmond O’Hanlon’s Into the Heart of Borneo and realize that the jungle is an environment that is not for the faint-hearted and incredibly special. Borneo contains roughly 6% of the world’s biodiversity with many unique mammals and plants found in the rain forests. An unusual red-and-white one-meter wide flower that stink like a corpse – the Rafflesia.

A great ape that shares 96% of our DNA – the orang utan. Salt-water crocodiles, proboscis monkeys, civet cats, giant spiders, snakes, an abundance of (medicinal) plants, trees, mushrooms… This rich diversity is under severe threat due to habitat loss. Tropical hardwood has been logged on a massive scale and there are huge palm-oil plantations, stretching towards the horizon and being inhospitable to most of the special species of Borneo.
Kota Kinabalu
I spend a very laid-back couple of days walking around Kota Kinabalu and ferrying to the islands of the coast. There is a strong historical presence of Chinese immigrants, funky street art and excellent food.
I make my way to Mount Kinabalu. A spectacular vista from afar, and up closer a great area with lush jungle and hot springs in the foothills to explore.

Sepilok orangutan sanctuary
After two days of travel I reach the Sepilok orangutan sanctuary. Here, rescued apes get treated by a vet, fed and released into the semi-wild. They get fed but otherwise roam freely in a vast swathe of pristine jungle.
Eco-camping in the jungle
The highlight of my trip is without a doubt my stay at the KOPEL rainforest eco-camp. This is a local village initiative that has been working at regenerating the ravaged jungle around the Kinabatangan river by planting trees and creating a welcoming environment for local endemic species. Here, orangutans and other animals live in the wild, roaming and nesting and procreating, safe from loggers and hunters. KOPEL started 25 years ago with support in the form of international aid but these days they are completely self-sufficient, thanks to donations and paying tourists like me who come and stay for a few days to experience the rainforest.
Two other guests and me get picked up from the KOPEL reception area by our guide Azman. From here, we get taken to the jungle camp by boat on the Kinabatangan river. Upon arrival we get assigned a simple hut. It’s one step up from camping: a raised A-frame platform with a mosquito net as a window on the wild forest outside and a bathroom underneath. With a large cold-water bucket for a shower, to wash our jungle-sweaty selves. There is no airco, not even a fan. Monkeys are rustling in the treetops outside my hut. There is a communal area by the side of a small lake and here we meet up to have breakfast, lunch and dinner – delivered to us by boat from KOPEL, to minimize the impact of the camp on the forest.

For three days and two nights we explore – hikes, night walks with torch-lights, boat trips, tree planting, early-morning bird watching. It’s quite wonderful – I loved sleeping in the hut and hearing the noise of the jungle change pitch at different times of day and night.
Getting around
I slowly and chaotically made my way around Sabah, with local Uber style cars that required a lot of haggling, waiting for hours for buses to arrive by the roadside and stubbornly refusing to join package tours. Overall, I enjoyed the serendipity of it and I had some great conversations with interesting people. In the end, however, I indulge in a small prop plane flight to hop back to Kota Kinabalu. From the plane, I get treated to a last glimpse of the Kinabatangan river.

Jungle culture
I’m glad I get to spend one more day in Kota Kinabalu, as it allows me to visit Mari-Mari Culture Village. Here, Dayak longhouses have been erected where you can see crafts and customs of the original inhabitants of the jungle. It sounds a bit tacky but it’s done quite tastefully and shared with great pride and charm by the village guides. These cultures are otherwise not visible as the whole population is now predominantly muslim or christian. I found it quite the contrast with Yunnan where minority culture is still alive in many towns, and not just for tourists. We make our way through several houses, taste snacks and drinks as we go and in the end we all share a fabulous meal with eyewateringly hot and sour sambals.
I really loved Borneo. Not only because it was hot, warm-hearted and interesting, but also because it’s been a long time since I went to a completely new country, by myself, without knowing anyone. I’m happy to see Yun again when I get back to my cozy Beijing home, but I very much enjoyed indulging my adventurous travel-bug.