Its a Divers Life on an Oil Rig near Sipadan Island

I look up and I can see the sun blazing in the sky above the surface of the ocean, its' normally neat, round circle warped by radiating ripples of water.  It peers into the seas as if from another world.  The clouds softly pad out the sky around.  Then a shadow crosses the sun.   It's the sihouette of a Pacific Green Turtle gliding across the surface of the water.  For a brief moment, it eclipses the sun and we have an official Partial Turtle Eclipse.  This lasts only until the turtle begins its descent back down to a nice patch of seagrass.  It's large brown eyes survey us lazily as we hover nearby and enjoy his presence.

It's been quite a morning and we've had so much fun watching 2 sharks hunting together.  Darting over and under one another, they circle a coral mound where a poor octopus hides from them. Ink floats up in the water where the octopus spewed protectively in its' fright.  The sharks are so interested in the octopus, they've barely noticed the human company.  Andy, Justin and I hover with our guide Mando and enjoy the show.  Eventually, the octopus wins out and the sharks sulkily leave the area side by side.

Just before the shark show, we were greeted by a seemingly never-ending march of huge Bumphead Parrotfish.  These guys are massive - I've never seen parrotfish their size, maybe a meter long with rounded bodies and of course the bumpy forehead (which Andy points out doesn't seem to make their brains bigger).  Fish after fish pass by and in my head I hear the marching tune of the Federation troops from Star Wars.  They just keep coming and coming and when we think they've all gone past, there are more stragglers in groups of 2, 3 and 4.   They're marching into a heavy current and as we swim in the direction that they have come from I find myself grabbing Andy's BCD jacket to pull him with us - this is possibly his first drift dive!!!   (not bad for a JR Openwater kid!)  Eventually though, we get to turn again and float back with the current, re-visiting our parrotfish friends along the way.

We reach the end of our drift along the reef of Sipadan island and arrive at Barracuda Point.  Given the name, it wasn't too surprising to find a 'tornado' of chevron barracudas.  (though our guide Mando had declared in broken English 'Guarantee the Point, No guarantee the Barracuda!!' )   It looks like hundreds of  3-4 foot long barracudas.  I look up and see that the snorkel guide is above with Sam and Ben in wetsuits playing around the surface.  They are excited to be hovering just above the tornado of barracudas and keep getting in a little closer for a look.  My motherly instinct kicks in and I am thinking Please don't jump right into the tornado!  Normally, if there is a huge 'ball' of hundreds of Jacks or Trevally, then they like to dive and swim in to the middle - like the rest of us.  But I know their guide is really good and has been working these waters for a decade and they're in good hands.  I can see them from just below.  Ben dives down to try and hold my hand once or twice.

On our tea break - which is also a mandatory 1 hour break between dives for us - we sip on cups of tea and coffee provided by the dive crew.  Sipadan island is one of the most naturally beautiful pieces of paradise I've ever seen.  The beaches are covered in light golden sand dotted with pieces of coral and shells.  So few people are allowed onto the island that it remains in a pristine state.  The only way to get onto Sipadan is to be put forward by your diving operation and hope to be one of the names selected on the list for a daily permit.  We've been lucky enough to have been chosen 3 times during our week stay nearby on the Seaventures Oil Rig - other divers tried to get the same and couldn't so we felt very fortunate.

Eventually, it is time to return to theSeaventures Oil Rig.  I love watching it appear, developing from a dot in the distance to the brightly coloured towering metal frame that looms over us as our boat pulls up close.  An operator lowers the outdoor lift for us and we all step onboard to rise 10 meters to main platform. As we reach the top, Andy, Ben and Sam jump off the platform and into the sea below once again.  Some of the other divers and the rig crew come to the edge to watch this - not too many of the grow-ups are game for tyring the jump.  Standing on the edge of the lift gives you a dizzying sensation and you can look down to see the schools of fish in the water below, sometimes the odd turtle as well. It takes a 9 or 11 yearl old kid to jump without thinking ... or, in Sam's case,  a 6-year old with the confidence of a teenager.

The rig as a dive resort is a brilliant idea.  Apparently it was brought to the Mabul island area and placed just off shore by a wealthy family who were going to use it for other purposes, but ended up converting it to a dive resort.   There are some dive accommodations on the little island of Mabul as well and on nearby Kapalai.  But this converted oil rig has to be the coolest spot.  Where  else can you stay and have unlimited offshore diving 24 hours a day?   The crew on the rig are very friendly and, aside from the dive instructors, most of the people who work on the rig come from the tiny village of locals on Mabul.

We immediately get to work rinsing all our dive gear after we've come aboard.   The dive supplies area is really well laid out at one end of the main deck along with open air showers.  I always feel sticky and stiff with sea water after a days diving and thoroughly enjoy the shower.  As I close my eyes, I still sense waves of water rippling over my skin as though I am in the ocean again.   After 3+ dives a day, I can feel I am part-fish, part-person (which is the better part?).  Maybe if I check behind my jaws I'll feel a set of gills growing there.

We've seen so many new underwater creatures since we've been here.  We've found 4-inch tall sea horses clinging to muddy grasses on silty ocean floor.  We've hovered around the Goliath Grouper that hangs out in the artificial reef off of Mabul.  We've hung out with Giant Barracudas on Mabul and Sipadan.  We've done a night dive with our friends and Andy off the wall of Mabul armed with only strong flashlights and abundant quantities of childlike excitement.

Some of the most interesting creatures we've seen are our old favorites, the reef sharks. They've been here there and everywhere around the islands.  They are so used to people floating about them that they barely bat an eyelid when divers swim past and snap their photos like a group of hungry paparazzi.   Ben saw a 4-foot long Leopard shark while snorkelling off Sipadan - leaving the rest of us all green with envy.   The ocean creatures around here seem as laid-back as the villagers and even the sharks are too busy floating, resting and hunting to pay us much attention.

On board the rig, we've whiled away evenings playing card games with divers from Ireland, Switzerland, Germany and all over Southeast Asia.   There's been viciously competive rounds of Spoons and slower, but  more strategic, games of Village Idiot.  In the background, the television over the bar has been showing parts of the 2012 Olympics back home in England.   We accompany the television like most audiences, with a running commentary of our own.   All of a sudden, we are all elevated to judges and have something to say about everything from the outfits to the way the hopefuls run, throw or even play it up for the cameras.

A couple of evenings, we've taken the boat transport to Mabul.   The island is composed partly of stilt-chalet style dive resorts over and near the water and partly of local Malaysian and Philippino residences, wooden houses raised over the sand.  The little village at the heart of Mabul is full of what seems like hundreds of children.  It's fun to watch them play - some are playing marbles-like games where there is a tossing of coins or soda lids into a little sandy arena, others are on little bicycles or walking in groups.  Everywhere we walk in the village, locals are friendly and wave and call Hallo.  They especially love the kids and Sam, as the smallest, is a huge hit.

Back on the rig, Andy, Ben and Sam get star treatment.  The rig crew smile everytime they are near and the chef makes them their own special meals of pizzas and french fries (the rest of us have a buffet, though it is very tasty too!!).  Everyone has been chatting with them and telling us how wonderful they are.  We are always proud of them.  Well, when they aren't trying to kill one another, sneak an extra Sprite from the bar staff, or running and sliding on the main deck as if it were an amusement park!!

We've had to say goodbye to most of the lovely friends we've made here as they are reluctanty drifting back to their homes.  Time is up and it is our turn too.  We have made our final descent on the lift now too and the staff came and waved goodbye, our divemasters and all the assorted rig crew we've be-friended peering ove the edge of the deck until we can barely see them any longer.  Then the oil rig itself became smaller and smaller until it looked like a construction set toy and finally disappeared into the horizon.


All the pics:  https://picasaweb.google.com/105332575943799967078/201207MalaysiaSempornaDiving

In the Jungle Camp - on the Kinabatangan river

It's 4 o'clock and time for an afternoon boating trip down the river to spot the animals of the jungle.   We have morning trips at 7, afternoon trips at 4 and sometimes a spooky night tour.  Our guide is a local who grew up along the Kinabatangan river in the Orang Sungei communities. He has lots of stories about the jungle and the river.  When asked if anyone ever tries to go for a swim he looks horrrified and says Of course not! (silently adding, Idiot!)  We do see why as soon as we spot the 6 foot long crocodile sunning on the edge of the muddy waters.

We were spoiled on our very first boat trip as, heading upriver we see animal movements stiring the tall grasses.  The grasses in question were over 3 meters high, so all we could see was sawying tips, we didn't immediately know who was back there.  But our guide told us, elephants, and lots of them.  Sounds of branches snapping emerged just ahead of some proper elephant huffing and trumpeting.  Our boat went a little further upstream and there they emerged from the grasses.

My heart stopped beating for just a moment as I took in the sight, making out a family of elephants with babies and youngsters huddled near.   Our boat nosed itself into the mud between us and the herd.   Once parked, we sat there and just watched the elephants going about their meal time.   They were a little shy and looked away from us when they could.  

On either side of our boat were other simmilar, slighty larger ones filled with folks who came to see these guys too.   Soon there must have been 30-40 people in boats lined up in front of the elephants, but they didn't go anywhere, they just kept right on munching.

Back at the Kinibatangan Jungle Camp, we enjoyed cups of coffee as we tried to prevent the children from going on a hot chocolate binge.   The camp stemps from a walking platform and dining deck on stilts.  From the deck we watch as huge 4-5 foot long monitor lizards roam about the outer yard and under the deck on one side.  These guys hang out here all day long.  While some warn us not to go too close to the lizards, it is clear as we go anywhere near that they run away from us in fright already.  They are looking for scraps of meat that the kitchen staff throw out to them from time to time.

I've never been this close to monitor lizards - not even at a zoo. In the zoo they are always protected by a wall and trench and a lot of space between them and us.  In the \zoo, they appear lazy and docile.  In the yard below, they are constantly moving around and keep within their group of 5, zipping off into the edges of the forest at any loud noise or approach.

By the second day, a storm stork appears in the yard as well.  He's a rescue bird that was brought in with a broken wing and nursed to health for 6 months before being released.  Now he has returned with a family and friends. While the other storm storks stay just at the perimeter of the yard, only Chico dares to come up to the deck. At the deck he scratches about, examining us closely as if we were very interesting to him.

I fall in love with Chico.  His way of standing on one long leg.  His calmness and lack of fear which make him seem slightly mroe vulnerable.   When the staff ot the Jungle Camp see this, they offer to let me feed him.  I'm handed strips of chicken which I walk down and hold out to Chico and he cautiously tiptoes forward and gingerly grabs the meat from my fingers.  What a joy!  Soon there are others behind me, including my own noisy little guys who all want a go at feedign Chico.  Unfortunately, Chico's sense of self-preservation kicks in and off he backs, further and further until he is midway to the forest and there he remains for a long time until most everyone has gone back to their business.

As Chico gets closer again to eat some more chicken, he has new competition.  A monitor lizard has noticed that there's tasty meat on offer and he too has come forward for some nibbles.   Of course, Chico himself would make a tasty meal for this fat guy and once again he back off.  It's so entertaining to watch the two of them do a little dance, eyeing each other up as one steps forward and the other back and then vice versa.  Chico is no fool.  He doesn't come forward again for the evening.  Never mind, he's eaten plenty and its time for a nighttime boat trip down the Kinabatangan to search for crocs and other nocturnal creatures.

Now we've been on night time boat eexcursions in croc laden waters numerous times in the past year - Belize, the Peruvian rainforest.  But this time I find myself more frightened.  Maybe its the tiny size of our boat - really just a large motorised canoe.  Maybe its the fact that our guide has a penchant for skimming the edges of the river where the big crocs hang out, where we had previously spotted crocs from a more central location.  Or possibly its because of the number of creatures we spot, from 2 long pythons snuggled up in the branches to night owls and kingfishers out hunting.  It feels as if the jungle is alive - well, of course it is, but it seems more loud and obvious here.  I find myself gripping Ben's hand and shaking ever so lightly.  I'm not sure I could say I enjoyed the excursion but I can't say it wasn't interesting.

So we return 'home' to the jungle camp and settle down with a drink on the deck.  In the darkness, some others on the deck have spotted our nightly visitors, the wild bearded pigs that snuffle about the ground in our little outer yard.  Like everything else here, these guys are a respectable size, maybe waist-height to me and chunky.   They seem to trade schedules with the monitor lizards that depart as the sun goes down.

Unlike the monitor lizards, these guys are not so picky about what they eat and just love bits of bread that the boys are given to throw over.   I walk down the side stairs to the outer yard for a better look.  They are a little wary of me, but not as much as the monitor lizards or Chico the storm stork.   They have a confident stare and are comfortable in their family group.  One evening a baby joins them.  It is a darker color, not the pinky brown of the big guys.  When startled, they turn and nimbly flee in a tight formation.

Justin and I go for a solitary walk around the camp one morning.  We are rewarded within feet of the camp perimeter with elephant tracks in the mud.  Our feet can easily fit inside the tracks, which is a sobering sight.  the jungle around us is quiet though, except for the sounds of crickets and other insects.  

Back at the lodge, we read a poster describing the death a year ago of a young female visitor to the area that was gored to death by a young elephant bull.   Apparently, she took him by surprise as she came upon him on a hike and it is thought that her closeness (maybe 30 feet) and possibly a camera flash caused him to lunge at her fatally.   I didn't feel so much like just wandering about in the jungle on our own from that point.

Our daily boat treks were always unique experiences. You never knew who or what you might see on an outing:  an orangutang grabbing dinner, proboscis or maqaque or silver lungur monkeys swinging about the trees, lazy crocodiles on the edges of the river, crazy-looking rhinocerous hornbills standing at the top of tall trees and soaring through the skies, white egrets standing guard on driftwood, elephants on the march ... well, all sorts of things. You could go out all week and never see half of those creatures or go out in one day and see most.  Every day is different.  But every day you will see some of these guys and that is what the boat trips are about.

The trips back to camp always felt a little more relaxed.  There was not the race to get to areas where we might see an elephant on migration today or a group of orangutangs.  We'd already seen most of what we might rush out to see and now we could linger a bit and look into the trees, enjoy the gentle waves rocking the boat.

A monitor lizard checks out this canoe while a maqaque looks on

Sam looking into the branches near the water to keep an eye on a baby monkey

The Kinabatangan Jungle Camp has a wonderful, cosy feel. It is not very big, so you get to know the other guests and staff well.  The owner, Robert Chong, knows the local wildlife very well and is a great guide and knowledge base.  The camp is built on his family property and has been extended a little bit over the years.  His staff are very friendly and provide some of the most delicious food we've had since arriving in Sabah, Malaysia.

Each morning, we had 'school' for the boys.  Without the internet, the daily schedule and curriculum was more interesting to derive.  I think I may have actually enjoyed this more than our internet-based maths and literacy programs because it provided a good opportunity to feel around the edges of the boys' knowledge.  I usually take Ben and Sam under my wing while Justin tutors Andy.  We find Andy can cover a lot of advanced topics heading into Algebra.

A lovely lady named Dureen was staying at the camp with her son's small family.  Doreen has spent a lifetime abroad and is currently planning on retiring in Malaysia after a recent teaching career in Nepal.  We had some wonderful chats and our families got along very well.   

We also met a group of English girls with an Indian background.  They helped us with details for our upcoming trip to India and tried to cuddle Sam to death at the same time.  Andy and Ben were great at games of Uno and Village Idiot and it's wonderful to see them easily chatting with others at the camp - they're getting to be experts at making new friends out of folks everywhere we go.  Nowadays, they're all 3 always introducing us to new friends they've met and I find them engaged in card games, showing everyone around asia how to play new card games or solve a rubics cube.

Our evenings of lazy card playing and early morning boat trips came to an end as we neared the time to head to Semporna where we'll be diving off the Seaventures Oil Rig near Sipadan island.  Off to new adventures again!!

  

more pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/105332575943799967078/201207MalaysiaMtKinbaluKinabatanganSepilok