Protons, Peroduas and Palm Oil

With only a few more days left to burn, I figured I had time for maybe one or two more highlights. So, I reopened the Lonely Planet and checked out what they recommended. One of the remaining suggestions for northern Borneo was scuba diving at the Semporna Archipelago. I hold an Advanced Open Water licence, but it had been about 4 years since my last dive in Africa...and this dive hadn't exactly gone to plan (I surfaced coughing up blood, which led to pneumonia). The islands off Semporna were also on the Australian Government's current list of No-go areas, due to the risk of piracy from the Philippines. Pirates?! Risk of horrible diving-death!? This had my name written all over it!

But, Semporna was at the other end of the country, and I needed to work out a way of getting there. I managed to book a cheap flight from Sandakan to Tawau, which would save me about 6 hours in a bus, traversing the province north to south. But, that still left me needing to get from my jungle camp to Sandakan Airport, crossing the island west to east.

I knew that there would be cross-country buses passing Ranau throughout the day (the nearest town on the highway), so the next morning I hiked back out of the jungle and caught a taxi to main arterial across the island. But, when I advised my driver of my plan he looked grim. Despite allowing myself 6 hours to go barely 250km, he pointed out that today was the end of Ramadan, and therefore the beginning of the Muslim festival of Hari Raya. Every Muslim would be on the move to visit family & friends, and this religion represents about 2/3 of Malaysians. This could be a problem.

My taxi driver was right, and the bus stop at Ranau was already full of locals waiting for seats on a passing bus. Even if I got lucky and there were buses leaving Kota Kinabalu with empty seats, I was at the end of a worryingly long queue for these. There was no opportunity to pre-book, so it was first come, first served. It looked like I needed more than a small bit of luck. And that was when a minivan came past, calling for passengers to go to Telupid , a town about half way to my final destination of Sandakan.

None of the locals blinked, and I had been warned that taking minivans would likely leave me stranded in "exotic" Telupid, hence my reason for trying the bus. When I dismissed the driver by saying I was going to Sandakan, he immediately replied that the buses were full and that I would need to go with him. I knew there was a chance that he could be telling the truth, but I also knew that this was exactly what any scheming minivan driver would have said to secure an extra fare. So, I negotiated for a while, and pointed out that I had a deadline and a plane to catch. He assured me that he would personally find me a minivan in Telupid, to ensure I got there in time, and he eventually won me over. I was on my way, and at least I was getting closer.

Just after we arrived in Telupid the first of the buses rolled past, and it was indeed full. But now the flood of travellers associated with Hari Raya actually started to work in my favour. Rather than taking the typical several hours for the minivans to fill up (they won't leave unless full, ie 14 passengers in 12 seats), the minivan that my initial driver had pointed me towards barely took an hour to overflow with passengers. With my 15 new companions jammed in around me, I was on the road again with time to spare. Best of all, the minivan dropped me directly to the airport on his way into Sandakan, win for travel karma (and thanks random minivan drivers)!

But, the the adventure, goodwill of the locals, didn't end there. My flight from Sandakan was delayed by 45 minutes, and when I finally touched down in Tawau my intended transfer had decided to get on with his afternoon...and left. When I asked the local taxi drivers the rate to get to Semporna they advised that I would be out of pocket 95 ringgits for the 100km journey, which was almost quadruple the cost of my arranged transfer. Then one of them informed me that he was actually a Semporna local, and had the office phone number for my chosen dive operator. With no pleading necessary he took out his mobile phone and called them for me. 10 minutes later, after a lot more effort to help a stranded traveller than I would have expected from any taxi driver, he eventually advised me to follow him. My dive operator had agreed to pay him the fare, and I would still only need to pay them my agreed transfer rate. This transaction gave me my first hint that I had chosen my dive operator wisely...and that most people really are good at heart.

The journey across the island was bitter sweet, though. I passed 3 things in high numbers: Protons and Peroguas (Malaysia's own vehicles brands), but also endless Palm Oil Plantations. The island of Borneo sits on the equator, and this tropical climate makes it ideal for growing most kinds of vegetation. Sadly, Malaysia is serving the massive global demand for palm oil by bulldozing native rainforests, and planting palm plantations. These monocultures now cover about 20% of the state of Sabah, and the impact was heart breaking. Mighty rivers which were once flanked by virgin rainforest stretching to the horizon, are now lined by a narrow corridor of original trees, followed by palm trees as far as the eye could see. I was desperately hoping that my ocean dive location had been better protected than the forests...Читать далее