• tinkerwanderer
  • tinkerwanderer

Escapada

Remember when we quit our jobs to go on an Escapada of a lifetime?!?
Recuerdas cuando lo dejamos todo para andar de trotamundos..?! 😆
Baca lagi
  • 🚌

    25 Jun 2025, Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We bought tickets online for Transpo between the port and Semarang. Finding the van was easy but could have been a disaster. We went outside the port gates and just waited a few minutes. We saw vans with their company brand but none were the one we were looking for. I asked a street vendor lady if we were in the right place and she said yes. For some reason, I decided to check my email and there was a message saying they couldn't reach us via WhatsApp and to try and find the white, unbranded van! 😅 I looked duo and there it was, it had been there all along. Luckily, we still have 10ish minutes before departure time. The van ended up being one of the nicest, new faux leather seats, well air-conditioned and so spacious.Baca lagi

  • Sandakan 🗑️

    28 Jun 2025, Malaysia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We arrived in Sandakan after a short layover in Kota Kinabalu - where I ended up leaving one of my backpacks in storage. Sandakan was a bit strange, really hot by day, seemed like an abandoned ghost town full of strip malls. Anytime we went into a place (restaurant, pharmacy, store, etc), it was full of life! It was kinda strange, it made me feel like I was in a magical surrealism novel set in East Asia.Baca lagi

  • The wildlife adventure begins 🌳🚶

    28 Jun 2025, Malaysia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    We visited an Orangutan (forest people) rehab center. It wasn't our cup of tea but still interesting.

    We met our actual guide here. He didn't make a great impression on us right away, he was making fun of Italians soon after then made a joke about me being Indian because of my nose... (?!)

    In this area we also saw Bornean Sun Bears.
    Baca lagi

  • Borneo Tour Day 1 - Abai Jungle Lodge

    28 Jun 2025, Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    After the Orangutan and Sun Bear intros, we took a boat to our first lodge. The boat ride was pretty boring, we expected to be looking for animals but the guide was just chilling. I noticed the river was lined with trees but looking closer, you could see it was kinda just for show - just beyond the thin tree line there was nothing but palm plantations.

    Our room was much nicer than we expected, nothing fancy but the facilities just had all the modern comforts of any city-hotel.

    We had lunch here and then went on our first river safari.

    When we returned from the river safari, we did a bit of a forest walk. We saw various cool insects, a night bird, and a green demon viper (not the actual name but it should be).
    Baca lagi

  • 🐍

    29 Jun 2025, Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Soo after the morning safari, we had breakfast and packed up. It was time to move to our next lodge. While we were waiting to get in the boat, Grace spotted this giant yellow snake right on the walkway!!!Baca lagi

  • Evening Safari ⛈️

    29 Jun 2025, Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    We settled in and ate and waited around until we finally headed out for our evening safari.

    We started off with some new birds and tons of monkeys. It was quite cloudy and there some lightning and thunder in the distance but it all seemed far away. Things got exciting when we spotted some pheasants (I forget which ones and the sighting was brief). Then, there were murmurs about elephants!!

    We started navigating towards the elephants when it got cloudier and darker. And then the rain began. Within minutes we had a huge storm over our heads so we had to turn back around towards the lodge :( the boat was going pretty fast, we all got soaked, and there was lots of nearby thunder!!
    Baca lagi

  • Borneo Tour Day 3

    30 Jun 2025, Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Time for the morning safari and this was the best yet! Tons of birds 😀

    4 different types of hornbills, various birds of prey, and a buncha water birds.

    The highlight of the day was seeing our first orangutan in the wild, and it was a baby! The guide told us not to mention it to other guests at the lodge - I guess it can be a rare sight and he didn't want other guests feeling animosity towards their guides.Baca lagi

  • Evening safari

    30 Jun 2025, Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Kingfishers, hornbills and various other birds! 😀

    Also, a bit of a sad realization. We went to an area frequented by elephants and though we weren't lucky, we did realize the sad state of things in Borneo. Electric fences and palm plantations 😢Baca lagi

  • Goodbye Borneo

    1 Julai 2025, Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    On our last day we basically didn't do a safari though the schedule said there would be one. We departed our lodge and stopped for lunch at the first lodge we stayed at.

    Our guide was sleeping or just chilling while we spotted hornbills, at least 2 more orangutans, bee eaters, etc.

    Once back on the mainland, our guide took us to a place where we could eat and rest until our flight. Our flight back to Kota Kinabalu was in the evening.
    Baca lagi

  • Kota Kinabalu

    1–5 Jul 2025, Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Over the next few days we explored Kota Kinabalu. We had plans to dive but we got sick so we had to cancel. We transferred our reservation to a couple we met during the safari.

    Kota gifted us one of the coolest night markets we've been to, some of the best street food we had, and some strange snacks. We also visited a beach that turned out to be full of Korean tourists 😆Baca lagi

  • Tamat perjalanan
    30 April 2026