Saga Holidays - International - Brief Article

MALAYSIA

From April 24, '00, to May 18, '00, we took a Malaysia/North Borneo trip through Saga (International) Holidays (222. Berkeley St., Boston, MA 02116, phone 800/432-1432 or visit www.sagaholidays.com). The basic trip, 10 nights, cost about $1,799 per person (out of San Francisco); we added three nights in Kuala Lumpur for $99 and a 10-day extension, the "Borneo Rainforest Adventure," for $799.

We flew on Malaysia Airlines from Los Angeles, making a stop in Taipei before landing in Kuala Lumpur, where we stayed two nights.

We then went on to Sabah, northern Borneo, where we stayed at the Shangri-La Tanjung Aru, a 5-star hotel that was excellent. Included in the price was breakfast (just fair, hut they did have omelets) and a buffet dinner that was excellent.

The hotel had a bus which provided transportation into Kota Kinabalu for about four ringgit, or just over a dollar. Three large department stores and numerous small shops made for some very good shopping at very reasonable rates.

We took a trip to the Rasa Ria hotel, which was located about 45 minutes from our hotel. If we took the early shuttle (20 ringgit), we could see the baby orangutans at 10 a.m. Very interesting. The older orangs can be seen in the afternoon, but you have to pay for each visit.

We also tried snorkeling on our own on Sapi, part of the park system. We paid three ringgit each to get on the island, but we found that the coral was all dead, so I do not recommend it.

Included in the tour itinerary were several trips in and around Kota Kinabalu, a train ride into the countryside, a stop at a tribal market and a visit to an island with excellent snorkeling and swimming. The tour was very well organized and quite reasonable.

After our stay at the Tanjung Aru we left for our wilderness adventure. We flew to Sandakan on the eastern side of the island and immediately: went to the bat caves and then a river resort (very basic and very hot).

We had an outstanding guide, Jun, who was extremely knowledgeable about the birds and other wildlife. He showed us three different kinds of primates as well as snakes and other animals as we went up and down the river. After two nights we went to the Rehabilitation Center for orangutans, where we watched about 10 orangs getting fed.

Returning to Sandakan, we then went to the Renaissance Hotel, which was rated at three stars but felt like a 5-star compared to "roughing it" on the river.

On the Libaran Islands we stayed in a cabana with a fan and geckos; really, it was not bad. The food was good and we were given a guided tour through the village to the island school, where the kids sang for us and we sang for them -- a very pleasant experience.

Early the next morning we proceeded to Turtle Island. We stayed in a chalet room with air-conditioning, but the showers and toilets were down a flight of very slippery steps. The dinner was poor, but we stayed at the cafeteria until the rangers advised us that a turtle had landed and was laying eggs.

We rushed to the site and watched the turtle. The eggs were immediately taken by a ranger and placed in a bucket. After she laid 83 eggs, the turtle filled the empty hole and lumbered down the beach back into the water. She was over 39 inches in length and over the years had returned for the third time to the same site.

The rangers put the eggs in the "nursery" (a hole in, the ground, which they covered and tagged). We then were shown the hatchlings from another part of the nursery and saw. them released into the ocean (355 hatchlings). It was very enjoyable and quite humorous to see them scamper.

Next we headed for Mt. Kinabalu and toured the park. Our lodgings were somewhat primitive but had a bathroom and a fan. Due to the altitude, the weather was quite comfortable (what a change from Sandakan!).

After a final two nights in Kuala Lumpur, we flew home by way of Narita, Japan.

All in all, it was an outstanding trip. The "Rainforest Adventure" part of the trip was tough in terms of the lodging, food and heat but outstanding in terms of what we saw and did.

Saga is a seniors-only group and also attracts a lot of British travelers. We met some extremely nice people. On the "Rainforest Adventure" we had only seven people plus the guide.

Malaysia Airlines was outstanding with excellent service and good entertainment. We would recommend it.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Martin Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group