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Borneo Expedition 2010

After months of planning and preparation the 26th July had finally arrived and a group of eight students from across the year groups and two staff boarded an aeroplane bound for Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (Malaysia) on the tropical island of Borneo.

Kota Kinabalu (KK) is the capital city of Sabah and was home for the first two nights of the trip. The time in KK was used by the students to book accommodation, transport and guides for the rest of the three week trip. This trip was quite unique in the fact that the students take control and responsibility for the day to day decisions and budgeting so it really puts their teamwork and individual leadership to the test.

After a successful couple of days in KK and various trips to the local markets (including two nights at the fish market for supper) we headed off into Kinabalu National Park to undertake a three day trek, staying with local villagers on route. The trek took us through various terrain including rice paddy fields, dense jungle and river crossings. Each evening our guides conjured up local curries and rice dishes which were always very tasty! The students were excellent at entertaining the village children who were always keen to play and I’m sure that there will be lots of fond memories from the various fun activities and games conjured up on both sides.

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The next phase of the trip took us on a long journey to the eastern edge of Sabah to the area of Sepilock. Sepilock is famous for its orang-utan rehabilitation centre and an abundance of other wildlife. All together we visited the orang-utan rehabilitation centre on three occasions, each time seeing orang-utans and on one occasion getting very close and personal with a couple of the younger specimens. We also visited the centre one evening and spotted snakes, birds of prey and numerous giant flying squirrels. As well as visiting the orang-utan centre our visit to Sepilock was to give up five days of our time and hard work to help with the soon to be opened Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC). The Sun Bear is the world’s smallest bear and due to poor treatment from humans (keeping them as pets) and loss of habitat, the species is on the decline and now protected. Our project was to build a series of steps to allow better observation and monitoring of the species. The project was very hands on and physical, the students worked extremely hard in very hot and humid conditions whilst all of the time keeping their eyes open for snakes, spiders and various other jungle nasties!

After spending almost two weeks in very hot and humid conditions getting high up into the mountains with a much cooler climate came as a welcome relief. I think this relief was short lived by some members of the group upon the realization of climbing Mt Kinabalu (4095m) – South East Asia’s highest mountain. We had seen Mt Kinabalu from various locations on the island as it rises up out of nowhere and looks quite formidable. We had also heard lots of horror stories about teachers and students not making it to the top due to altitude sickness and difficult terrain from various other school parties. I am very pleased to say that after one and a half days on constant height gain (and a 1am start) we all made it to the summit at sunrise. It was a great achievement for the group and we were all rewarded with stunning birds-eye views on the landscape far below.

The final stage of the trip was to relax! To date it had been an extremely physical trip and the thought of relaxing on a desert island beach and snorkelling in clear tropical waters was very, very welcomed by all.

We arrived back at London Heathrow on Monday 16th August, via a quick stop over and visit to Kowloon in Hong Kong. Everybody was truly exhausted having had a very fulfilling, rewarding and memory-filled expedition. All pupils improved their leadership skills, all took responsibility for something and all worked extremely well as a team and were most definitely a credit to the school. Well done to the following students:

Josh Dyer (ST) L6th, Ellie Griffiths (HH) L6th, Katendi Heald (WT) 4th Form, Ianthe Huntington (HH) 3rd Form, Isabel Murphy (WT) 4th Form, Imogen Paddon (WoH) 4th Form, Will Rushworth (SH) L6th, Jamie Smith (SH) L6th.

13 September 2010

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