letters from Sabah - #1

Writing from sabah. I flew to kota kinanalu and from there to sandakan
where I was picked up and we continued on a 3 hour drive to lahad
datu, the nearest town to the plantation I was headed for. For almost
the whole 3 hour journey, we were driving past plantation after
plantation. The whole landscape of this part of the state is dominated
by the oil palm trees. Before palm it was rubber. It is the resource
curse.

The plantation I'm at is quite comfortable. All the guests are out up
in the guest house where we have air conditioned rooms. the problem
here is insects. They are all over and come in all forms. At any one
time there will be fruit flies buzzing around my face and houseflies
settling on my forehead and fingers. I am slightly paranoid they will
enter my respiratory system whenever I inhale. There are moths of
strange colours -pink and white- one of which landed on my leg this
morning to my disgust. I thank goodness I felt it before I saw it and
so brushed it off thinking it was a fly. Had I seen it first, I would
have jumped out of my chair. I have to keep my cool as I am the only
female in the company of these plantation men.

Then to add to the log of crazy insects, today I saw a foot-long
milipede. Think our garden ones times 50. Definitely a strange sight.

Mozzies are everywhere and I seem to be their only victim. My first
night, I had just arrived and was being introduced to everyone, after
standing still for only 5 mins, my whole left forearm was covered in
red welts. They also like attacking my eyelids for some reason. I wake
up in the night feeling itchy and my eyelids are heavy. In the morning
I look like I have cried my eyes puffy the night before. Hylexin does
not help in this case.

Then there is this nervous lizard that lives in my room. He has brown
grey striped translucent skin and is fat from all the bugs he can feed
on here. He is nervous because unlike the cool ones that sort of stick
around on the walls, this guy scampers whenever I enter the room. My
first night I was given a cool reception as I opened the bathroom door
and he ran across my bare feet. A sensation I would rather never
experience again.

But other than that, the food is great and I have been eating my heart
out as usual. Tonight we might go on a night safari and find the
nocturnal critters as they go about their nightly routines. I hope we
can hunt down some wild boar as I love the meat.

Spent some time touring the palm oil mill as well. It is amazing how
things are created behind the scenes. We have never thought about the
process of how our food gets to the table, but over here, I am
reminded everyday.

On Friday I head off to Semporna where we will be taken by boat to
Mabul Island. I am going to get my advanced cert and hopefully get to
see some great sights in Sipadan.