Biology Tour Academic
Malaysia Expedition
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ot ten metres away the grey, ghostly shape of a Borneo elephant glided by in the beam of our torch lights. In absolute silence this majestic inhabitant of the rainforest simply disappeared into the surrounding vegetation. We were all stunned that such a large animal could walk through the forest and not be heard. We had stalked a small family group for over an hour on the banks of the Kinatabangan River in Sabah as part of the Trinity Malaysia expedition, 2005. Only a few hundred of these very rare animals remain in the wild and we were very privileged to have seen these so closely. Five days earlier we had arrived in Kota Kinabalu to study tropical rainforests as an enrichment activity for the Year 11 Biology, Geography and Human Biology courses. Our itinerary introduced us to humid lowland Diptocarp forests with a thirty meter high, precarious canopy walk at Poring Hot Springs. The next day we started a two day hike up the highest peak in S.E. Asia - Mount Kinabalu. The walk starts in lowland rainforest full of orchids, epiphytes, ferns and mosses, ascending through oak and beautiful rhododendron cloud forest to the summit that is completely bare of all vegetation. The overnight chalets at 3000m were a welcome haven from the energy sapping walk. Arising at 2am, the hardier members of the group battled the freezing conditions to ascend the summit at 4095.2m and witness a spectacular sunrise over the South China Sea. Our next destination was Sepilok where we visited the world-famous Orang-utan rehabilitation Centre. Here orphaned and displaced orang-utans are cared for and eventually reintroduced to the nearby forests. These sanctuaries are increasingly the only hope for these shy,
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gentle creatures as their habitat is progressively destroyed. A side trip to Sandakan War Memorial proved a moving experience for the boys who were able to see the horrors that several thousand allied soldiers suffered for so many years only to be eventually killed by their captors. The highlight of the trip was the amazing sight of several hundred proboscis monkeys, silver leaf monkeys and long-tailed macaques bedding down in the mangroves all along the Kinatabangan River near a tiny village called Bilit. The only way to see these incredible creatures is by small boat along the river nearby at dawn and dusk. The proboscis monkey is one of the rarest in Borneo and has the most amazingly enlarged nose – and nobody really knows why! Leaving Sabah we flew to Mulu in Sarawak. This World Heritage site contains some of the largest and most spectacular limestone caves in the world, one of which would house seven jumbo jets in its entrance. The highlight was the unbelievable sight (and smell!) of two million bats leaving Dear Cave at dusk in an endless, sinusoidal stream for over an hour. After all the hard work in the rainforests the trip concluded with two nights relaxing on Guyana Island just outside Kota Kinabalu. The warm tropical water was full of fish, giant clams, sea urchins and coral and the boys made the best of their time in the safety of an enclosed marina. The expedition was a wonderful opportunity for the boys and it is hoped it will remain a permanent fixture on the Trinity calendar. Tim Blake Senior Biology Teacher
