THE SURVIVORS WERE HERE

I told you the famous TV reality program was made here in Sabah, Borneo. Here they are from an archive photograph. Give it a try and come over Borneo.

GETTING WET: THE RAIN

Just across Borneo, the Bali Conference on Global Climate just ended a few weeks ago. The sad thing is that the US continues to refuse to sign the Agreement and blamed other nations for global warming and climate change.
Our climate has certainly changed for the worst. It had happened in the ancient past during the end of the Ice Age and now we will wait for its second coming.
Here in Borneo it has been raining for the past 3 months and no sign of receding. It is going to be wet and wetter as 2007 ends. Its fun time, some call it atropical winter, cool and wet. It rains in the morning, in the afternoon and the night through. I personally love rain.
So come to Borneo and get wet. Catch the rain here. It is a real rainforest literally.

PAINFUL BUT BEAUTIFUL

An Orang Ulu girl taken in the 1960s

PAINFUL BUT BEAUTIFUL

One of the exotic sense of beauty of wild Borneo is elongated ears wore by both male and female members of the tribes, especially the Kenyah and Kayan.
Tatoo has become a global trend today and the Dayaks of Borneo loved it and now the celebrities
Americans love it too.
Will elongated ears become one soon. Let's make it happens.

James Brooke: First Adventurer and An Interloper and A Survivor

James Brooke, the first white Rajahs of Sarawak after deposing the Brunei Malay Pengiran Indera Mahkota Muhamad Salleh, the Governor that was popularly known as Pengiran Mahkota in the history of Sarawak ,in 1841. He ruled until 1867 and replaced by his nephew, Charles Brooke.
James Brooke was also socially known as a Jolly Bachelor when his ship was accordingly named. Nonetheless he had brief relationship with two women that a few historians now claimed he might be a gay. He might be a wild bachelor too. A historian once wrote that the Sarawak he founded was "a bastard of British colonialism".

RARE RHINO: REDISCOVERED IN BORNEO

SOS Rhino: And now there’s reason to celebrate
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Dr S. Thayaparan is studying the reproductive health of the rhino as part of his doctoral degree
WADING across raging rivers and crossing paths with a python are worthy risks for a Sri Lankan veterinarian who moved to Sabah to study the Sumatran rhinoceros.
After spending almost four years collecting dung and footprints of the elusive animal in the Lahad Datu area, Dr S. Thayaparan finally had a close encounter with a rhino a month ago — and even managed to capture some video footage.“After years of only seeing dung and other evidence, I finally saw a rhino for myself and recorded it on video. It was very exciting.”Attached to SOS Rhino Borneo Bhd as a programme officer, Thayaparan says team members recently sighted another adult rhino, and found footprints measuring 17 centimetres, indicating a smaller rhino.“This is good news as it may indicate natural breeding is taking place in our forests and there is hope for the species here,” he adds.
The 4th Sumatran Rhinoceros Conservation Workshop in July was told that low sperm count among male rhinos and the possibility of cysts in the reproductive organs of females may be factors that could lead to its extinction. The Sabah Wildlife Department estimates that there are 25 to 50 of the animals in the state, with most of them at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve and Danum Valley in Lahad Datu.Having worked with elephants back home and as a veterinary surgeon at a government veterinary office, Thayaparan chanced on the study of rhinos when he attended a conference in Kota Kinabalu in 2001. He met Chicago-based Dr Nan Schaffer of SOS Rhino, who offered him the chance to research the animal.He moved to Kota Kinabalu in 2004 to pursue a masters degree at Universiti Malaysia Sabah on the population, foraging ecology and nutrition of rhinos at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve, and is now studying the reproductive health of the animal as part of his doctoral degree.“In future, I want to try and breed one rhino but first, I must learn about its reproductive health. You need resources such as information in order to understand this complex animal. The time is right to focus on this animal and I believe it is possible for the population of rhinos in Sabah to grow,” he says.Thayaparan, now a research fellow at UMS, says his study at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve has revealed that rhinos forage on 65 species of plants. “They actually eat wild mangoes and jackfruit and a type of cinnamon traditionally used by villagers to heal body aches. Results also show that the plants rhinos consume are high in nutrition and sufficient to cater to their dietary needs.”

Welcome to Wild Borneo

Welcome to Wild Borneo, the 3rd largest island in the world. But may be still the wildest of all. An island of adventure. Make your discovery here in the island. Be it in sciences where the wildest and still virgin forests keep the secret of our biodiversity. May be in anthropology where many indigenous people still live in the virgin jungle. Or just pure wild fun adventure enjoying C.A.N - Culture, Adventure, Nature. Now not later. While they are still there waiting for you to explore and fulfull your wildest dreams.