The Final Plan

So I don't think I ever updated here to actually explain my final plan for my post KAF trip. I booked my tickets a couple of weeks ago and it's basically going to be a month of travelling and relaxing in Borneo. I'll leave KAF on April 24th to fly out to Dubai and I'll stay there until the 27th. I figure I might as well spend a couple of days to see the city and I'll probably take a day to go out on a desert safari. I was actually hoping to do an overnight safari but of the three operators that I've been recommended, none of them do overnight tours on the days I'll be there. Oh well, a day tour will be fine I'm sure.

 

Anyways, on the 27th I'll catch an overnight flight to Tawau, Malaysia and then I'll hop on a bus to go to Semporna, that's where I'll take my scuba lessons. I'll take five days to do the open water and advanced open water dive courses and then I expect I'll spend another four or five days diving off of islands in the area. The dive operator I'm going to book with is based in town and they have a hostel across the street from the docks so I'll stay there while I do the course. Following that I might move out to a resort on Mabul island to spend the rest of my time there. I'll definitely spend a day diving at Sipidan island, it's supposed to be one of the top dive locations in the world.

 

So after I'm done in Semporna I'll head inland. There are a couple of nature reserves in northern Borneo and I'll definitely stop in at one of them on my way past. One is renowned for it's orangutans and the other is a proboscis monkey reserve. I'm kind of leaning towards the orangutans but we'll see when the time comes.

 

After that I'll continue to the west coast to Kota Kinabalu which is the largest town in Malaysian Borneo (I think). From there I would like to climb Mount Kinabalu, the view from the summit is supposedly spectacular. After KK, I think I'll head out to some islands off the coast. There is a nature reserve there called Tunku Abdul Rahman park (for any of you MBAer's that are reading, that guy is seriously connected). I may do some more diving there or just explore and relax.

 

After that I'll take my time heading south along the coast, maybe passing through Brunei. There are lots of little areas to explore along the way and I don't know how much time I'll have left by then so I may need to rush through it a bit. I've not planned that part of the trip in much detail because I feel like things will change a lot along the way. I have to be back in KK by May 21st and I'll catch a flight to Singapore. I'll have a 2 day layover in Singapore and then I'll catch my final flight home.

 

I'm really looking forward to this trip now. I only have three weeks to go here and I'll be free. It's going to be great!

 

ps. I bought some new running shoes today. As much as I hate that I had to do it I only paid $85 for the shoes and they would have cost me $150+HST at home so I should just be happy that I got a good deal... right? I hate thieves.