Rob and Anna's travel adventure

Sungai Kinabatangan, Borneo

Anna's entry:

As described in the entry below, we finally made it to Sukau, Kinabatangan. We settled in a quiet place built right over the river. Our purpose coming here was to try and see some wild life, or whatever is left from it. Kinabatangan used to be an unpeneratable rain forest, but with roads built it turned into a combination of a rain forest and palm plantations. There are still relatively untouched pockets remaining however, and it became a home to a surprising amount of wild animals. Actually, just by hanging around our place we encountered a large number of hornbills and wild macaques. We chose to take a river around the forest in attempt to locate some animals. We met an Australian couple, who fortunately were similar to our mentality - no rip off practices and pro wild life preservation; we hired a local guy and a boat, and split our expenses (it turned out to be very reasonable vs.. the standard outrageous tour package amount other tourists choose to pay). The river exploration turned out to be very successful. We encountered between 15 and 20 wild pigmy elephants (the best highlight), lots of proboscis monkeys (with cute long noses and striking similarity to humans), macaques, monitor lizard, lots of exotic birds, etc. We returned back at the sunset excited and happy.
We spent more leisurely time walking around the village and checking out more wild macaques, and prepared for our departure. We refused a "convenient" transportation with an over-charged price tag attached, and opted out for a creative hitching method. As Rob predicted, it turned out to be successful. First, we got a free ride from a Wold Wild Life Fund guys, who apparently have a representation in Sukau; then paid for a 40-km ride from a local guy, and then were able to stop a mini bus on the highway heading exactly where we needed to go. In addition to not giving in to a rip-off practices and saving the transportation costs, we got an extended cultural exchange which doesn't have a price tag attached.

Now, listen up, you foreign tourists who allow to get ripped off every step of your way, coming up with a cope out excuses and justifications. No - you do not need to get ripped off because you are outsiders. No - you do not need to justify lack of time of finding an honest seller. No - you do not need to encourage a rip off practice by dishonest people pretending you care about their "poverty". Let me ask you this - if you really care for someone who is truly poor, WHY can't you take a little more time and give your money to an honest seller asking you for an honest price instead of giving your money to a ripping off asshole, who is far from being poor??? Stop and think about it, and stop it spoiling for everyone else after you including both the honest locals and thinking travelers.

posted by Rob and Anna @ 5:57 AM