For the next two months I will be in Borneo, experiencing one of my (hopefully) many trips of this lifetime. As it's my first on my own I will be blogging about it whenever I can (due to shortage of internet here).
I am currently here with Camps International (based in the UK). We will going to 4 different communities within the two months:
- Bongkud - Situated in the Dusun Community.
- Mantanani Island - situated off the coast of Kota Belud.
- Tinangol - situated south of Kudat town.
- Batu Puteh - situated in the north east of Sabah.
Getting from the UK to Borneo
Getting to Kota Kinabalu (Sabah's capital) was pretty painless and the flights were amazing. I went via Malaysian Airlines (which after the ordeal of plane MH370 going missing, has very empty flights!) But they're service was great and I had a whole row of seats to myself on the first flight. I flew from London Heathrow to Kuala Lumpar, changed over to get a smaller flight to Kota Kinabalu. In total, it took about 20 hours.
First Impressions
I was met at the airport by a Camp Borneo Rep, who was lovely, and made me feel at ease straight away. I was taken straight to the hostel we would be staying at in Kota Kinabalu, called Pods. I wasn't sure what to expect because I've never stayed in a hostel before. We were in a 6 bed dorm, there is no air con, so it is really hot/humid in the room. I don't know how I'm going to be able to sleep, I hope it gets cooler in the night.
I was quite skeptical about this trip when I first decided to go. There were so many what ifs and considering it is my first trip abroad (outside of Europe) on my own, I was nervous too. What if the people didn't like me? What if I didn't enjoy it? What if I got very home sick? However, after landing in Kota Kinabalu all of those worries were put to ease.
Me and three other girls arrived on the same day: Mica, Emily and Georgia. All for of us were quite nervous to start with but we all got along really well, really quickly. I think because we are all the same situation, we don't feel so alone. The rest of the group have already been here a month but they are so friendly, they welcomed us into the group as if we'd been there with them for a month already.
I'm excited to go to the first camp tomorrow: Camp Bongkud.
Stay safe out there.
Love from,
Kesvi
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