Wilds of Borneo - Day 8

I awoke early, very unwell. Stomach pains and cold sweats. Kamelia came in and dosed me up with buscapan and imodium and told me just to get through the day. I remembered something which was said at one of the Gulf for Good info sessions I attended before I signed up for Borneo...."Keep a good sense of humour and don't whinge, it'll just bring everyone down and to get through the challenge everyone needs a positive attitude". So I grinned and bore it. I was upset that I wasn't able to raft on bamboo with everyone else, but I really didn't have enough energy left in my body. I really didn't want to miss the final part of our trip, and finally the guide suggests I ride in the support raft, an inflatable often used for white water rafting. This meant that I could paddle and take part if I wanted to, but could rest if I felt ill. It was actually very good fun. I felt much better being out on the water and it was so funny to see everyone on their bamboo rafts, not so easy to steer it seemed and nearly everyone fell in! Being the support raft we were helping the other free themselves from trees on the banks of the river that they had got stuck in and I remember near uncontrollable laughter trying to help Arpana and Raoul, both in the water, clinging to their raft slowing being covered by a tree, trying in vain to get away from the side of the river. Those two really made me smile! There was some white water which was great fun for me as we were able to go through the choppier parts in our inflatable dingy.

At the end of the rafting, we thanked our hosts and were taken to the Shangri-la for lunch. Now I am sure that the spread would have been fantastic, my stomach on the other hand was not feeling up to eating and the very kind manager arranged for me to have some dry toast which was all I could face. I think the staff thought I was crazy!!

Most of the group departed for the airport straight from the Shangri-la and caught afternoon flights home. Arpana, Raoul, Helena and I went into Kota Kinabalu for an extra night and stayed at the Diya hotel. We went for a much needed massage and then met up with Evan for dinner at a local Irish Pub. Bangers and mash were very tempting by this point (although I just about managed the mash!) and we retired early to the hotel. A long and exhausting trip, amazing to think what we had done in the past week!

The next morning, I was alone in Kota Kinabalu. I walked to a local market, along the harbour front and around the local shops. I saw lots of handicrafts and men tailoring and altering clothes on the side of the road with old fashioned sewing machines. Late in the afternoon I transferred to the airport and headed back to Abu Dhabi, a place that seemed more than a million miles away from the place I was leaving. Hard to believe that the jungle and the desert are even on the same planet!