The Monkey In Me: Mabul 2015

Bohey Dulang - my kind of paradise and my kind of heaven

Long story cut short, I am definitely going to hell when I die although heaven for me would be like this pix above!!! The lies I told to keep everyone happy and I used the lamest excuse under the sun to escape work - a sudden death in the family!!!! (Actually it really happened except it was more than 45 years ago!)

I was still packing right up to the very last minute of departure from Melbourne as I was working a full day and did not know what to tell the boss --- so I came up with that excuse and least to say it worked a treat but I headed for Mabul instead!!!

Mabul Oh Mabul the things I do to come to Mabul. Every year, it gets better than the year before, and this year was a ripper!!! I had blast in Mabul this year. Firstly, it was to see PR as he recovered from a major health scare - I totally cannot imagine the awful thought of losing a friend, not just any friend but my best snorkel buddy.

PR normally travels solo, but on this occasion, he had another German friend tag along with him this year and his name is D aka the Green Monster/Black Forest.... definitely a character from the Schwarzwald!! You bet we had our fun with him!!! A week later, my own 2 friends from KL came to join us on the island.

My KL ladies

We were spoilt with all the home baked goods HS made and brought over for us....cakes and treats that put 5 star hotels high tea to shame!!!!

It was really nice to see all the friends and staff at UC - my island family, and this year's highlight was the birth of Aufa, so now I have a Mabul grand-daughter - as if I needed an excuse to go back again!!!

This marks the 5th consecutive year for me on Mabul and some of the Bajau children I have met over the years have grown. To my surprise, now some of them even wear clothes!!! There are 2 boys in particular that I have a soft spot for, and one of them even took on the role as my personal guide and held my hand helping me climb up to Bohey Dulang.

Sipadan fun crew

Two weeks on Mabul just flew by and this time we missed seeing Roihan who was away in Bali upskilling on diving! We managed to squeeze in Sipadan x 3 times thanks to the management of UC and as always, Sipadan never fails to deliver all the critters - large, small and plentiful to overwhelm my eyes!

Baby Amaris from BC must be the youngest on Sipadan!

Oh...before I forget, I also had a invitation to ride in a Bajau boat and the boatman and his son taught me how to look and spear for octopus!!! Priceless experience and I hope some day I can do it again.

Priceless experience with the Bajaus

The normal daily happenings on the island - meet new people arriving and leaving, haggle for the freshest daily caught life seafood, sip fresh coconuts, catching a sunset, do as much or as little as you wish apart from diving/snorkelling. Tailor your own excitement and have fun fun fun in the sun!

Welcome to Bohey Dulang - definitely worth the climb!

For me, it is very relaxing to get away from the big smoke and learn how locals live in their surroundings - there is poverty everywhere and yet they all still seem to be happy. I was observing 2 young Bajau boys playing with their little crabs and making them fight - a far cry from children in Oz playing with ipads and mummy's iphone to keep the little rascals happy whilst mummy is busy!!!

On this trip there was a lot of refurbishment/developments happening at UC and happy to report we were the first to stay in Chalet 6 upon completion. When all the existing chalets are replaced, I reckon UC will definitely be an upmart backpackers haven!!!