Sabah - Borneo - page 226

Sights
Weston Wetland ( 016-813 4300, 013-881 3233; http://westonwetland.blogspot.com /)
operates a variety of package tours including river-cruise day trips and sleepovers at its
swamp-side longhouse (all-inclusive two-day, one-night package RM250). The dorm fa-
cilities are rustic at best, but the quality of the firefly show here is extremely high. Note
that the folk at Weston Wetland insist you prebook before visiting.
While you're here, you can ask folk at the lodge to take you to Che Hwa Schoolhouse ,
the oldest wooden school building in Borneo and a fine example of antiquarian Chinese
architecture.
MENUMBOK
The tiny hamlet of Menumbok is where you can catch car ferries to the Serasa Ferry Ter-
minal in Muara, 25km northeast of Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei), and to Pulau Labuan
(adult/car RM5/40, departures every hour from 10.30am-3.30pm).
On land, a charter taxi from Beaufort costs RM60, minivans from Kuala Penyu cost
RM50 per vehicle. There is a direct bus service connecting Menumbok to KK.
Pulau Tiga National Park
Outwit, outplay and outlast your fellow travellers on what is known throughout the world
as 'Survivor Island'. The name Pulau Tiga actually means 'three islands' - the scrubby is-
let is part of a small chain created during an eruption of mud volcanoes in the late 1890s.
Over 100 years later, in 2001, the island had its 15 minutes of fame when it played host to
the smash-hit reality TV series Survivor . TV junkies still stop by for a look-see, although
the 'tribal council' was destroyed in a storm and the debris was cleared after it turned into
a home for venomous snakes. Whatever your viewing preferences, it's still a great place
for relaxing on the beach, hiking in the forest and taking a cooling dip in burping mud pits
at the centre of the island.
Sights & Activities
Pulau Kalampunian Damit ('day-mit,' not 'dammit, I'm on snake island') is little more
than a large rock covered in dense vegetation but is famous for the sea snakes that come
ashore to mate, hence the island's nickname, Snake Island . Sounds like the tourism des-
tination of the 21st century, right? On any one day up to 150 snakes can be present, curled