Borneo

We took our first little trip a couple weeks ago.  We found tickets for $60 SGD per person so we couldn't pass up the chance to get away.  The place where we stayed was right on the beach and was very affordable too--$275 SGD for accommodations, food and the shuttle there and back.  We went on the trip with some friends who moved here the same time as us--they are mac, canon, and chaco people so we knew we'd get along very well.  We had a fabulous time!  They have 3 little kids who were all so sweet to Samara and included her in everything.  In fact, the highlight of the trip according to Samara was "riding the shuttle bus with my friends at Borneo".

In was a sort of a last minute trip but we did some research before going.  We wanted to go on a snorkeling trip and the following sounded great:

Satang Island consisting of two islands Pulau Satang Besar and Pulau Satang Kecil is located in the South China Sea and its surrounding pristine waters are protected as a sanctuary for the turtles. Take time to visit the turtle conservation and hatchery area and learn about the conservation programme on the island. Then proceed to Satang Island's beautiful white sand beach for snorkeling amidst the wide variety of soft corals, spotting an abundance of colourful marine life.  You should be able to spot the elusive and rare schools of Irawaddy dolphins which are quite common in this area.  

This was the view from the beach of Satang Island so we thought how could we go wrong? Well, I should have known there was something fishy about the trip when the crook travel agent initially told me kids were free but when he found out we had four said he'd give me a deal four kids for the price of one adult.  A boat did come and get us.  We did look for the dolphins.  There was a turtle conservation program but we didn't stop because according to the quacks guides the turtles only come out at night and you have to pay the workers on the island to see the hatchery.  We did stop to snorkel amid the wide variety of soft corals.

The coral was pretty and the murky clear water was just like the travel agent promised. It hasn't rained for days, he said.  The guides said the water was somewhat murky because of the rain they'd received the day before.  We did see nine fish an abundance of colorful marine life.

Even Samara who is quite timid about wanting to do new things jumped right in to 'see the fishies'.  We made sure she wore a life boat vest.


We even got an extra that wasn't in the trip description--Jelly Fish!  This is one washed up on the beach of our hotel.  The ones on the snorkeling trip were quite small.  We all kept feeling little stings but no one said anything until Deborah saw one and got a sting on her leg. Thankfully, we were all fine and even though the snorkel trip wasn't exactly on par with the description we still had a great time. 


The boat ride there and back was beautiful and the company fabulous!  The guides almost made us believe we'd see those Irawaddy dolphins on the way back.


Can we really complain though when this was the view where we ate lunch...
and this is how we spent our evening?