PRODUCT UPDATE BB 17 Borneo Magic (12 Days) A 12 days leisure tour showcasing the highlights of Sarawak and Sabah. Kick off the tour in Sarawak with a city tour and cruise through winding Lemanak River to experience the life of the longhouse community. Proceed to Sabah for light trekking and sun, sand & sea activities in nearby islands. Enjoy yourself with a visit to Malaysia’s first World Heritage Site, Kinabalu Park at 5000ft elevation before moving on to East Coast of Sabah on overland journey in search of exotic wildlife. Turtle Island, Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre and the alluring Sukau await visitors to explore their magical fascination. More details at: http://www.borneoecotours.com/tours_view.cfm?THE_ID=54 Agnes Lawrence ~ Assistant Operation Manager If you used to communicate with Agnes Lawrence, then there is more you need to know about this special personality. Joined Borneo Eco Tours as Tour Consultant in 1999, Agnes moved up in rank to Senior Tour Consultant (2004) and consequently, Assistant Operation Manager in 2006. With buoyant personality, Agnes is a cheerful leader in her reservation team and is an important source of reference in the department. To supervise the work of about 10 juniors is not easy task, yet Agnes sees that as a challenge. “I’ve been in those days when I’ve to learn reservation and operation from scratch. Having mustered the necessary skills and experience, now is the time I pass on these knowledge and skills to my juniors”, said Agnes. “Since the juniors lack working experience, I find that attentive guidance is crucial especially when a new Tour Consultant just come aboard”, she continued. Citing speed in replying agent partners’ emails as a challenge, Agnes noticed that this matter is an uppermost concern for most agent partners. “I used to remind our Tour Consultants to abide by our company policy, which is to reply emails within 48 hours, if not 24 hours. However, at times our Tour Consultants were bogged down by work overload that caused some delays in reply. To counter this, we will work as a team to troubleshoot this problem whenever identified”. Agnes enjoys her work as she gets to come across new challenges each day. “I believe learning is an ongoing process and I foresee that I have much more to learn in order to get to the top. I also see challenges as part of our excitement in life. If we don’t face any life challenge, then we will never grow further. The road to success is always under construction. Though it’s bumpy and daunting, yet we could overcome it if we face the challenges with courage”, Agnes concluded. Agnes is optimistic that in the event she faces major setbacks in work, with the guidance from God, there’s always a rainbow waiting. Agnes is happily married to Walter and is mother of two cute kids named Wayne and Andre. Agnes regards family as priority and it is imperative to spend quality time with her family despite her hectic work condition. 1 Dr. Dionysius Sharma Dionysius Sharma, or Dr. Dino as he is more popularly known, first worked on the fauna of the Lower Kinabatangan in 1991. His first assignment, whilst working as a staff of WWF-Malaysia was to assist in the study of the unique Proboscis monkeys and to document the diverse array of mammals, birds and reptiles occurring in the floodplains. Having traveled throughout Malaysia on conservation fieldwork assignments, Dino still regards the Lower Kinabatangan as his favourite wildlife watching location. Born in Malacca and of north Indian/Portuguese-Eurasian descent, Dino spent a lot of his childhood outdoors, observing wild animals and appreciating the need to conserve them. Graduating from Universiti Malaya with a degree in Ecology, he went on to earn his PhD in Conservation Biology from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, England. Based at Sukau in 1991, Dino studied the wildlife at the Menanggul, Tenegang, Resang and Sapasidom Rivers and the various oxbow lakes, documenting the vertebrate fauna and trying to estimate their densities. Even way back then, he observed that agriculture expansion in the floodplains had reduced the total available forests for the survival of the various animals. In his report titled “A Wildlife Survey of the Proposed Kinabatangan Park”, he provided the first checklists of mammals, birds and reptiles occurring at the Lower Kinabatangan, and noted that ecotourism was going to be important in the area, reaffirming the ideas of previous workers there. Since 1991, Dino has been back to Sukau on various assignments including facilitating foreign media visits, facilitating training of local journalists in environmental reporting, and acting in an Animal Planet reality-styled program called Planet Action that featured orang utan conservation. In 2007, Dino was appointed the Executive Director/CEO of WWF-Malaysia and continues his interest in the unique biodiversity found at Sukau and the Lower Kinabatangan, through the work of WWF-Malaysia in the establishment of a Corridor of Life at the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. His preferred choice of stay these days is the Sukau Rainforest Lodge, primarily due to the way and manner the management of this lodge promotes ecotourism and the professionalism of all the staff in managing the needs of tourists. In appreciation of Dr. Dino's substantial contribution in Kinabatangan, Sukau Rainforest Lodge dedicates room No. 2 in his honour. Dr. Dino’s profile is also available at http://www.sukau.com/public/con_per.asp . 2 INFO ZONE Adventurous Padas White Water Rafting Ever tried white water rafting? For beginners, mild white water rafting is a ‘leisure’ thing to do while for the experts, tackling extreme rapids is a great pleasure. At a remote creek called “Padas’ in south of Sabah, white water rafting is uniquely an ideal water sport. Tourists from around the world flocked to Padas with one mission in mind – to conquer the unruly ‘assault’ of Padas water. Journey to Padas takes almost 4 hours – 2 hours on coach to southern town of Beaufort and another 1 ½ hours on antique train ride along the Padas gorge to reach the starting point at Pangi Station. The journey might be tiresome but do not forget to glance through your window to view picturesque shifting background of mountains, villages, jungles, paddy fields, South China Sea and ultimately, Padas River. Safety briefing is a must before rafting starts and each rafter will be equipped with right size of life jacket and helmet. When the rafters are ready, there goes the real adventure of discovering the hidden thrills along the 2 hours rafting journey. Rafters will come across seemingly never ending mind-blowing rapids. As rafters reach less swift areas, they stand a chance to swim in the refreshing stream before moving on with more physically and mentally challenging adventures! Till the ending point of rafting, rafters will be served with mouth watering BBQ buffet lunch. Pictures or VCD of rafters taken during the rafting are available for sale at affordable price. Return to Kota Kinabalu via train and coach and if weather permits, breathtaking sunset is a highlight along the way back. HAPPENING Celes’ Baby Boy Our Tour Consultant, Celestina delivered a healthy baby boy on 21 st February 2007. Named Chad Constantine, the baby is a blessing for Celes and beloved husband, Martin. We wish to congratulate Celes and wish her baby the best of health. Sabah Fest Borneo Eco Tours sales team had the privilege to attend the recently held Sabah Fest 2007 in a leading resort on 4 th May. Sabah Fest is an annual event and since 1988, it has been one of Sabah’s most anticipated cultural events. Sabah Fest was the effort of Sabah Tourism Board to highlight unique aspects of multiethnic cultures in Sabah. Actual program kicked off on 3 rd May displaying colourful cultural performances and exhibition of locally made products, particularly handicraft and food. The highlight was 4 th May where locals and tourists from overseas were entertained with 9 major dances from various tribes of Sabah. Among others, the featured dances were ‘Mengiluk’ dance of the Suluk tribe, ‘Arang Tawak’ of Lundayeh tribe and ‘Magunatip’ of the Murut tribe. 3 IN THE NEWS Maliau for World Heritage Status KALABAKAN (Tawau): The Sabah Government is promoting the Maliau Basin Conservation Area as the third world heritage site in Malaysia, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said Tuesday. He said the process of acquiring the status from Unesco was being worked out by the departments and agencies at various levels. "This would help in promoting concrete international support and partnership for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and its ecosystems, as well as on the initiatives for a balanced and sustainable development of national and regional ecological networks and corridors," he said. It certainly augurs well for Sabah where its ecotourism industry is promoted internationally as a tropical destination icon and second-home programme, he added. Musa spoke to reporters after opening the Shell Maliau Basin Reception and Information Building in Maliau Basin, about 90km from here. He said the Maliau would remain intact because of its pristine nature and high conservation value. "The State Government's stand is firm on this matter. Maliau is to remain untouched by any form of development that can compromise its environment," he said. The two existing world heritage sites in the country are Mount Kinabalu in Sabah and Mulu Caves in Sarawak. Dubbed Sabah's "Lost World", the 58,840-hectare Maliau Basin Conservation Area was upgraded to a Protected (Class One) Forest Reserve by the State Government in 1997.