I was born in 1996 in the small country of Brunei in Borneo. I left Brunei as a two month old toddler as my family had decided to settle in India that same year. In the summer of 2011, I returned to Borneo with my family to travel, and had some of the most amazing experiences of my life. Borneo is the third largest island in the world, the largest of Asia, and is made up of three countries - Brunei, and the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak to the north, and the Indonesian state of Kalimantan to the south. Borneo is home to some of the oldest rainforests in the world, dating back to around 140 million years, as well as some of the largest caves and rock formations in the world. Visiting these spectacular sights was a unique experience.

This is part of a series of articles on my travels in Borneo.

One of the most interesting parts of the time we spent in Borneo was our visit to Pulau Selingaan, fondly called ‘turtle island’. We were in Sabah on the Northeastern coast of Borneo, and to get to Pulau Selingaan, we had to take a flight from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan and then a boat ride from Sandakan’s Sim Sim Jetty to the island.

Malaysia is known for its wildlife, royalty of the natural world, and two kinds of animals in particular are an especially lustrous jewel in its crown - the endangered green sea and hawskbill turtles. These two species of turtles, like other important wildlife of Malaysia, have continuously faced the threat of extinction - these turtles are often poached for their meat (turtle soup is a Malaysian delicacy), their hide for bags and their shells for decoration. Other factors that have lead to these turtles facing the threat of extinction include pollution and habitat loss. This has led to extensive conservation efforts by the Malaysian government - through the Turtle Islands National Park, located 40 km north of Sandakan and consisting of three islands: Pulau Selingaan, Pulau Bakkungaan Kecil and Pulau Gulisan. Like the hundreds of other islands that Malaysia is home to, each one of them exudes the essence of their own distinct character - if you’ve seen one, you definitely haven’t seen them all. The island we visited was called Pulau Selingaan. The island is known for its much needed protection and nesting of the two endangered species of sea turtle, both of which lay their eggs here year-round.

The journey to the island was bumpy to say the least. We arrived at the island after an hour of the boat ride, soaked. We were met with a beautiful sight - the island was an idyllic deserted paradise, with white sand and turquoise water. A stroll around the serene beach and relaxing in the soft sand was an experience in itself. Seeing the tracks from the turtles nesting built up excitement for what was to come, while the common monitor lizard, notorious for its turtle egg diet, sinisterly lurked in the corner of the eye.

After an afternoon at the beach where we relaxed and snorkelled, we settled inside our simple rooms (though the accommodation was basic, one can look past it considering the turtles are the focus of the island staff). At around 6 PM everyone was called to meet for a video briefing and then dinner, before waiting for the highly anticipated ‘turtle time’. The tourists met at the small turtle museum, where we were given an informative tour about turtle conservation and its importance before the video presentation. Following the presentation, we were all invited to have dinner at the small restaurant of the island - there was a buffet style spread, and the food was average - however, on account of us being famished, we welcomed it with delight.

At around 9:00 PM, the long awaited call of ‘turtle time!’ arrived with the announcement of one of the numerous rangers of the island. A short walk later, we were met with an astounding sight - a green sea turtle, who had been digging her nest for over an hour, had started to lay eggs. We were immediately warned to minimise the noise as much as possible, as she may get spooked, stop laying her eggs and flee back into the ocean, disrupting the hatching process. Remaining as quiet and still as possible, the 30-something of us huddled around the animal, taking pictures (without any flash of course, as we were clearly instructed) and staring in awe. One by one, the forest ranger counted the eggs that dropped into the sand while the fascinating animal, almost in a state of trance, continuously laid her eggs. Almost 40 minutes and 93 eggs later, ‘turtle time’ was officially over and the animal scurried back towards the ocean. However, the work of the rangers wasn’t finished - the myriad of eggs were quickly collected in a bucket and taken to the hatchery, where the rangers dug a ‘nest’ for the eggs, covering them with sand and placing little fences around them for protection against the monitor lizards.

As if we weren’t amazed enough, we were given the opportunity to witness the next step in the conservation process - the release of the hatchlings into the ocean. Further along the beach, the staff had collected a bucket of hatchlings - newborn green sea turtles - that had dug their way up from the hatchery nests, around 6 weeks after they had been collected. One of the cutest and most spectacular sights I have ever seen, the bucket was tipped over and the little baby turtles were released a few feet from the water. Our wonderment turned to sadness when we were told that out of every thousand of these hatchlings, only one survived to grow into adults. The ones who do survive, however, return to the island some 30 years later, to build their own nests (the reason for releasing the hatchlings a few feet from the ocean is so that they get familiar with the surface of the island, so they return to the same place to nest).

Definitely one of the highlights of our travels, the trip was magical and a one of a kind experience that left us breathless. It made us aware of the dire need for turtle conservation and provided valuable insight into the process.