It
was the best of times, and it was the worst of times.
We
were chilling in an idyllic campsite in the rural heart of Sabah,
with a cool, clean river to bathe in. We had great food worthy of a
five-star hotel, because it was cooked for us by a chef who used to
work in a five-star hotel. Steaming hot fresh-brew coffee in the
morning, with home-cured bacon, sausages and eggs.
Mother
hens and chicks, and mummy sows and their piglets, wandered all over,
scrounging for grub. Pastoral scenes don't get much better than this.
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| Bacon and eggs, anyone? |
Yet,
we were not content. We were impatient. We couldn't wait to get on
with it. We had to wait for it.
“It”
was Borneo Safari 2016. Specifically, the hardcore section that some
eager beavers complained was “only 40 kilometres” long. Some of
us, who had taken three days to traverse just six kilometres in
previous editions, reserved comment, looking forward with equal
measure of trepidation and anticipation.
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| 'Andy' the Landy - veteran of three Borneo Safaris (2012, 2014, 2016) |
My
Land Rover Defender (a four-year-old 110 named “Andy” in honour
of a fondly remembered and dearly missed friend from earlier Safaris)
and I, and co-driver Afonso Cerejo from Portugal, were embedded with
Team Mitsubishi Motor Malaysia (MMM), which was sending in four of
their new Tritons, plus four customer cars, and several other support
cars of various marques and models.
An added touch of glamour came in the person of renowned lady racer Leona Chin, also known as Malaysia's Drift Queen, who delights crowds by driving a Triton sideways.
With
several members of the motoring media in our group, were placed in
the convoy behind Team Isuzu, long-time sponsor of the event, who
were behind the officials, photographers, competitors and the scouts
who were blazing the trail.
2016
got off to a promising start, with a wide river to ford before
reaching Kampung Tibabar, accessed by a track from the famous Poring
hot springs, near the high-altitude interior town of Ranau.
Although
the trail was mild by 4X4 standards (we came across several Perodua
Kancils and Vivas), the river crossing yielded plenty of excitement
and photo opportunities.
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| Day 1/2 Camp at Tibabar |
The
first night's camp at Tibabar was pleasant, if not exactly exciting.
We set up camp, we dined, chatted a bit, and got a good night's
sleep. That was about it.
The
following day's move to Campsite Two, at Kampung Garung, added to the
feeling that we could be in for some fun, with some mushy mud along
the way serving as an appetiser. Nothing too hard though, and no
winch rope had to be pulled out.
Kpg
Garung was supposed to be home for a night, and then two, and then
three. Team Isuzu, who had arrived there a day earlier, were on
standby to move out since early in the morning, and then noon, and
were still waiting by the evening when the plan was changed – they
would stay the night.
Early
the next morning, they packed up hurriedly and left bright and early
for the entrance to the hardcore trail. The day passed slowly for the
rest of us, chilling in the stream, until around 4pm, when the Isuzu
rolled back in. They had travelled a grand total of about 2km, spent
the whole day by the roadside waiting, and then decided to return to
the village.
The
trail was tough. The scouts reported making less than 1.7km of
progress in their first six hours, and 3km in the whole of the first
day.
We
would just have to relax and wait for our turn.
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| Hurry up ... and wait |
Welcome
to the Borneo Safari, one of the toughest offroad vehicle events in
Malaysia. Held annually in Sabah since 1991, the reputation has been
a magnet for thrill-seekers, drawing about a thousand 4X4 aficionados
to Kota Kinabalu for the grand flag-off at the tail end of each
October.
Expectations
are always high at the flag-off and, this year, participants were
served extra helpings from the full menu. Even before it was over,
there was already talk about it being “the best ever”, “the
toughest in living memory” and “the most fun we've had in a long
time”. (Having taking part in in seven Borneo Safaris – 1992,
2008, and every year since 2012, this writer would concur with these
sentiments.)
This,
from people who consider it fun to be forced to sleep upright in the
seat of a cramped 4X4, simply because there is no space around the
vehicle, or what little space there is, is shin-deep in gooey mud.
Whereas
previous editions served up a couple of memorable moments
interspersed with leisurely drives and pleasant camping, 2016 offered
the full menu – torrential rain, mud galore, torturous holes and
gulleys, and slopes so steeps that winches were mandatory for both
ascent and descent, and even strategically-placed logs with a
better-than-50-percent chance of slamming into.
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| 3, 2, 1 ... BUNGEE!!!!! |
The
notorious “bungee jump”, alternatively referred to as the
roller-coaster, will be remembered as one of the highlights as BS
2016.
After
a torturous uphill climb that required strenuous winching, each car
had to negotiate a tight turn with steering at full lock to the
right, and then be lowered gingerly on a winch line from the car
behind down a steep and slippery slope.
Released
from this safety line about halfway down, each driver had to
negotiate the remaining distance, knowing that a huge log lay in wait
at the bottom. There was no room for error, and nearly half of all
cars ended the bumpy ride with a close encounter with the log,
sustaining varying degrees of damage, from broken lamps to crumpled
fenders to bent chassis.
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| Handyplast moment - poor Andy is hurt. Bad log. |
Wait,
there's more. A lot more. A slanted track that sends your car sliding
towards a tree. There is no way to drive across, you had to stop the
car, and use the winch to pull the front end in the right direction,
away from the waiting tree. Some did not make it unscathed, adding
to their collections of dents.
However
well prepared each participant was, no matter how much the cars were
modified or upgraded in anticipation of the challenges, the strain
was simply too overwhelming for some.
Minor
breakdowns were promptly fixed by “McGyver” mechanics but several
cars which suffered major breakdowns had to be left by the side of
the track, awaiting rescue at a latter date.
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| Oh, look what I found! |
A
failed gearbox, shattered differential gears, broken winches and a
wheel that parted company with its hub after all its six studs
sheared off were just some of the equipment failures that prematurely
ended the adventure for the unfortunate few who had to hitch a ride
out of the jungle.
The
recovery teams, all volunteers who had to face the same or even
tougher conditions just getting to the abandoned cars, continued
struggling up to three days after the eight-day Safari had officially
ended with the grand closing dinner.
Before
each year's Safari gets underway, expectations start forming based on
tales from the previous year's event. 2015 had been significant for
being the Silver Jubilee event but the action itself had not been
spectacular.
The
2016 terrain and weather conspired to serve up a “perfect storm”
of challenges that had everyone raving about the toughest, and
naturally, the best Borneo Safari ever.
Not
everyone who signed up got to savour the experience, though, as more
than half of the field did not get the chance to even enter the
hardcore trail because of delays at the front.
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| The hills are steep, but the co-drivers are strong ... |
Unlike
in most previous events when those at the front of the convoy had an
easier time with the obstacles, this year's was brutal right from the
start, and for everyone, regardless of position in the queue. Those
at the front suffered as much as the rearguard, who suffered as much
as the meat in the sandwich.
The
slow crawl at the front meant a long wait for those in the queue, and
many chose, or were compelled, to take the easy way out – an escape
to the nearby village of Kampung Sorinsim, between Ranau and Kota
Marudu.
Slipping
and sliding, the Tritons in my group took on each challenge in turn
and overcame each obstacle, one at a time.
Driving
and winching and crossing rickety make-shift log bridges in the dark,
with intermittent and, at times, torrential rain, with no end in
sight.
The
low point, as well as the highlight of BS 2016, came around 1am one
night, when the convoy was forced to halt because it had come up to
the tail end of the group just ahead, who were still struggling with
a particularly tough obstacle.
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| Good night ... not the most comfortable bed, though. |
Surrounded
by the jungle, and with no space to set up camp and a steady drizzle
falling, everyone had to try to sleep as best as they could, inside
the cars. The discomfort of sitting upright while still muddy and
grimy was no match for the sheer exhaustion.
Add to that keeping on the same socks and shoes that have trudged through water and mud for the past 48 hours, even as you try to catch some shut-eye, simply because the thought of taking them off and putting them on again is worse. And you cannot walk more than a couple of metres in slippers without falling over.
If
there had been any doubts lingering to that point, it would have
become very clear by now – this was the real deal, this was the
Borneo Suffering experience that many had heard jokes about.
From
then on, it was hardcore all the way. Each obstacle passed brought us
a little closer to the end, the eagerly anticipated gravel road that
would signal the end of the torment. But the psychological pressure
would not let up so easily, with many a false “last one” before
we could relax by the beautiful river at Kampung Sorinsim.
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| Are we in deep enough yet? |
Eventually,
all would emerge safely, and converged on the Magellan Sutera Harbour
resort in Kota Kinabalu for the closing dinner. Everyone who was
there wore the event shirt with pride as they shared tales of common
hardships endured, who did what where, and whose car suffered which
mishap.
Very
few came out completely unscathed, but all agree that the memories
are worth every scratch and dent and broken shaft or window, or even
overturned car.
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| A touch of celebrity - Mitsubishi brought along renowned lady racer Leona Chin, a.k.a. Malaysia's Drift Queen. |
It
was not all fun and games, though. There was a lot of waiting, made
necessary because of simple maths. If a car took 10 minutes to clear
one obstacle, a hundred cars would need over 16 hours! And there were
many obstacles, and many cars. The biggest test for many was that of
patience, and not all scored well in this aspect. But while tensions
might have run high and tempers frayed, all these pale in comparison
to the satisfaction on a shared accomplishment – we all made it
against the odds, and we did it together.
These
memories are shared with like-minded 4X4 enthusiasts from all over
Sabah but many came from farther afield, including Brunei, Sarawak
and Kalimantan, and some drive their vehicles from as far away as
Jakarta and Banjarmasin. This year, the international flavour
included thrill-seekers from the United States, The Netherlands,
Japan and Portugal.
The
growing popularity of the Borneo Safari over the past quarter century
is evident from the numbers. Starting with around 25 to 30 cars in
the early years, the official registered entries have swollen to over
200 cars a couple of years ago, to 350 vehicles and about 1,000
participants this year.
As
the closing dinner drew to its conclusion, the most common refrain
heard was “see you again next year”.
But wait, there's more. The eight days of the official Borneo Safari might have ended with the banquet and the toasts and the backslapping on the night of Nov 6, 2016, but the action was not over yet.
There were still broken-down cars left in the jungle, and the rescue and recovery efforts would continue for several more days until all were successfully and safely brought back to civilisation.
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| Ah Ngiu chops some logs to help ease the passage. |
