Us Year 7 and 8 students went on an exciting trip to Sandakan, Borneo! We learned about teamwork, nature, and how to protect wildlife. Every day was packed with new experiences, from fun workshops to exploring the rainforest. It was such an amazing week where we learned a lot and made great memories with our friends.
We started the week with workshops arranged by Dr Terence McAdams, where we worked together in teams and learned about social deduction, team development, and interpersonal skills. We also explored how artificial intelligence works and how it’s used in our world today. After that, we flew to Borneo, ready for our big adventure!
On Tuesday, we began the day with workshops exploring how the natural world inspires innovation in design and technology. Later, we visited the Rainforest Discovery Centre, where we explored the jungle by day and learned about Borneo’s plants and animals. At night, we returned for a guided wildlife nightwalk, spotting flying squirrels, birds (such as kingfishers), and many rare creatures, including the smallest primate in the world.
On Wednesday, we visited the ‘Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Centre’! This conservation centre was founded by Dr Wong Siew Te who educated us on sun bears and how to care for them properly. Dr Wong is an expert on sun bears and has been studying them since 1998. He informed us that he and his team have successfully released 13 Sun Bears back into the wild! We also got to do an enrichment workshop where we made toys for the sun bears to play with. This developed our friendships and teamwork. Afterwards, we went to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, where we saw orangutans swinging on the trees. We even got to see a mother and her child when it was feeding time!
On Thursday we took a long 2 hour drive to get to the longest river in Sabah, Kinabatangan River, where we indulged in fun cultural activities such as Batik Painting, before taking a boat ride through the river. On our river cruise we were able to see many animals such as Laughing kookaburras (the largest species of Kingfisher), Baby Crocodiles, Large Crocodiles (Almost 7 metres long!), and primates such as Long-tail macaques, Pig-tail macaques, Silver leaf monkeys and the infamous proboscis monkeys. We even got to see the fresh footprints and traces of pygmy elephants in the wild, near the riverside.
Our Borneo trip was an unforgettable experience filled with fun, knowledge, and adventure. We made amazing memories, built stronger friendships, and discovered how important it is to protect nature. From exploring the rainforests to meeting incredible animals, this journey helped us see the world in a whole new way, one we’ll never forget, and that was our experience on the Borneo trip. One definitely worth the wait and hard work.
Mishel Yasharah. A & Zoe Arizona H.
Year 8 Students