The Star Toronto (September 2002)

Borneo offers exotic adventure for those willing to go the distance.
By Mark Atchison
 

Travel Editor CATHERINE CURRIE was one of a handful of Canadians who visited the island of Borneo last year. According to the Toronto lawyer, the rest of us don't know what we're missing.

Borneo, the world's third largest island, is not the easiest place to get to and, according to Currie, is one of the hardest to leave - its beauty and people captivating the lucky few who venture there.

"People should make the effort to go to Borneo,'' said Currie, who travelled to the island, located in the South China sea off the coast of Malaysia, with her husband, Phillip Holland, and their two children, Anna, 16, and Peter, 10, earlier this year.

"The kids were totally amazed by Borneo. They experienced the culture and people and food and can't wait to go back,'' said Currie.

Philip Yong, the managing director of Borneo Adventure, a travel company that organizes trips to that part of the world out of Toronto with the help of Malaysia Airlines, said his island still remains one of the most exotic tourist destinations in the world and it depends a great deal on word-of-mouth to attract tourists.

"We are not Hawaii,'' said Yong, who was in Toronto recently promoting Borneo as a travel destination for 2003. "There are only 2,000 hotel rooms on the entire island and a place like Hawaii has that many in one small area.

"Many people who come to Borneo stay with local people in traditional longhouses and that adds to the sense of adventure,'' said Yong, who also pointed out that many visitors to Borneo these days are older, more mature travellers.

"We attract a lot of people looking for soft adventure (mostly guided tours),'' said Yong, who started his company back in 1987.

Borneo offers travellers one of the finest and oldest rainforests in the world - home to a bewildering diversity of plant species (more than 250 per hectare) and an abundance of wildlife, some of which cannot be seen anywhere else in the world.

Jungle treks that lead to giant caves and up-river journeys are just part of the excitement that awaits travellers who decide to go to Borneo, which offers the cultural diversity of 60 different tribes and races.