In preparation for the arrival of school teams at our wonderful camp Borneo this summer, Anna and I have the laborious task of visiting Malaysia ourselves- it’s a hard life!

5 days in and it feels we have been here forever and we never want to leave- I am officially in love with Sabah! Although it has been a real whistle stop tour I have been nothing but enamoured with not only the culture, people, landscapes and wildlife, but also of course the incredible work being undertaken by our volunteers over here!

Sabah really is a stunning place with such diversity between the hustle of towns such as Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu compared with the tranquil settings of the hilltops, mountain and jungle, there really is so much to see here and so much great project work to be done to help the amazing, friendly and welcoming people of Sabah, Borneo.

So far this week we have been to visit all of our camps across Sabah in the preparation for our school teams who start to arrive today!!!! We have been to Bongkud- our brand new team camp where we also got to try our hand at their traditional bamboo dance- nice try Anna, at least we were able to give the locals a good giggle- Anna however is now convinced that she is a pro!?

Following Bongkud we headed out to Batu Puteh- our amazing jungle camp which is accessible via a boat ride along the incredible Kinabatangan river- where we were extremely lucky to spot an Orang-utan in the wild!!!! We were so excited I’m surprised we didn’t capsize the boat!

We have also been to visit Sabah Tea plantation and had spectacular views of mount Kinabalu along the way- this is no M25 journey!

A quick boat ride over to the stunning island of Mantanani enabled us to visit the community, the school for whom we are building a pre-school and the camp and project sites- all lovingly overseen by Aida, our camp manager. Of course we couldn’t leave without taking a quick dip in the beautiful turquoise waters to cool off- jealous anyone?

Everyone here is really excited to welcome our teams in and get stuck in to the project work! Bring on the shovels!

I just had a glance through our Facebook Fan page and it’s really inspiring to see all the effort that travelers are making to raise funds for the school expeditions or gap year travel with us. Recently I heard that some chap has been sitting in a tub of baked beans outside his local supermarket to raise a few extra pounds. Now that’s innovation and determination! We know its not easy but we also know that there is so much more gratification in working hard to raise money for your trip especially since it is all about helping towards a cause greater than ourselves so hat tip to all!

Meanwhile, we thought that this little fund raising story might be an inspiration to you. A group of lads who call themselves the Chuckle Brothers Football Club undertook a ‘fun run’ the other to raise funds for the various projects run by Camps International by way of a thank you as Camps had sponsored their football kits for the season. They set themselves a £500 target and shot through that it no time and as of today have raised £706!

Big thanks to these chaps and for everyone out there raising funds, good luck – you know it’s worth it. And don’t forget we are here to help you in any way we can!

As the summer season comes to an end and our school teams bid us farewell, we like to hold on to the memories and smiles. It’s been an amazing season and so much achieved.  So when we sat and listened to young Keiran Hewkin from Godalming read his farewell poem, we could not help but ask Keiran to let his words live on through our blog…I hope you enjoy this as much as we did and thanks Keiran…

A few words from me, it won’t take a mo
This trip has been cool, I hope you all know.
Our hard work is done, all our endevour.
So I wrote this down to help remember!

Let us not forget that Luch is crazy,
And remember Ben T, oh so lazy.
Goodbye Ben Ward, you antisocial chump,
Or quiet little Amy, subdued till drunk.
Sam Tucker with his confectory treats,
Charlie Eglington ever so sweet.

Best wishes to Izzie who braved the diving,
Friendly Jessica forever smiling.
Ellie the hermit now out of her shell
Will Erin grow up? Its so hard to tell.
You never would guess that Jack’s such a lad,
Or Kate for that matter…Oh just a tad.

Tata there to Cat, just so well spoken
Goodbye to Gammy who’s so very broken.
He ho to Imo, good luck with ur dance,
The same goes for Hector? There’s every chance!
Bi bumbling Craig so graceful in fins
Farewell Caroline, just don’t say they’re twins!

Lock up your sisters, run away it’s Mac
Or as Josh would say its windows in fact.
So long Sarah M so full of fun,
So long Sarah P the ditzzier one.
Bibi Fiona with needle and thread,
Gemma no teacher, more a friend instead.

We will all miss Charlie, despite the frowns,
Goodbye to Scampi’s shouting sessions sounds.
Harry and Hattie, like tweedle and dum
But between the two they’re so full of fun.
Best wishes to Katie our local giraffe,
Goodbye to Josie the worlds slowest laugh.

Kwaheri to cat – coffee’s biggest fan
We will all miss Ken the scorpion man.
Lucy’s hair was an intresting trend,
Nice to meet Hattie out thirty fourth friend.
But lets not forget to give Shedi a word,
For he was a friend, for this rest assured.

An end to Kenya, so much has been done
With blood sweat and tears, but hey its been fun.
From Tsavo to forest, mountains and beach
And to others your knowledge please do teach!

Stand aside Mr. and Mrs. Smith….

Mr. and Mrs. Kennet are in da house…