Before I get into this travelogue, I must mention a very important detail: this is my first trip overseas for butterflies! For 10 years, I've been waiting patiently for my chance to do this. When discussion about having the trip began, I knew that this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.

From 30 March to 4 April, Uncle Khew, Mei Yee and I made a trip to Sabah, Borneo, following Lemon's highly successful expedition there which yielded many highland endemics. Many thanks to him, for he provided much of the information needed to carry out the trip. We stayed at the Mahua Rainforest Paradise, a lodge connected to the Mahua waterfall. The 2h+ car ride from Kota Kinabalu Airport was comfortable (no dirt paths - just road), albeit rather winding at times.


The lodge itself was peaceful and quiet. The 3 of us were the only guests staying there. We almost had the whole place to ourselves, apart from the staff, daytime visitors and 3 friendly dogs that greeted us (and every other vehicle) each time we drove in.*






This puddle in the carpark was great for attracting thirsty butterflies:



*There was no food at the lodge. Every evening, we drove 13km out to the nearby town for dinner and to shop for the next day's breakfast and lunch - which were mainly buns.



Before the trip, we called the lodge staff to check in on the weather. It was raining and cloudy even a week before we went. Luckily, we our trip was timed perfectly in a clear spell. We had sunny mornings, though it often got cloudy in the afternoon past 3pm. Incredibly, the next day after we had left Tambunan, it was reportedly raining there once more.