Our planet is endless in its wonders. The topography alone is mind-blowing.
Be it mountains, caves, airspace, flora and fauna, oceans, rock formations, streams, hot springs, grassy knolls… you name it, we’ve got it. Far too many to list, far more undiscovered, and one million percent impossible to appreciate all of Earth’s gifts in any one lifetime. I’m giving it my best shot.
According to Wikipedia the current Seven Natural Wonders of the World are as follows
Grand Canyon
Great Barrier Reef
Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
Mount Everest
Aurora Borealis
Victoria Falls
Parícutin Volcano
I can cross Victoria Falls off my list. Although I was within spitting distance of the Grand Canyon during Season One of the LLD RV Tour, high wind warnings kept me away. Strangely, the Aurora Borealis recently took a road trip across the U.S. and showed up in Texas just to mess with me.
These are all fine and good— awe-inspiring, magnificent, worthy of visiting. Chances are slim to none I’ll make it to the other six. Fine by me.
For the most part, any time I discover something new, I consider it a wonder. Every destination I arrive in, I make an effort to climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow in the area until I find my dream. Hmm… sounds vaguely familiar.
My love for climbing almost anything runs as deep as my abhorrence of heights. Nothing brings such satisfaction as cresting a mountain trail. Go figure. Show me a tree that’s ascendable, I’ll scramble up it. Perched high in a tree branch? Oddly soothing.
On the flip side, give me a warm ocean with sharks, monkeys, and the like, and I’m all fins— I mean, all in.
Sitting next to a woman from Sabah on the plane a while back, she told me I must check it out. So here I am. It’s as fab as she promised. I’m still hoping I’ll randomly run into her among the 3.4 million people living here so I can thank her. Stranger things have happened.
Sabah is a state within the Federation of Malaysia, located on the northern tip of Borneo. The island is politically divided and owned by three sovereign nations—Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei—making Borneo the only island in the world governed by three different countries.
The snorkeling and diving opportunities here are endless, with Sabah rated as a top destination for exploring an underwater wonderland.
Most of the white coral, turquoise water, and kaleidoscope-colored fish are near islands surrounding Kota Kinabalu. These tours cost more green than I’m willing or able to fork out. So I opted for the bargain-basement snorkel-around-town tour, where I met up with my motley crew: a newlywed couple from West Virginia on their honeymoon, a twenty-something lass from Switzerland, two middle-aged women from Australia, and two women from Serbia—plus our guide, Didi.
Didi is a male, adding to the Name Game quiz I’ll release one day with rules, regulations, and betting options.
The Weather Channel tells me rain is headed our way, but from my experience with rainy season, the sky pummels you for an hour or so, then gets bored and moves on to its next victim.
Reaching our first destination, the bride and groom are dropped off slightly ahead of us. They’re certified divers, unlike us wannabes, and head off to explore the worlds below.
With the sky overcast, the waters aren’t the picture-perfect azure I was hoping for. But who cares? I want to see fish in their own space—not in an aquarium and definitely not on my plate.
The waters are murky and the coral isn’t exactly what I’d call white. The lack of sun and the invasion of sea urchins are to blame. Nothing I can do about it, so I keep my head down and my eyes peeled. Didi excitedly points out a lionfish. Pretty dang cool. They look a lot less murky and much more vibrant in an aquarium, I must admit.
But so what? Here I am, in the wild, swimming with an exotic creature rare to see even in captivity. Murky water doesn’t make it less cool.
An array of small fish swims below us. I’d love to get closer, but I’m forced to wear a life jacket, which keeps me away from all the action.
Crazy as it seems, my floating device manages to get away from me. Not wanting to make a big to-do about it, I keep that fact to myself. With my eyes, ears, and nose immersed in the sea, my body relaxes into the flow below. How easily calm envelopes you—my breathing slows, my thoughts dissolve.
Completely suspended in real time. Euphoric.
Schools of fish moving in unison, clownfish weaving through their flowing houses, angelfish mingling with the blue ones, grumpy old blowfish making the rounds complaining about the sea urchin invasion. Talk about wonder. I’m enveloped in it.
Off in the distance, I hear a whale calling my name. What a wondrous sound from such a magnificent creature. Every time Shamu calls to me, he spouts water across my exposed back.
He’s getting louder and screechier—WTF?!
That’s no whale.
I lift my head above the surface.
OMG. It’s pouring, and the sound is Didi calling me to get out of the rain. My goggles are being pummeled, but I can see Miss Switzerland bobbing beside me. We look at each other and burst into hysterics.
We climb back into the boat, still giggling. No words exchanged, but we laugh in unison. The others fail to see the humor. Even as we sit shivering, drenched, and totally exposed to the torrents attacking us, we cannot stop laughing.
The rain subsides enough for us to disembark at a predetermined island lunch spot for a plate of Malay rice and curry chicken.
Didi explains that rain produces muddy runoff from the islands, making the reefs murky.
“Guys,” he says, “there probably won’t be much to see.”
The divers head back out. Cloud cover may darken the water, but rain creates little disturbance to the world below.
My snorkel buddies choose to stay dry and warm.
“Let’s do it, Didi,” I say, and off we go.
Best part ever. Didi shows me how to call the fish to me. What a simple gesture that will forever bring me joyous wonder.
So what if my photos aren’t as bright and shiny as the ones on brochures or influencer feeds?
So what if it rained—a lot?
So what if I froze my ass off on the boat ride back?
So what if it’ll never be in anyone’s Top Seven list?
It was a wondrous experience for me.
Buy Me a Glass of Wine →
