Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

I've just been looking at pictures of Will and Kate at Danum Valley in Sabah, Borneo. This is a place we have visited several times, mostly on official business. One of the photos shows one of our friends, entirely suitable that he'd be one of the people there on the day; he is one of the most erudite polymaths I have ever met. I've been to the treetops with him (oo err Missus!) and had him point out creatures, and more often birds, that I would never have seen myself. Will and Kate were so lucky to have him as a guide! I hope they saw mouse deer amongst other things.

On the road in to Danum Valley one time we saw a pile of fresh elephant dung, the nearest we got to seeing one of the forest elephants. Nobody knows whether these are truly indigenous beasts or whether they are the descendants of escaped elephants, apparently some broke free from the Sultan of Brunei's control in about the 16th century.

I have vivid memories of tracking down forest elephants in Borneo. We eventually came across about six shadowy giants in the mist. Fantastic.

I well remember piles of elephant dung (fascinating to an 8-year old) in the forests of Malaysia but we never saw a wild elephant; did they really exist there? Bristol Zoo has mouse deer but I've never seen one in the wild. What a lovely part of the world this is; I lived in Singapore for 20 months as a child but went to school much of the time in Malaysia which is where we went both for day trips and for holidays. I've always loved going back.