Being passionate about wildlife and nature, Borneo is a place we’d dreamed of visiting for a while, and were very excited to be able to include on our trip. Borneo is home to many rare species of animal, but most notably the ‘big 5’: the orangutan, the pigmy elephant, the proboscis monkey, the hornbill and the salt water crocodile. There are various places to see these amazing animals throughout Borneo, but for our trip we narrowed it down to two popular spots: Pankalan Bun (in Indonesia) or the Kinabatangan river (in Malaysia). We decided on the Malaysian side, meaning some rather tricky flights to get there from Bali via Kuala Lumpur (and accidentally voiding our 60 day tourist visa in the process!). However, this would give us the best chance of seeing both wild orangoutangs and Pygmy elephants (both endangered) as well as the rest of the big five.

Day 1

We arrived a day early for our tour, giving us time to get the 2 separate flights from Bali and check into to the nearby Nature Lodge Sepilok for a good nights sleep. On the first day of the tour we were picked up at 9am and taken to the nearby orangutan sanctuary. We were introduced to our guide, Jamaidi (or Jumanji as he jokingly calls himself) who was going to be with us for the duration of our trip. On arrival we watched a short film explaining the orangutan rehabilitation process, and the invaluable work done at the sanctuary to help get these beautiful, orphaned animals back into the wild.

We were then led to a nursery where we could see younger orangutans playing on ropes and swings. It was amazing to see them interacting with each other with such human mannerisms, and you could instantly see why they are such an iconic animal for Borneo and why there are such huge efforts to try and save them and their natural habitat. Next we went to a feeding platform where we saw a mother and baby eating fruit up close, before they were disturbed by a group of cheeky macaques!

We then headed next door to the sun bear sanctuary where we saw a small group feeding below a raised walkway. Sun bears are the worlds smallest bear species, distinguished by their bright yellow markings on their chest. Unfortunately they have become vulnerable due to their popularity for Chinese ‘Medicine’ as well as being displaced by rainforest logging like many animals endemic to Borneo. We watched as they ate fruit and snuffled around for bugs and grubs on the forest floor.

After a quick lunch at Sandakan Hotel we headed to the jetty and boarded our boat for the 2.5 hour journey along the Kinabatangan River to the Sukau Rainforest Lodge. The lodge is part of the national geographic ‘iconic lodges of the world’ and was visited by Sir David Attenborough in 2011 where he filmed one of his many wildlife documentaries. You receive a small book on arrival detailing the incredible story of how this eco lodge was created by Albert Teo in the early 1990’s.

Sukau was one of the first efforts in eco tourism in Borneo - combining responsible wildlife tours with a sustainable, low impact hospitality. The land would most likely have become a plantation had it not been bought for eco-tourism purposes, making it an important landmark in what is left of the precious Borneo rainforest. It is now a multi-award winning resort attracting wildlife lovers from all over the world. The lodge itself is tastefully designed from local materials, and has an amazing restaurant and a nice pool to cool off from the humid jungle climate.

After checking into our very comfortable room we headed out for a 5pm boat cruise along the nearby river to spot wildlife. After scanning the riverbanks and trees we managed to spot proboscis monkeys (famous for their huge bulbous noses!), hornbills and a group of small macaque monkeys.

As the sun was setting and it approached time to head back, our guide told us that there were a herd of pigmy elephants very close to our lodge. We sped back hoping to catch them before it got too dark. As we arrived it was pretty difficult to see them, but eventually a groups of about 5 appeared in a small clearing. Unfortunately it was too dark to get photographs, but we were still thrilled to be so close to such a rare animal. Our guide told us there would hopefully be better chances to see them again, so we headed back to the lodge for the first of many tasty buffet meals. Excited to be surrounded by all the wildlife, we opted for a quick night tour where we got to see sleeping birds in the trees and even a couple of flying foxes.

Day 2

The following day we were up at 5.30am, and after a quick coffee we boarded our boat and set out again along the river to see what wildlife we could spot. We headed to an oxbow lake where we saw a variety of monkeys, a sunbathing monitor lizard and a huge hornets nest. Being the first boat there meant we had it all to ourselves! Jamaidi was fantastic at spotting the most hidden animals, and used a new electric outboard engine (very quiet) so we could hear all the surrounding wildlife without an noise disruption. It was a great start to the second day.

After lunch we had another 4pm evening cruise. This is where we finally managed to spot our first wild adult orangutan feeding in the top of a tall tree. We stopped to watch for 15-20 minutes as she munched on berries. It was a truly wonderful moment, and one that we had looked forward to for a very long time!

After success with the orangutan, Jamidi was on a mission to find us a salt water crocodile. Knowing where to look, he spotted a small croc lurking in a small tributary just off the river bank. We watched as he slowly glided past us, very close to the boat, with his eyes and teeth on show just above the water. It was at that moment we were all pretty relieved it wasn’t much bigger!

As we headed back we spotted more proboscis monkeys, a gold-ringed cat snake hiding in a tree, and a tiny bright-blue kingfisher. Jamidi then got wind that the elephants had returned very close to the lodge, and so he rushed us back to try our luck once again. Unfortunately when we got there they had just disappeared into the tall grass. Jamidi was probably more disappointed than us, but after a minute or two he spotted a large male partially hidden on the banks. The moment was very short lived but we had about a 20 second sighting, which was exciting way to finish another epic day of nature spotting.

Day 3

We were so excited to see a wild orangutan the day before that we felt anything would be a bonus on our third day. However, as we were finishing up our coffee at 5.15 am Jamaidi shouted over to us and told us to hurry into the boat as the pigmy elephant herd had been spotted again near the lodge, and were crossing the river! We quickly jumped into our boat and headed up to where they were sighted.

To our delight we arrived just in time to see a group of pigmy elephants who had just crossed the river! Jamidi told us to look the other side and we saw the remaining herd of about 15 elephants waiting on the river bank, ready to cross. It was an incredibly rare sighting, and we watched in amazement as they swam across in convoy with their trunks held above the water. We watched them chomp and barge their way up the river bank, and waited for the final stubborn male, determined to find his own route through, eventually give up joined the rest of the herd.

After watching them for around 20 minutes they disappeared into the dense forest, and Jamidi continued our morning tour to a small tributary river. With the quiet electric motor it was very peaceful after an exciting morning. We slowly drifted along, spotting a few hornbills, including the pre-historic looking crested hornbill. We then came across a tree filled with around 20 small macaques - some as young as a few weeks. We spent around 20 minutes watching the babies learn from the elders and test their balancing skills just above our heads. We then headed back to the lodge for breakfast, and spent a bit of time cooling off in the shaded pool.

Next on the agenda was a visit to the gongmatong cave. Home to an estimated 3 million bats and around 2 million swallows, the caves are famous for the mass evacuation every evening where they all go to feed, making an incredible visual spectacle in the sky. To get there we took a short boat ride before boarding a mini bus. We drove past the numerous palm oil plantations - sadly there are many in the area, an upsetting but complicated issue. After a little while the jungle got denser, and to our suprise Jamidi spotted a juvenile orangutan high up in one of the tall trees. We watched as he collected leaves and branches to make his nest for the night.

After arriving at the park entrance we were shown a display of the incredibly valuable swallow nests that Chinese poachers steal to make the supposedly medicinal ‘birds nests soup, (made from the birds saliva and worth thousands!). We then headed along a forest boardwalk arriving at the cathedral-like cave entrance. We put on hardhats and masks and slowly walked inside along another boardwalk past the mountain of bat droppings (guarno) with cockroaches and bugs scurrying under our feet. It was certainly a test for our stomachs! We carefully progressed along the boardwalk, with Jamidi illuminating birds nests, hanging bats and giant centipedes with his torch as we went.

As we looped around to exit the cave, we were told to keep a look out above us as bats had begun to exit from a cave opening in the cliff. We watched as a few bats began tentatively leaving the cave, before thousands began winding their way out creating amazing flowing trails of black speckles in the sky. We noticed hawks circle and swoop down to catch an unlucky bat or two for dinner. As the sun set and it started to get dark it was time to head back to the lodge for what was, sadly, our last evening of the tour.

Day 4

On our last day we woke a little later at 7:30am and had a leisurely before boarding our boat back along the river to Sandakan. It was sad to leave but we felt truly privileged to see so many amazing animals in the wild. After arriving we had an early lunch at the Sabah Hotel before visiting the nearby Sandakan War Memorial museum. We learned about the terrible conditions British and Australian prisoners of war were kept in by the Japanese in a camp during the early 1940’s. It was hard-hitting, and revealed the huge sacrifice and suffering both the POWs and locals endured as well as the harrowing Sandakan Death Marches.

Our next and final stop was the Rainforest Research Centre. We hadn’t expected much based on the name sounding a bit dry, but we were presently surprised to find it was actually a really well built series of high canopy walkways woven amongst a stretch of dense and wildlife-filled natural rainforest. We spotted another orangutan mother and baby who were making a new nest to sleep in. The orangutang mother and her baby was yet another testament to the excellent work carried out at the rehabilitation centre.

As it got dark we were told to keep watch of the large bird boxes up in the trees as there where flying squirrels. One poked his head out before climbing to the very top of the tree before leaping with its winged arms and paragliding over our heads to another tree below. It was quite surprising how far they could glide - probably at least 30 meters! We then walked back to the Nature Lodge Sepilok for an early night after. We felt tired but incredibly lucky after an amazing 4 day tour with more wildlife spotting and nature experiences than we could have ever hoped.

You don’t always get lucky on these types of trips. Being reliant on the weather, your group, your guide and of course, a bit of luck, all mean you can’t guarantee you’ll get the experience you want. For us, we couldn’t have asked for better on all accounts. Our group, Greg & Catherine, Kate & Alister and our wonderful guide Jamidi had so much energy, enthusiasm and passion for the natural world, and it was a pleasure to share these amazing experiences with them. With the fantastic Sakau Eco Lodge as our base, a well-oiled itinerary, and an added bit of luck, it made for the most perfect wildlife experience. Although it was more expensive and much more effort to get to than other spots, for us, it was 100% worth it.