Borneo Safari – 5 Suitcases

Our trip from Borneo to Bali was a long one – unfortunately.

2 hr delay leaving Denpasar
missing connection
second connection delayed 1 hr
no baggage on arrival into Kota Kinabalu (it was on the next flight)

After getting to bed around 1.30am, we were up at 5am for an early flight to Sandakan on the other side of Borneo.

It was a very quick flight and we flew by the amazing Mt Kinabalu – felt like we could almost touch it.

We arrived at Sandakan airport – dont forget to take your own toilet paper into the toilet – and travelled to our first stop Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre.

Nat (Tania’s sister) had worked there nearly 20 years ago and when 2 baby Orangutans were born she named them after her 2 sisters Tania and Britt. Tania unfortunately passed away, but we found Britt!!!

The adult orangutans go out into the trees during the day and they come back for feeding times. Our first stop was the adult feeding platform. We all sat and waited in silence and right on time a couple of orangutans came down for morning tea. Bunches of bananas. They so effortlessly with one hand ate the inside of a banana without peeling it, then tossed the skin.

Next stop the nursery. Cute baby orangutans, a lot more active than the adults. They seemed to prefer the easy to eat fruit like watermelon.

Then onto Sakau Rainforest lodge via boat. 2 hrs through the Sulu sea and into the Kinabatangan river. The longest river in the sabah region of Borneo.

Everyone was struggling to stay awake after little sleep the night before.

OMG it was hot! First call after putting our bags in the rooms was a swim in the pool – we were followed there by 3 Long Tail Macau’s. Very cute but very cheeky. They climbed on the roofs, up the trees and swung from branch to branch showing off as we all pointed and laughed at them.

In the afternoon we went on a river cruise in search of wildlife. The Borneo Big 5 – Orangutan, Proboscus Monkey, Pygmy Elephant, Crocodile and Rhinoceros Hornbill.

We were all very happy with our sightings!

Day 3

We set off at 6am for our first boat trip in search of more animals.

We saw an orangutan in the wild!! Very exciting but he was soon out of sight – so here I am looking for him in the tree.

Oriental Pied Hornbill

In the afternoon we went on a walk in the jungle – well, along a boardwalk, to see what we could see.

In 2011 Sir David Attenborough filed a special on Borneo staying in the lodge we stayed in and using this boat. It apparently was only used once and now sits here in the lodge.

We saw Bornean Gibbon, but he was too fast to photograph. They apparently can move through the trees at about 35km/hr

After some rest time in the afternoon we ventured out into the heat again for an afternoon cruise. So hot in the afternoon sun with lifejackets on.

Just when we were thinking of diving into the crocodile infested waters to cool off, someone yelled “there’s an Orangutan” and there he was hanging from the tree eating leaves right above our heads. Very lucky to see an Orangutan in the wild!!

We saw sooo many proboscis monkeys, on their way to find a safe spot to sleep for the night. We watched a family of about 20, babies, mothers and of course the alpha male jump from tree to tree for the perfect spot.

Abigail and Kate stayed at the lodge and got chased by monkeys – but seemed to have fun -maybe even made some friends!!

DAY 4

Today we had a sleep-in, breakfast and then the boat ride back to Sandakan.

We had another seamless flight on AirAsia, picked up cars and headed north for the 3 hour drive to Hibiscus Villa – with a grocery stop along the way.