TRAVEL: Borneo - monkeys, mosquitoes and mud volcanoes

Borneo is not quite what I had expected. I guess I had envisioned somewhere like the Amazon or rural Argentina, where upon arrival, you're surrounded by jungle, and the only way to travel is by 4x4s only dirt roads. Instead, the city we began our journey in, Sandakan, was very much that - a city. 

Our first night was spent at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, far and away the largest hotel in the small city, and undoubtedly the one that most tourists stay at. Although pretty basic, it nonetheless had all the amenities you'd expect from a hotel. However, we did get brilliant views of the sea from both sides of the hotel, so whilst the TV lost connection whenever it rained, at least you could admire the scenery for a while. 

After checking in, we headed out to explore the town. Our first stop was the Central Market, where local fruits and produce were sold. It appeared that the stall keepers worked all day, as was evidenced by one man asleep in a produce trolley. However, I wasn't too keen to stay too long due to the distinctive aroma of dried fish, used as the base for many Malaysian dishes here.

We then headed off on the Sandakan Heritage Trail, which effectively took us all over the small city. Sight along the route included the William Prior Memorial, the hundred steps (wayyyyy more than a hundred steps), the Agnes Keith House, and a colourful Chinese temple. Some of the housing blocks along route looked pretty delapidated, but I think that was mainly to do with the climate, as mould had begun to grow on the outsides of the buildings, making it look quite like the abandoned Japanese island of Hashima.

Whilst not too exciting, the Trail offered a means to pass the afternoon and get out of the hotel. Once the sun had set, we went out in search of dinner, ending up at the Harbour Restaurant a short walk from our hotel. Menus here are confusing, and I can't say I have any idea as to what most of the things on the menu are, so either be adventurous and take a random pick or stick to what you know. Being vegetarian, and knowing most dishes here contained chicken or fish, I chose the latter and ended up with some vegetable fried rice. Over dinner, we were kept entertained by cats walking along the harbour wall, no doubt in search of dinner too. 

It was an early start the following morning, and after a quick breakfast we met our Trailfinders guide, Hilary, and minibus driver, Clarence. Our first visit was to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, where orphaned and injured orangutans are rehabilitated to hopefully be released back into the wild in later life. Walking along long wooden walkways, we first came to the 'teenager nursery' where some of the older orangutans, but still not ready to enter the jungle, come to play. We got some nice views of two teenagers, one of whom was quite a bit bigger than the other, who got very freaked out whenever it came near! 

At 10am, we walked over to the feeding area, with a surprise encounter along route with an orangutan walking along the walkway railing, which is probably the closest you're ever going to get to one. All the orangutans at Sepilok are named to help identify them, and this was was Cinta. The feeding itself was frenzied - not with orangutans, but with tourists, as it was completely packed. Thankfully the standing areas were tiered so it wasn't just a sea of cameras, and we were able to get a good view of the orangutan, Che, who came down for the feeding, completely ignoring all of the tourists. 

Leaving the Rehabilitation Centre, we drove another hour or so to Gomantong Caves, famous for the swiftling birds who nest inside, and whose nests are harvested four times a year to be sold to the Chinese who use them in anti-ageing soups. This certainly isn't a stop that all would enjoy. After donning hard hats, we walked again along long walkways before arriving at the cave. Inside, the ground was completely covered in cockroaches, and every step you took, handfuls of them would scuttle out of the way to avoid your shoe. I found it best to avoid looking down. 

Being a nesting site for both the swiftlings and bats, there was also a lot of guano (meaning the hardhats were useful for more than just rockfalls). Slipping over or holding handrails, therefore, were not options, as that mixed with the cockroaches is not something I'd like to encounter. Don't get me wrong, the cave was interesting, and looking up, you could see the birds and bats, as well as the implements workers use to extract the nests. However, I can also see how this would be some peoples idea of Hell. Be prepared. Personally, I'm glad we went, as it was an adventure, albeit a slightly creepy one. 

However, a benefit was that on the drive away from the Caves, we did see a flying lemur resting in the trees, a rare sight given that they are nocturnal animals. Whilst called flying lemurs, these mammals are in fact more closely related to flying squirrels, as you could see from their large skin flaps wrapped around the tree. 

A short drive brought us to our main destination, the Bilit Rainforest Lodge, which was reached by a 3 minute speedboat ride up the Kinabatangan River. This felt more like Borneo to me - we'd left the roads and were now in the jungle, hoping to see some of the region's unique wildlife. 

After a light buffet lunch, we headed out in one of the speedboats again for a river cruise, although it was less what you might imagine upon hearing the words 'river cruise' and instead more a wildlife spotting boat ride. This was wildlife done properly - not easy to spot and kept in enclosures, but spottable only by our regional guides. Over the course of the two hour trip, we saw various birds including eagles and hornbills, Macaque and Proboscis monkeys, with the latter famous for its overly large nose; a serpent, and in the final home stretch, finally an orangutan which got everyone on the boat very excited. Of course, we weren't up close and personal with these animals, but it was nice to see them in their natural habitat. 

Walking back to our lodge, we saw Macaque monkeys running under the building stilts. We were very much in the jungle, as evidenced again even when taking a shower, as the windows are left open (with bug nets of course) so you can hear the cicadas and other wildlife just on the other side. 

After dinner, we were back on the boat for another cruise, this time in the dark. This one was less successful than the afternoons, but we still saw some kingfishers and a baby crocodile. At one point, the pilot switched off the engine and we were given a few minutes to listen to the sounds of the jungle and gaze up at the stars, which was a pleasant way to end the evening. 

The following morning started off eventfully as I almost ran straight into a monkey on my way down to the jetty - I think we were both equally surprised. This cruise was a morning one, starting at 6:30am and taking us on a similar route to the day before, but this time also including an oxbow lake which was reached by a small tributary through an archway of trees. Again, the wildlife count wasn't great, and we only saw a few hornbills, herons, eagles and the same orangutan as yesterday afternoon, still sitting in its tree and eating. Nice of it not to move so we could get some more pictures though. 

This seemed to be the downtime day, and it wasn't until 11am that we set off again, this time to the small village which is right next door to the lodge. Personally, I found this excursion a bit dull, as we walked extremely slowly, as doing it at a normal pace would have mean we would have reached the other end of the village in under 5 minutes given that it was so close to the lodge and only contained about 5 houses. There also wasn't too much to see, with the commentary being along the lines of "This is a typical Bornean house. This is a tree. Here's another house," so I don't think we would have missed too much by staying home - but, you have to experience things to know what you'd be missing! 

The afternoon was very chilled - something I'm not a big fan of on trips as I like to be out there doing things, but we headed down to the jetty at 4pm for our final cruise. This was supposed to offer slightly different wildlife to previous trips, as this time we were going upstream. However, animals were far and few between, and we saw most of the same herons, hornbills and Proboscis monkeys that we'd seen on other excursions. I guess I'm more used to being inundated with wildlife when visiting countries famous for their ecosystems rather than seeing only a few over the course of a couple of hours. Nonetheless, the breeze that came with travelling in a speedboat offered a welcome break from the humid environment. 

Perhaps the most exciting element of the day was arriving back at the lodge and seeing three civit, which are cat like weasel creatures, hanging out near the dining room. Animals around the lodge, and indeed in this whole region of Borneo seem not to mind humans, I assume because boats and cameras have become an everyday part of life for them. 

The following day was without an early start as we had no morning cruise, and only had to be ready to leave by 9am. A two and a bit hour drive took us to Lahad Datu airport, which we would be returning to later in the week, where we swapped vehicles and made our way to Tabin Wildlife Reserve, driving slowly along bumpy roads. I was dismayed to see that most of the scenery enroute was palm plantations, which have almost completely taken over Borneo's landscape as palm oil is used in so many products. It's nice to know that at least a little of the rainforest remains intact in reserves such as Tabin.

Upon arrival at Tabin Wildlife Resort, we were presented with leaf crowns (an easy way to make the newcomers stand out), briefed of the activities we would be undertaking, told to pick out some Wellington boots for our time at the resort, and told to invest in a pair of leech socks which are effectively cotton stockings worn over socks which prevent leeches from crawling into your boot and biting your feet. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the shop they were all sold out with no new supplies for another two weeks. Guess we'd have to risk it. I've been bitten by leeches before and can assure you they're not that bad!

 Our main activity was a 2.9km trek to the Mud Volcano, which involved walking along the so-called 'Elephant Trail', as Tabin is one of the few places still home to the just 2000 Pygmy Elephants in Malaysia. Our guide began the hike with a safety briefing, notifying us that a guest had been killed by an elephant a few years ago, and flash photography was therefore not allowed as it may enrage any elephants we might see. 

The terrain was fairly okay to walk along, although very muddy at points (we were going to Mud Volcano) but the worst part was the heat. At 32'C and 100% humidity, clothes became saturated within minutes and we were advised to keep drinking water in order to replace all the water we were losing. This is the kind of reality that you don't see on orangutan documentaries and the like! 

Despite being a wildlife reserve, we didn't see any wildlife, except for the odd leech here and there. Even with leech socks, one member of our group managed to get a leech in his boot, and the guide himself got a leech in his trousers (wear zipped trousers, not buttoned!) Nevertheless, this felt more adventurous than our speed boat cruises of the day before as we wove our way through the jungle, the guide ahead whacking plants out of the way with his machete. 

We finally made it to Mud Volcano, which despite its name, is not a volcano but a distinctly waterlogged area, meaning that new mud is constantly being created and bubbles up to the surface. The result is a wide expanse of grey mud, some of it hardened and some less so. You had to watch your footing as stepping on the new mud could suck your foot right in to above the knee, which happened to one boy on the hike who then had to be hauled out by the armpits, thankfully with Wellington still intact. Still, I'd hate to be the one that had to clean that boot...

Like most natural mud, we were told that this too could provide a tightening facial, so I dipped my hand into one of the mud pools and smeared it over my face. Within a few minutes the mud had hardened, and the short truck ride back to the resort also helped with the cooling breeze. Following a (messy) shower, I can tell you that my skin does feel nice and soft.  

The night drive started out as a bit of a bust, as we only saw a few birds and some Civit for the majority of the trip. However, things started picking up once we turned onto a new road, and we spotted a black flying squirrel actually in flight which was pretty spectacular, a leopard cat (shortly scared away by one of the members of our group going "Wow!") and an angry looking owl. I guess I'd be angry too if I had a group of people staring at me and taking photos.

Our morning walk started at 6:30 which was a bit of a respite as the itinerary had stated that it would begin at 5:30am. I'll take any little victory. It was quite a short walk of only an hour, with the main attraction being the gibbons who reside in a tree close to the resort entrance. They have the most amazing call (Google it!) which was very pleasant to listen to, as was watching the gibbons swoop gracefully from tree to tree. They don't tend to walk, instead swinging their way along branches. 

The next activity was a trip to the Lipad Waterfall, which was reached by a drive in our open-bed truck and a 400m walk to the waterfall, although it felt much longer due to the terrain and the need to wade through the river and balance on slippy rocks. Thankfully no-one slipped as that wouldn't have been good for the cameras everyone was carrying. Upon arrival, we were given 30 minutes to swim in the waterfall, a much needed break from the humid Bornean weather. The braver of us also headed underneath the waterfall itself, although the water coming down was fairly vicious! A very enjoyable morning. 

In the early afternoon, we were invited to a foot soak, which first involved another mud face mask - I think I might have gone a bit over the top with the mud as I couldn't move any of my facial muscles by the time it had tightened! This was accompanied by resting our feet in a bowl of warm water mixed with various herbs and river stones meant to exfoliate, a much needed necessity after all our hiking. What was particularly great was the close encounter I had on the way back from the soak with a pig-tailed Macaque who was sat watching us as we walked by. 

This was followed by a long drive around the Reserve, the first half in the fading light before waiting for the sun to go down at the old Palm oil plantation before driving back in the dark. Whilst we waited, the creepiest sounding cicadas began their call (Google it and you'll see how weird they sound!) - it sounded like the type of thing you'd imagine to hear just before you die! We didn't see much wildlife in the three hours we were out with the exception of a sleeping Monitor lizard, but I did enjoy watching the fireflies swoop around the trees. Thankfully, we did see a bit more on our night hike, included a number of frogs (including one who played dead), some water skinks and a few sleepy birds. 

Borneo's wildlife is both weird and wonderful. As I was waiting to come down from my lodge on one of the nights, I heard what sounded like an angry dog barking outside my door. Realising that it was unlikely there would be dogs in the middle of the jungle, I thought it might be an irate monkey, but a cursory glance out of the window revealed nothing. Cautiously I left the building and finding no dangerous animals, walked down to the main area to ask our guide what it was. Turns out it was simply a large gecko - an unexpected answer! But things like this are part of the reason I love going to places like Borneo - who would have thought I'd find the world's scariest sounding gecko? 

After another uneventful morning hike at 6:30 the next morning, we hit the (bumpy) road to the tiny Lahad Datu airport for our hour long flight to Kota Kinabalu. This was very much a stopover destination before we travelled on so not much had been planned, but the travel agent had organised a city tour for us. This brought us to the state museum where we were able to learn more about Borneo's colonial history, a Heritage Village which showed the types of abodes local people used to live in, past some of Borneo's few tall buildings, and to the City Mosque, where we donned headscarves and were allowed to enter for a little while before prayers started. Our guide was quite friendly and even wanted to take selfies with us at various destinations around the city! It was then time for our final night in Borneo at the Hyatt Regency in town before wishing the region and its wildlife goodbye for the last time. 

My advice for Borneo: do not expect to be inundated with animals left, right and centre. This was my mistake, and it does lead to disappointment. Hopefully this blog has given you an idea of some realistic expectations of the wildlife you might see, but of course wildlife is unpredictable so you might be luckier - one group who had visited Sepilok the day before us saw 15 orangutans! Bring an eyemask and earplugs with you. Whilst the jungle might be outside whilst you're sleeping, that doesn't mean you won't hear it, and I have yet to visit a jungle lodge that has blackout curtains. If you want to avoid waking up before the early morning jungle walks, this is a must!

Let me know what you thought of this blog by contacting me on Twitter @CiarasCountry or by commenting below, and stay tuned for even more travel blogs coming soon! Was my description of Borneo what you would have expected, or have you had a different experience - I'd love to know, so please do get in touch!