The Kinabatangan River
The Kinabatangan river located in the state of Sabah on the island of Borneo and is probably the most remote place I have ever visited and will be hard to beat as one of the top places I’ve been to. Most people come to the Kinabatangan river with the hope of seeing the Borneo Big 5; Orangutan, Pygmy Elephant, Proboscis Monkey, Rhinoceros Hornbill and the Crocodile.
The Borneo Big 5
We booked this through a local travel agent and they used Borneo trail tours and travel to hire a guide and driver for us. We were picked up from our accommodation in Sepilok by our driver and were introduced to our guide (which we didn’t realise we had booked!), who would spend the next three days with us on the Kinbatangan River. We booked the 3D 2N package on the Kinbatangan River which is the most popular option, but shorter or longer options are available. The packages include a morning and afternoon river cruise each day, all meals and accommodation.
We were driven from Sepilok to the jetty, stopping on the way for the toilet, to get petrol and some drinks and snacks. After 2.5 hours on the road, we arrived at Sukau public jetty where a boat was waiting to take us to our accommodation, Borneo nature lodge. We were unsure about how our suitcases were going to fit on the boat but there was plenty of room for them.
Borneo nature lodge is smaller than the other accommodation in the area and has a maximum capacity of around 28 people at one time. This meant that when we went out on our river cruises there were less people per boat that other boats on the water. We had maximum 6 people plus 2 guides on our boat and sometimes we were the only people on the boat with our guide. This made our river cruises more enjoyable as we had room to move on the boat and get a better view of the wildlife. There was only about 15 - 18 people staying at BNL during the time that we were there. They also have a viewing platform that you can climb up to watch birds and other wildlife.
Within 2 minutes of arriving at Borneo nature lodge and stepping off the boat, we saw an Orangutan feasting on a fruit tree right above our heads and the walkway to the main area of BNL! We couldn’t believe that we had been an Organutan so soon after arriving at BNL! There were also macaque monkeys roaming around the grounds and another Orangutan sighting outside our room the next day.
After all the excitement of seeing an Orangutan, we were greeted by the staff and offered a welcome drink, asked about dietary requirements and were shown to our room. Once we were settled into our room, it was time for our 1st river cruise at 4pm! Within 10 minutes of being on the boat, our guide got word from other boat that there was an elephant in the area. The driver turned the boat round and sped through the river for around 5 minutes until we slowed down and slowly approached the elephant on the side of the river bank! We managed to spend about 10 minutes observing the elephant until more boats turned up, we left when more boats arrived as not to scare the elephant. All the boats turn their engines off when near the animals to not scare them.
The Orangutan at BNL when we arrived!
On our first river cruise along with the elephant, we were also lucky enough to see Oriental Pied Hornbills, Kingfisher, Proboscis monkeys, Long-tailed Macaques, Black and Red Broadbills, Igret, Storm Stork and a Serpent Eagle.
NOTE: Make sure you take something to cover any cameras/electronics. It started raining when we were searching for the elephants and by rain, I mean torrential! We were absolutely soaked but the rain didn’t last long and we soon dried off in the heat, but we needed to ensure our cameras and electronic devices were covered.
We arrived back to BNL a couple of hours later and dinner was almost ready. We had an hour to rest in our room and then we headed to the dining room for dinner. The food was served buffet style with many options to choose from. There was always a meat or fish dish as well as a vegetarian option, along with rice, vegetables and other sides. We also had a different dessert each day along with fresh fruit, the food was delicious. After a long day we headed back to our room with our alarms set for 5am ready for our morning cruise!
The next morning we were up and ready to go by 5:45am for our morning cruise at 6am. Each morning in the dining area there was tea, coffee and toast available from 5:30am in case guests wanted something to eat and drink before the river cruise. We decided to wait until we had come back from our morning cruise to enjoy breakfast.
One of the many tributaries along the Kinabatangan River
On our first morning cruise we managed to find a mother and baby Orangutan feasting on a durian fruit tree, We were able to watch them for around 20 minutes before setting off to see what other wildlife we could find. We were out on the river for 2.5 hours and saw lots more wildlife, we then headed back to BNL for breakfast.
After breakfast, our guide took us for a 30 minute jungle walk in the area surrounding BNL. We made sure to cover our arms and legs because the guide said there are lots of mosquitoes and there were! Our guide found elephant dung and elephant footprints on our walk and took us to see a strangler fig tree. A strangler fig tree starts by growing onto another tree and fights for the sunlight. The roots of the tree grow downwards and slowly strangle the tree it originally started growing on. Over time the other tree dies from lack of sunlight and nutrients and the strangler fig tree becomes hollow.
Once back at our room we had a quick shower (we were very sweaty!), had our lunch and set off on the afternoon river cruise. Again, we saw a lot of wildlife and this was possibly my favourite trip. We saw a family of 30-40 Long-Tailed Macaques finding a place in the tree on the riverside to settle down for the night. It was so lovely watching the older members of the family along with the younger monkeys and babies interacting with each other, feeding and grooming each other. On this river cruise we also saw 2 more Orangutans finding shelter in a palm tree!
We returned, relaxed in our room, got ready for dinner and then went on our first night cruise at 8pm. To be quite honest, I was scared for most of this cruise (lol), it was pitch black out on the river and I couldn’t stop thinking about the possible crocodiles next to the boat! I eventually calmed my nerves and was able to enjoy the wildlife the guide managed to spot. On this cruise we were able to finally find a crocodile, albeit a baby one in the shallow waters in a tributary. The guide managed to find the smallest bird or snake using his torch from the other side of the river, the skills that both the guide and driver had at finding wildlife was incredible. Being on the river at night and away from any light pollution meant we were able to see so many stars in the sky and even captured the Milky Way on my phone camera! After that nerve racking couple of hours we made it back to our room and went to sleep.
On our final morning we had our morning river cruise at 6am, came back for breakfast, packed up all our things and were taken back to Sukau public jetty where a car was waiting for us to go to Sandakan airport. As part of our package we stopped off at Gomatong Caves, a 30 minute drive from the jetty. Gomatong caves are a complex of limestone caves which is home to many creatures and is well known for bird nests, a delicacy in asian cooking. Another family at BNL had warned us about the smell in the caves so we came prepared with a makeshift make to put round our noses and mouths. The smell was very strong, I can’t even describe what the smell was like. The cave thankfully has a wooden boardwalk as the floor of the cave is covered in cockroaches and other insects including the long-legged millipede and small crabs!
In Gomatong caves you will find Black Nest and White Nest Swiftlets. These birds make their nests on the walls and ceilings of the caves using their saliva. The bird nests are different colours depending on the bird e.g. the Black Nest Swiftlets make black bird nests and the White Nest Swiftlets make white bird nests. Many people come here illegally to harvest the nests and sell them on for a lot of money.
After our smelly and sweaty visit to the caves we made our way to Sandakan airport and said goodbye to our fantastic guide.
Everything we saw on the Kinbatangan River:
4 Orangutans sighting, seeing a total of 6 Orangutans
2 Pygmy Elephants
Long-tailed macaques
Pig-tailed macaques
Proboscis monkey
Salt water crocodile
Oriental Pied Hornbill
Wrinkled Hornbill
Black and red Broadbill
Igret
Storm Stork
Serpent Eagle (junvenvile and adult)
White bellied sea eagle
Purple Heron
Snake Bird
White breasted water Hern
Tailor Bird
Bronze Speckled Snake
Sabah grizzled Langur
Grasshopper
Winged stick insect
Large flying fox
Fire flies
Some more images from my trip
