Borneo Wildlife Trekking

[Safari Cal]

@@johnkok Might as well add a Rhino to the wish list while we're at it , it seems like all anyone finds these days is 'evidence' that they're still around in the wild, which at least indicates that there's still hope for them. I was hoping/praying for Clouded Leopard at Easter, but alas... next trip maybe.

 

@@kittykat23uk I'd love to see a wild sumatran tiger, but it might mean camping out in the rainforest for a few months, and my boss might have something to say about that!!!

[SafariChick]

@@kittykat23uk thanks for that link - sounds like a great trip! @@Safari Cal @@johnkok Sure, clouded leopard would be great too! Can't we all find a way to quit our jobs and just travel the world searching for these beautiful animals?

[Safari Cal]

Can't we all find a way to quit our jobs and just travel the world searching for these beautiful animals?

Yes please, you can count me in, I have a plan that's going to be implemented the day I win the Euromillions!!!

[johnkok]

 

Can't we all find a way to quit our jobs and just travel the world searching for these beautiful animals?

Yes please, you can count me in, I have a plan that's going to be implemented the day I win the Euromillions!!!

 

If you do, can I quit my job and come work for you? :-)

[Atravelynn]

Thanks for the info, Safari Cal.

[johnkok]

@@Safari Cal

Having been inspired by your trip report and our GTG with @@laurab, we have had Luca put together a trip for us - arriving Sandakan 30 May. Didn't think of boating all the way from Sandakan via Abai as you suggested above though. Maybe next time.

[Safari Cal]

@@johnkok Can't wait to hear how it goes, I'm so jealous

[johnkok]

@@johnkok Can't wait to hear how it goes, I'm so jealous

Well it's thanks to you and Laura. Jill and I are already getting worked up over the upcoming adventure

[SafariChick]

I'm jealous too @@johnkok !

 

@@Safari Cal I am curious about the palm oil plantations that were mentioned briefly. Everything I hear makes it sound as though those that build them and run them act horribly towards the forest and wildlife. I've even read things about them purposely killing orangutans in horrible ways so they can cut down the trees and have read that there is much illegal activity. Can you shed any light on any of this from having seen it first hand? Maybe these issues are not so much in Sabah but more in Kalimantan, I'm not sure.

[johnkok]

@@SafariChick It is homo sapiens and money. Where there is a lot of one or the other, or as in this case both, havoc and destruction cannot be far behind. I have not followed it for quite a while but back in the 80's, I knew a broad rule of thumb. If the palm oil price was above 800 or so (in whatever currency and weight units they routinely trade palm oil at - I think its Ringgit per tonne), the oil palm plantation would just about make money and everybody made a decent living. The price these days is some distance north of 2,000 (I recall someone telling me it has been this way for more than 10 years). There are lots of rural farmers who gave up on farming and became plantation people as part of very large collectives and rode this into the comfortable middle class. Large swaths of land are oil palm plantations - in Malaysia and Indonesia, I believe currently the two biggest producers in the world. The demand for palm oil continues to increase. I hear many African nations are interested in getting into this too.

 

As I tell all my friends and acquaintances who ask - safari - go sooner rather than later. I am not an optimist on this issue. Humans - large scale viruses on the face of this planet, and money - that which pumps up this voracious virus to devour every last piece of this planet. I'm sure there are pockets of light and optimism but I reckon they are the exceptions that prove the rule.

 

So - all the fantastic places with wonderful wildlife - go visit them now, go sooner rather than later.

 

On the other hand, there's a school of thought which points at the history and cultures of the peoples of Central America and those of South America. They argue strongly that elements of "slash and burn" techniques were practiced in the Amazon jungles for thousands of years before outsiders set eyes on it, and that this created the ecological system which sustained both humans and the wildlife which flourishes there.

 

So who knows? As Zhou Enlai was famously quoted as saying when asked by Henry Kissinger about the French Revolution - "It's too soon to tell".

 

I'll stick with what I know. Go sooner rather than later.

Edited May 24, 2013 by johnkok

[SafariChick]

I see you edited your reply @@johnkok - the first part made me so sad, I felt almost hopeless, but the part you added made me feel a bit more sanguine. I think that we humans have become more destructive than in the past though, and more likely your first part is the real story. Listening to stories about gloabal warming is also depressing. Glad I"m going to Alaska before the glaciers are gone. Sigh. You're right - we should go sooner rather than later, but also try to do what we can to change things in these places we love ...

[Safari Cal]

Hi @@SafariChick, to set the scene it's probably best to put things into perspective:

 

The Mara-Serengeti ecosystem is around 18,000km2, a pretty large area roughly the size of a small country such as Wales or twice the size of Yellowstone. The area of Borneo covered by oil palm plantations is around 25,000km2! This lends a bit of perspective on the scale of the oil palm development in Borneo, it's hard to imagine converting an area twice the size of Yellowstone into a plantation through a process of ripping out or burning the existing flora and removing an ecosystem that is suitable for roughly 80 mammals and replacing it with one which is suitable for approximately 12. Added to this are the access roads that are created by the land owners to allow not only the plantation workers to access their crop, but also as an unintended byproduct to enable poachers to access areas that it wouldn't have been possible to access previously.

 

So your question, what did I witness? To be honest, my visit to Borneo didn't allow me to see in any illegal activities being carried out. As an example, Tabin is located within a heavily planted oil palm area whilst the reserve itself consists mainly of regenerating secondary rainforest, with only a virgin core area. The road from the lodge to the main road runs along the border between rainforest and plantation to the reserve gate after which you travel through plantation for the main part of the journey. I understand from research and conversations with guides that there is illegal encroachment on areas that are not allocated for oil palm plantation and that in certain instances animals have been harmed to enable the land grab to occur.

 

Rather than pass on any more second hand knowledge, could I point you in the direction of a fantastic iTunes U Masters of Photography video on this subject, called 'Borneo: Paradise under Siege', where Mattias Klum talks about the two sides of Borneo The Dream and The Reality, it really is worth watching, although quite disturbing in places.

 

I agree with @@johnkok, as I was informed that around the wider Danum area the land was parcelled and given to government employees upon their retirement. Realising the price of palm oil was rising they formed collectives and cleared vast areas of land to cash in. It is incredibly disheartening to see palm oil plantations stretching as far as the eye can see into the distance, and quite heartbreaking when you actually experience primary rainforest and realise the plantations used to be like this. As John intimates, where there's a profit there are always going to be unscrupulous people, those whose morale compass has broken or points only in the direction of more profit at any cost. I do understand that people need to make a living though, but there must be a balance surely.

 

Through the work of Infrapro, a reforestation programme is being implemented successfully in the wider Danum area but as far as the fauna is concerned it's a slow process. Studies indicate that where land has been reclaimed from the plantations, regenerating rain forests support around 30 mammals; far short of the original 80 but an improvement on the 12 typically found in plantations. It is apparent that where rainforest borders plantations certain species thrive, such as the aptly named palm civet, and also the Leopard Cat. The human population brings in the small rodents, which brings in the small predators - owls, raptors, snakes, small cats - so in these interface areas you do see a lot because the palm areas are more open than the plantation, but the animals return to the rainforest after their hunting forays.

 

It's hard to imagine Borneo losing so many mammal species for good if he plantations were to continue to expand, but the reality is that it could happen eventually! It's so sad to think that when my Grandson grows up he may not be able to experience the amazing things that I have and may have to rely on books and films to see what the world used to be like. A sad thought! As John says, go sooner rather than later!

Edited May 24, 2013 by Safari Cal

[SafariChick]

Thanks for the reply @@Safari Cal - I will check that out.

[Safari Cal]

@@SafariChick I hope you find it interesting, it will answer most of your questions I think.

[TonyQ]

@@Safari Cal

Thanks for a really interesting report (sorry to get to it late)

Inspiring pictures and lots of practical detail to help plan

Its looking like Borneo or Pantanal for the next trip- difficult choice!

[Safari Cal]

Hi @@TonyQ, we're just about to fire off our email to Luca at Naturalis for Easter 2014. We're heading back to Danum Valley first for more of a wildlife experience with private guide this time and then to the Kinabatangan River for stays at Sukau and Abai before travelling back to KK via Sandakan. Third year on the trot to Sabah for us and it's starting to become a bit of an annual pilgrimage. We head to Danum first to get the sweating out of the way and then to the Kinabatangan for the cool breeze as you travel along the river by boat.

 

I read the Martin and Osa Johnson's books about Africa and Borneo some time ago and it's so cool to be able to visit the places they visited all those years ago, especially Abai which is where they set up their camp. I'm a bit of a nerd about it though, as well as the books on my shelf, as you walk in my front door the first thing you see is a framed poster with a photo of Osa Johnson advertising her book "I Married Adventure". If you have any questions about Sabah please drop me a line.

 

I can't recommend Borneo enough, but like you the Pantanal is on my list too, as is Svalbard, Antarctica, Sri Lanka.......

[Game Warden]

So @@Safari Cal - Martin and Osa Johnson? Have you searched their names on ST?

[Safari Cal]

Hi @@Game Warden, just did a quick search and found an amazing amount of information about them. I'll check it out in more detail tomorrow, thanks for letting me know

[TonyQ]

@@Safari Cal

You are a good advertisement for Borneo!
How many nights are you spending at each place in 2014? -you said you would have liked to have spent more time at Danum.

I know how you Scottish body coped with heat and humidity (MrsQ is Scottish) - how does your camera equipment cope?

You have convinced us it is worth getting a private guide + that it is worth contacting Luca!

 

We regularly discuss Svalbard but it has not come out top of the list yet. For us Antarctica is too much travel (especially over open sea!)

We went to Sri Lanka (quite a while ago - pre Tsunami) and really liked it. Beautiful island, fascinating culturally, good food, some good wildlife (We visited Yala, and somewhere in the middle of the island (can't check at the moment) with large numbers of wild elephants. Its very easy to travel round independently

 

Thanks for the information and inspiration

Edited October 17, 2013 by TonyQ

[kittykat23uk]

@@Safari Cal @@TonyQ Am seriously considering adding Borneo on to India in June. I hear June is a good time to go price-wise and return flights from Mumbai to KK seem pretty reasonable. Still I expect the cost of the trip will be huge as I would also like to visit Tabin, Sukau, and Danum Valley as well as Kinabalu park and possibly Sepilok. Got an itinerary sketched out but am waiting on prices right now.

[Safari Cal]

Hi @@TonyQ, We just fired off our email to Luca tonight. The plan is to spend 1 night in KK at the Hyatt, catch the early flight to Lahad Datu next morning for transport to Danum for 4 nights with our own guide, we then overland transfer to Sukau for 2 nights staying right on the Kinabatangan River, then boat trip down the river to spend 2 nights at Abai. On the final morning we head out of the Kinabatangan back to Sandakan by boat for lunch at the Sabah Hotel. Catch the afternoon flight back to KK for overnight at a nice hotel.

 

The camera equipment has never been a problem - so far. I never change lenses out in the rainforest and I carry 2 bodies, one with 100mm macro and the other with my 100-400mm, although for this trip I'm taking my 1DX and 300/2.8 with extenders. I take a waterproof cover for when the rain hits but apart from that the cameras (1D Mk3 and 7D) have coped really well with the heat and humidity. My Macbook Air had no issues in both Danum and on the Kinabatangan.

 

Expect to have neck ache though as nearly all the wildlife is in the trees at height and you're constantly looking up! It's well worth the aches and pains

 

We're thinking of heading to Sri Lanka later in 2014, or early 2015, but nothing decided yet.

[Safari Cal]

Hi @@kittykat23uk That's a lot of travel. If you have to drop anything on the Borneo leg for me it would be Sepilok. Tabin and Danum involve flights to Lahad Datu and we enjoyed visiting both locations. Tabin was great for Gibbons and Flying Squirrels especially, but we're giving it a miss this time so we can add a day each to Danum and the Kinabatangan. I love Sukau, the Oxbow lakes are awesome and the sightings start almost as soon as the boat leaves the jetty, and if you're lucky sometimes even before you get on the boat. Great macro shots are possible on the boardwalks at night as loads of insects are attracted to the lights.

 

I've never been to Kinabalu NP, but have mentioned to Laura that I'd like to see what it has to offer on one of our visits.

 

Hope you manage to make it all work and have a great time

[Safari Cal]

Luca just informed us that since June there are 2 charter flights landing daily at KK from mainland China. Go sooner rather than later things are changing! He says lots of noise and littering in KK these days. But the majority will stay on the KK side for the resorts like Rasa Ria. Once you're out in the rainforest it should be ok.

[TonyQ]

@@Safari Cal

Thanks for the detail - sounds like a great trip you are planning (and thanks for camera protection info!)

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks @@Safari Cal. I am ambivalent about including Sepilok. I would rather see orangutan in the wild tbh. But will I feel I've missed out if I don't go? The itinerary has one flight back from Lahad datu I think, and road transfer for the other longer journeys. Still waiting for a price. From what I have seen of other tours, Borneo seems very expensive. Any thoughts on how to get best value there?