Borneo 2015

[Petter Sverke]

Thought I might start doing trip reports for all my travels since I started with wildlife travel.

First up is Borneo back in 2015.
I travelled in March and was away for about 2 weeks in the state of Sabah, located in the most northern part of Malaysian Borneo.

I flew from Stockholm early morning and via Doha and Kuala Lumpur I finally arrived in Kota Kinabalu around lunchtime the day after.
I was taken to a nice hotel in the middle of the city to relax a bit before going on a tour of the city and trying the infamous Durian fruit which was surprisingly tasty given it's smell.

 

Next morning was an early one as I was going to catch my flight to Lahad Datu.

After flying for around an hour with views of Mount Kinabalu along the way I was taken on a 2-hour journey by road to the Borneo Rainforest Lodge in the Danum Valley Conservation Area, one of the largest lowland rainforest areas left in Southeast Asia.

Along the way we encountered a lone Southern pig-tailed macaque.

The lodge was great and provided excellent service during my stay. Probably the best lodge I have ever stayed at actually. It is situated right by the Danum river and offers great views of the surrounding forest and I was immediately greeted with a pair of Rhinoceros hornbills flying over the forest with Blue-throated bee-eaters ever present around the lodge. 

After exploring the surroundings by myself for a bit it was finally time for my first guided excursion that started already at the entrance hall with a giant Rhinoceros beetle just by the water-refilling station. By some margin the biggest insect I had ever seen.

After trekking through the jungle for a while with a fleeting glimpse of a Bornean crested fireback we came across a couple of Maroon langurs and after watching them for a bit the guide told as that an Orangutan had been spotted nearby and after a fast walk we arrived and it turned out to be a mother Orangutan with it's 4-year old offspring.

Although they were quite high up in the canopy it still remains as one of the best wildlife encounters I have ever had.

After a while the young one became a little curious and came down a bit to get a better look at us and I managed to take at least some photographs if not very good ones.

Jubilant we went back to the lodge for dinner which was interrupted by some Sambar deers walking by next to the lodge.
After dinner it was time for a night drive with the highlight being a Philippine slow loris. A fantastic first day in the rainforest! To be continued...

 

Southern pig-tailed macaque

Rhinoceros beetle (Chalcosoma sp.)

Maroon langur

4-year-old Bornean orangutan

Edited July 13 by Petter Sverke

[michael-ibk]

A great start Petter, looking forward to this!

[Petter Sverke]

Next morning as every other morning in Danum Valley we woke up to the sounds of the gibbons calling while the mist was rising above the forest canopy.
Before breakfast we went to the canopy walkway that's quite close to the lodge to fully appreciate the sights and sounds of the early morning.
After breakfast it was time for the most challenging walk of our stay as we where going to walk quite far uphill to a viewpoint of the surrounding forest. During the walk we first encountered another troop of Maroon langurs, they were gonna prove to be quite a common sight throughout or stay here.
After trekking a bit further we finally managed to locate the gibbons, the species found in this part of Borneo are called Eastern grey gibbon.
Unfortunately they were really high up in the canopy and we only managed to get a fleeting glimpse of one swinging through the trees every now and then. Not ideal for photography.
We finally managed to make it up to the viewpoint and it was surely worth it with views of lowland rainforest as far as the eye could see.
On our way down the hill we encountered a flying lizard (Draco sp.) although we didn't see it fly.
Our guide then took us to see an ancient burial site of a tribe that used to live here centuries ago.
During the afternoon we went on an easier walk close to the lodge which at first was quite uneventful until our guide told as that yet another orangutan had been spotted. We rushed to the site and this time it was a young male who was relatively low down in the tree. Enough to at least take some decent photos.
We watched him for maybe half an hour before we decided to get back to the lodge.
Later that night it was time for a night walk and the creepy crawlies were abundant but we did not manage to see anything larger until I spotted some eyeshine with my head torch. It revealed to be another Philippine slow loris. Our guide told as that they are usually only seen a couple of times a month but we had managed to see one two nights in a row.
A Brown wood owl also maybe an apperance before it was time to get back to the lodge and yet another fantastic day was over.

 

Maroon langur

Danum Valley

Bornean orangutan

Edited July 13 by Petter Sverke

[Petter Sverke]

The next morning started a bit slower as we after breakfast had our first trek of the day. A couple of Maroon langurs made an appearance but it was overall a pretty uneventful morning apart from spotting the beautiful and sought after Scarlet-rumped trogon.
After lunch we decided to have some down time and I had a dip in the clear water of the Danum river.
I also managed to spot a Whiskered treeswift just outside the lodge.

In the late afternoon our guide took us back to the canopy walkway to experience the rainforest turning from day to night. We sat there for a couple of hours and we first saw yet another troop of Maroon langurs in the trees beside us with a couple of Black-and-yellow broadbills flying around from branch to branch.
As the light started to fade the high-pitched sounds of the cicadas really started to build and just before the forest turned dark a Red giant flying squirrel came gliding down from one tree to another. A really magical moment and a surprising highlight.
On our way back to the lodge we stopped at a small pond and found a couple of File-eared tree frogs, a Harlequin tree frog and a Triangle keelback snake.

The morning after we just had a walk around close to the lodge but didn't find much of interest before it was time to say goodbye to Danum Valley and Borneo Rainforest Lodge.
Our next stop was going to be the Kinabatangan river and the Sukau Rainforest Lodge but along the way stopped at Gomantong caves which is home to thousands of bats and swiftlets. The smell of ammonia in the cave were really strong due to the high amount of bat guano which attracts a lot of cockroaches. The walls of the cave was also crawling with venomous centipedes. Not exactly a honeymoon destination.
We arrived at the lodge and were assigned to the room next to the one where David Attenborough had apparently stayed a couple of years before.
We did not arrive at the lodge in time for an afternoon excursion but you could pay extra to go on a night cruise and so we did and were rewarded with sightings of Buffy fish owl, Stork-billed kingfisher, Blue-eared kingfisher and a juvenile Estuarine crocodile.

 

Whiskered treeswift

 

 

Edited July 13 by Petter Sverke

[Petter Sverke]

The following morning started early with a boat trip on the river upstream to an Oxbow lake.
Along the way we encountered our first troop of Proboscis monkeys followed by a huge Estuarine crocodile laying on the banks before dashing down beneath the water just metres from us which certainly got the heart going a little bit.
To get to the Oxbow lake we had to navigate through a narrow channel were we encountered a juvenile Water monitor.

The Oxbow lake provided us with a great sighting of a Blue-eared kingfisher sitting on small branch just above the water dashing down every now and then to catch a fish.
After lunch our guide took as along a boardwalk adjoined to the lodge were we found a Plain pygmy squirrel.
During our afternoon boat trip we were gonna make an effort to try and find the Borneo pygmy elephants that inhabits the jungle surrounding the river.
We travelled downstream and found another troop of Proboscis monkeys, followed by some Long-tailed macaques.
Suddenly we see something moving in the water in front of us. It turned out to be a Bornean bearded pig swimming from one side of the river to the other. It looked rather stressed which is not surprising given the croc-infested waters.
We then heard the wingbeat of the majestic Rhinoceros hornbill flying above us.
We also spotted a Wallace's hawk eagle followed by a pair of Wrinkled hornbills in a tree.
No elephants unfortunately but still a great day!
 

Next morning it was time to leave Sukau and head downstream to Sandakan by boat.
Along the way we encountered yet another large Estuarine crocodile resting on the banks.
Arriving in Sandakan we were picked up and driven to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre to learn about their work with saving orphaned and injured orangutans and eventually release them back in the wild.
We also visited the Rainforest Discovery Centre but didn't see much wildlife except a Green crested lizard.
We were then taken to the Sepilok Nature Resort which was going to be our accommodation for the night.

 

Blue-eared kingfisher

Eastern great egret

Proboscis monkeys

Long-tailed macaque

Rhinoceros hornbill

Estuarine crocodile

Lantern bugs (Pyrops whiteheadi)

Edited July 13 by Petter Sverke

[Kitsafari]

I'm very much enjoying your excellent recollections of the Borneo trip 9 years ago!

[Petter Sverke]

The next morning it was time to leave mainland Borneo to take a boat from Sandakan for around 1 and a half hour to Lankayan Island in the Sulu Sea. Here we would stay for 4 nights to explore the coral reef surrounding the island and unwind after our jungle escapades.
The island is home to a nursery for both Green and Hawksbill turtles as these species every other night come up from the sea to lay their eggs here.

We managed to see both a mother Green turtle come up on the beach one night to lay it's eggs and we were also lucky to experience the hatching of around 80 baby Green turtles one day.
The snorkeling around the island was great and you often encountered turtles foraging the seagrass next to the coral reef which was full of colorful fish, including Ocellaris clownfish.
Barracudas were also present along with giant clams and I even managed to see a Broadclub cuttlefish during one snorkeling session.

The island is tiny and you could walk around it in 5 minutes.
After several days of snorkeling and relaxing it was time to get back to Sandakan to catch a flight home via Kuala Lumpur and Doha back to Stockholm.
 

Hopefully this trip report have been interesting and I will soon make another one from another trip.

 

Green turtle hatchling

Adult Green turtle

Edited July 14 by Petter Sverke

[Kitsafari]

Thank you for your TR! look forward to the next.