BORNEO; A FRAGILE ENVIRONMENT

There is a place on Earth where evolution has had the opportunity to run wild and free, creating some of the most weird and wonderful creatures you could imagine. This is Borneo. The third largest island in the world, and definitely the most diverse environment that I've ever stepped foot in.. The wildlife is in abundance and some of the creatures that dwell in the jungle are so unexpected ~ from Pygmy elephants, sun bears, to flying lemurs, clouded leopards, orangutan and more.. There was even a species of rhino (before they were sadly proclaimed extinct). Believe me when I say, it's absolutely ideal for anybody who travels to seek wildlife encounters. This was what allured me to Borneo in the first place.

HOW TO TRAVEL IN BORNEO

Borneo typically gets overlooked from other countries such as Thailand, Bali (Indonesia) or even the Philippines. But if you tailor a trip to suit your style of holiday, you can really immerse yourself in this paradise. There's fantastic snorkeling/diving, wildlife viewing, trekking, over-water bungalows for honeymooners, island escapes and more.. I was working as a travel agent at the time when I chose to experience the magic of this jungle wilderness first-hand. As adventurous as I'd like to think my soul is, I chose to travel Borneo in a small group tour because I was traveling alone. I've always found that it's a nice way to meet people and have a local expert with you, especially in those super remote locations ~ plus with an amazing industry discount how could I not ?

You can find tours with reputable companies such as Intrepid Travel, G Adventures or Tucan Travel (these are some of the options at the travel agency I worked for). You might be able to find smaller, local companies to travel with or you can make your own way around. It's going to be an amazing adventure regardless of your style of travel.

So, I was on my way.. flying from Brisbane through Kuala Lumpur and into Kota Kinabalu (KK). Borneo is actually made up of 3 countries ~ Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. I visited the northern region of the island called Sabah (in Malaysia). And my tour basically circled this area over the course of 2 weeks exploring spots such as the Deramakot Forest Reserve, Kinabatangan River, Sepilok (orangutan sanctuary) and Kudat.

SOMETHING TO DO IN KK

If you head down to the market area along the waterfront in KK, you might notice colourful boats along the shore. And off the coast in the distance is an island.. I wanted to get a closer look so I asked a local man if he'd take me on his boat ~ I gave him a bit of money and we headed out there. There is an entire village living on the water (a fishing village). Their houses are built on wooden poles, children are running around on the wooden planks which connect their houses and their washing was strung out above the water. So interesting to see.. I really love this kind of stuff ~ seeing how other people live.

There are also islands off the coast which you're free to explore simply by catching a small ferry. They can drop you off on one island or you can choose to explore multiple islands. These are quite beautiful and it's just nice to escape the city for a swim. You can choose activities such as snorkeling or even ziplining between 2 islands.

SOMEWHERE TO EAT IN KK

I'm not sure if this place still exists, but El Centro is a relaxed little Mexican style bar/restaurant in the heart of Kota Kinabalu. I was in KK for 3 days before my tour began and ate here more times than I'd like to admit.. so great ! It's a nice place to enjoy some drinks with your friends or to grab a bite.

ON TOUR

We left the hustle and bustle of Kota Kinabalu and headed out into Sabah. The first couple of days were spent around Mt Kinabalu National Park. At Poring Hot Springs, we took a walk through the jungle and up into the canopy over suspended bridges which gave us an amazing birds-eye view of the greenery below. It had been raining so everything was so lush and vibrant and the rivers were flowing. This gave me the impression that Borneo was a healthy environment where life could thrive (I'll elaborate on this later).

At the end of the canopy walk, we trekked an hour into the jungle to reach our tented camp for the night. Such a cool experience ! Our tents were set on a bamboo platform among the trees and overlooking a small creek below. Absolute peace and tranquility.. Waking up to the sound of the forest and the water flowing was so beautiful.

If you're a hiker, I would recommend taking the opportunity to conquer Mt. Kinabalu. This was something I was really looking forward to, but we were unable to take this option as the hike was closed at the time.. The granite peak looks incredibly dramatic and rises over 4000m above the rainforest below. A completely different world !

SOMETHING LUCKY TO WITNESS

This is rafflesia.. the world's biggest flower !

The reason I say it's lucky to witness is because these crazy looking 'flowers' have a really short life-span of about 5 days ~ and take an incredibly long time to bloom.. It's actually parasitic and starts by growing on the side of one particular vine before falling to the forest floor (where animals may eat it). Here, the bud can spend a year and half growing until it's ready to flower. They let off a disgusting smell similar to rotting meat which is part of their pollination process... Just insane ! This one was protected in a locals backyard and I can't believe we arrived in time.

THE BIG SHOCK

The next part of the adventure had me dreaming of a swim in the ocean ~ you can really feel the heat in Asia, especially when you're in the back of a small bus with no air conditioning.. We drove for a few hours to get to our next destination, the Deramakot Forest Reserve. We turned off at one point and took a road through a sea of palm tress. But these weren't normal palm trees.. this was a HUGE palm oil plantation which stretched further than my eyes could see. This is probably one of the most confronting things I've ever seen in my life because I have such a deep love for the rainforest and this resembled nothing close to that. We drove through the plantation for a couple of hours, observing the workers and the dead patches of land which had been destroyed by deforestation. They loaded the palm oil kernels into the back of their big tip trucks until they were nearly overflowing, and away they went. It's so heart-breaking to imagine what it once was..

Just for those who don't know what palm oil is, it's used in just about everything ~ from our bathroom products, laundry products, cosmetics, food, etc. And the demand for it is incredibly high because it's so cheap to produce. It's a major cause for deforestation in Asia.. the forest is bulldozed and burnt, releasing CO2 which has been compressed into the ground for thousands of years (where it's meant to be). Animals are losing their homes and forced to retreat to the areas which haven't been destroyed yet. It's a very delicate topic and I won't say anymore about this because I want to get back to the journey. But you can always do some research to find out what positive changes you can make in your life to consume less palm oil.

ON SAFARI

Back to the destination ~ we finally reached the Deramakot Forest and WOW.. this was the Borneo that I expected and this was where the wildlife viewing was at it's best. The dirt road weaved it's way deeper into the jungle.. some of the trees were so big they burst out of the top of the forest canopy, towering above the rest ~ amazing. We arrived at our accommodation and settled in before we headed out for our nighttime safari.. I can't stress enough how exciting this was. We sat in the tray of a ute and slowly cruised around the roads searching for nocturnal wildlife.. I brought my own torch with me which meant that I was able to have a go at spotting wildlife. We would shine the torches high into the trees and search for any eyes glaring back at us (like cats eyes in the dark). It sounds kind of creepy when I put it like that but when you have a flying lemur (colugo) gliding overhead or the infamous clouded leopard crossing the road right in front of your eyes it's an incredible, unforgettable experience. We also spotted quite a few giant red flying squirrels, mouse deer, leopard cats, owls and civets.

The next day, we woke before sunrise and strolled down the gravel roads which wound through the rainforest.. we could hear the call of the gibbons in the distance, echoing through the forest.. something so magical.

During the day we boarded a small boat and took to the river for some more wildlife spotting. Remember my first paragraph where I mentioned that some of the most weird and wonderful creatures exist here.. yes ? When I mentioned this, I really had one animal in mind and that's the proboscis monkey. If you've never seen or heard of it then check this out..

How amazing is he ?! The females are a lot more subtle with small, pointed, snout-like noses.. but the males seem to be male in more than one area haha.. I'd never seen anything like it before. Other than these guys, we spotted a few other species of monkey and even a couple of snakes. If you've never been on any kind of safari before, I really encourage it. It's so fascinating to see wildlife just living their lives in their natural habitats.

We left the Deramakot Forest and headed to the Kinabatangan Wildlife Santuary ~ our accommodation at the 'Myne Resort' was right on the river so we had more opportunities for wildlife spotting by boat.

We spent a full afternoon out on the river, weaving our way through little waterways which connected to other parts of the river. And we didn't return until it was basically dark which was magical because we were able to view the sunset from the boat. As far as this accommodation went, I thought it was lovely and comfortable.. you could chill out on the deck or in a hammock while over-looking the river (keeping an eye out for the adorable pygmy elephants). And our rooms were sort of nestled up in the trees, connected together by stairs and board-walks. It was nice to get a decent nights sleep before the next part of the journey.

THE HOMESTAY

In the morning, we boarded another boat and traveled up the Kinabatangan River for a couple of hours until we reached our home-stay at the Abai Village. An interesting part of the tour.. We were paired and lodged in different houses throughout the village. My room was small and simple as you would expect.. a couple of thin mattresses lay on the floor and the window was open (but thankfully there were insect nets - I’m arachnophobic). We enjoyed a walk around the village, learning about their culture and later that evening we enjoyed a home-cooked meal with our hosts.

Like I've said before, I love to see how other people live and it's always special when you're welcomed into somebody's home.

CONTRIBUTING SOMETHING SPECIAL

There were so many incredible highlights of my trip to Borneo but this one stood out.. One morning we took a boat from our village and headed to a forest restoration area down the river. We had shovels and small trees with us and we got to give back to the jungle by planting them. I planted a couple because I was so happy and excited to be contributing something to the restoration of the jungle. There are still times when I think about those trees and I wonder how much they've grown. I've always felt a deep connection to the jungle and after driving through the palm oil plantations in the previous days, this felt so necessary.

ORANGUTAN EXPERIENCE

Once again we traveled by our trusty transport, the boat. I loved this particular experience because we cruised past so many lush secitons of jungle, more villages and out to the mouth of the river where it met the ocean (before ducking back into another section of river). Then we were transferred to my favourite accommodation on the tour ~ the Paganakan Dii Tropical Retreat in Sepilok. The room overlooked a beautiful slice of forest and the shower did too (just a piece of net which I could pull back to enjoy the view).

From here, we were only about 5km away from the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, an incredibly special and important place. They take in orphaned and injured orangutans (a result of deforestation) and they spend years rehabilitating them. There are feeding platforms which back straight onto the jungle so when the orangutan is ready, it will make it's own way back into the wild.

I learnt so much about orangutans here and it even inspired me to join some friends on a trip to Sumatra in the future to view them completely in the wild. Take the chance to see these incredible creatures (who share the closest DNA to us) while you can.. they are critically endangered and seeing them in real-life is an indescribable feeling. Check out how cute these guys are !

WINDING DOWN

After the Sepilok experience, we boarded a short flight which landed us in Kudat ~ a really beautiful, relaxing region in the very north of Borneo.

And what a nice way to wind down the trip.. Our accommodation was great ~ adorable little huts, under the palm trees right on the beach.. Perfect ! We drove to a nearby beach (known for it's turtle hatchery and conservation) where we enjoyed some drinks together under a bamboo hut decorated with cushions and lanterns.

The sunset was epic and it even began to rain while we were swimming in the ocean. So much fun ! Once we were transferred back to Kota Kinabalu, the trip was finalized by one last dinner together and then we all parted ways. Even to this day I’m still in contact with my friend Sonia (we were paired together for the trip because we were both solo female travellers). Touring ain’t that bad guys !

TIPS BEFORE YOU GO

- Malaysia is predominantly a muslim country. This is important to be aware of so that you can dress accordingly, showing respect for their culture and tradition. Even though it was stinking hot in the middle of the Bornean jungle, I wore sleeved shirts and pants over my knees when visiting/staying in villages etc.

- Pack prepared ~ especially if you're doing some sort of adventure travel. I would suggest a torch, plenty of sun protection, protection from mosquitoes and other insects,  decent shoes, a rain cover for your backpack (if that's how you travel), binoculars and ofcourse a CAMERA with a good zoom so you can capture wildlife in the distance.

So there you have it.. I hope this has inspired you and I also hope I could help you visualize what it would be like to travel to the diverse rainforest of Borneo. It's a truly special place.. but fragile as I've mentioned. I would recommend making it over there sooner rather than later as things are ever-changing in this world.

Much love guys !

Lexie