| |
|
Departures and Pricing
excl flights |
| 2009 |
| Date |
Double |
Single |
Child |
| Jun 29 |
£1,350 |
£1,550 |
£1,150 |
| Jul 14 |
£1,350 |
£1,550 |
£1,150 |
| Jul 27 |
£1,350 |
£1,550 |
£1,150 |
|
Other similar expeditions |
|
Highlights
Visiting the orang-utang's Semenggoh Wildlife Centre
Walking or strolling in the 'palm' jungle of Kubah National Park
Discovering the wildlife of Bako National Park
River cruise wildlife spotting
Overnight jungle trek and camp
Coral reef and beach adventure
|
| |
Description |
| |
Discover Borneo's enchanting combination of unique wildlife, mysterious jungles and white tropical beaches. Walk in some of the oldest rainforests in the world, with their rich diversity of wildlife including the orang-utan, Asian elephant and proboscis monkey, and even spend a night in the jungle to truly experience the feeling of ‘jungle living’. Snorkel or dive in warm coral reef seas that surround tiny tropical islands off the east coast, and finally explore and understand the ecological secrets of Borneo through your tour leader, an experienced biologist and explorer. |
|
Borneo is not just lush jungles bursting with life, but it is also an intricate patchwork of age-old cultures, tribes and communities that came here long ago to live in, with and alongside the jungle-clad rivers, mountains and coastline of this great island. You have the unique opportunity to spend evenings in long-houses chatting and even dancing with Borneo’s local people, sampling their cuisine, so often from the ‘jungle supermarket’, and learning some of their skills in the jungle. Nobody can be bored in Borneo. |
|
| The adventure begins in the picturesque city of Kutching in Sarawak, where you will spend your first night in a beach resort with stunning settings and close to the fascinating and informative cultural village. From here in the morning, in time for feeding time, we will visit the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre where we will see orang-utans in their jungle sanctuary. Later that day we will take the short journey to Kubah National Park, a jungle refuge to some of the rarest palm species on earth, and a wonderful place for short jungle walks and strolls. |
|
An overnight visit to Bako National Park is an experience that just must not be missed on a visit to Borneo. This is Malaysia’s oldest national park, and is simply brimming with animal life, from proboscis monkeys, silver leaf langurs, macaques, bearded pigs, monitor lizards and so much more, most of which have grown accustomed to humans due to the parks long-time protected status. |
|
The last part of this unique holiday will be spent relaxing, snorkelling or diving off the east coast of Sabah, where the seas are warm, turquoise, clear and home to some of the most biodiverse coral reef anywhere in the world. The choice of what to do here is entirely yours. |
|
Itinerary |
|
|
Day 1 - Arrive in Kutching and go to nearby Santubong
Arrive today in Kutching, where you will be greeted by your Tour Leader and will transfer to a beach/rainforest resort, approximately 30 km from Kutching city, set amongst wonderful jungle-clad hills and very close to the beautiful white sands of Damai Beach. You may choose just to relax by the pool or at the beach, or you could wonder down to the nearby informative and very different cultural village to begin to understand the different rich cultures of the peoples of Borneo. Either way, this is a perfect place to unwind from the travelling. |
Day 2 - Semenggoh Wildlife Centre and Kubah National Park |
There's a long list of things to do here, but there are two things that we think are a must. Firstly we'll go along to the orang-utan jungle sanctuary in the morning for their feeding time. This is a chance to see these incredible 'men of the jungle' close up. In the afternoon we will visit the unique jungle of Kubah National Park, which due to its location (near to the sea and mangrove forest) and the variation in bedrock has a particularly rich variety of plant and animal life. This is a little visited Park (by tourists), with excellent facilities and the Park Wardens are a joy to spend time with! Your Tour Leader is a biologist with real jungle expedition experience and so you'll have the chance to truly learn about this unique environment. There are a lot of short (30 minute - 3 hour) walks that can be done from the Park Headquarters, many of which can be done without a guide - bear in mind though that this is one of your Tour Leaders favourite Parks, and so he is likely to be a little excited! Tonight we return to our resort for our second night there. |
Day 3 - Bako National Park
This Park seems to dwarf all others in the area and its clear why. It's a about a 1.5 - 2 hour journey from Kutching by road and boat to Bako National Park. Here you will stay overnight in rustic accommodation and experience Bako's phenomenal wildlife. There are plenty of walking opportunities to take advantage of here with local, amiable and informative guides. This is quite simply an unmisable experience - seeing up close rare and endangered species such as the proboscis monkey, silver leaf langurs, monitor lizards and a range of other reptiles and amphibians. This is Malaysia's oldest Park and as such it's animals are used to humans, which is why they so often just appear out of the jungle. |
|
Day 4 - Bako National Park and Kutching
Our second and last day at Bako, perhaps wake up early and stroll along the board walks with animals all around, do the walks you didn't have a chance to do the day before, or just relax in the outdoor 'jungle' cafe. We return to our resort in the afternoon, for our third and final day there.
|
|
Day 5 - Travelling to Batu Puteh, Kinabatangan River
This is our first full day of travelling across this island, with a 1.5 hour flight to Kota Kinabalu followed by a five-hour (approx.) road journey to the Kinabatangan River.
Tonight we will stay in homestays with a local family. This is a wonderful chance to spend some quality time with the local people of Borneo, who often have a good command of English, and make you feel at home...even whilst being in a foreign country. The tradition in homestays is that your family will cook for you in the evening and give you a hearty breakfast for your day ahead.
|
|
|
Day 6 - Kinabatangan River Wildlife Sanctuary
Today we go for a cruise along the beautiful Kinabatangan River, spotting the abundance of wildlife that return to the river's edge to spend the night, and awaken and feed early in the morning. The Kinabatangan floodplain is home to an astonishing variety and richness of plants and animals, including populations of orang-utans, proboscis monkeys, Bornean gibbons, macaques and Bornean elephants – and that’s only the very beginning of the list.
In the afternoon we’re off for our overnight jungle trek into the jungle Wildlife Sanctuary, with your Tour Leader and local guides. Your guides will show and teach you some of the jungle skills of the local people, whilst your experienced Tour Guide will help you set up your hammock, mosquito net and basher. In the evening we'll be sitting around a camp fire cooking up a storm, with the sounds and smells of the jungle all around.
|
|
|
Day 7 - Kinabatangan River Wildlife Sanctuary
Today we come out of the jungle, which again will take between 1 and 1.5 hours, and return to our homestays where we'll no doubt have some stories to exchange and plenty of local food to eat! In the evening there will be some event planned by the community, but even the Tour Leader will most likely be kept in the dark. There is also an optional evening river cruise to see the beautiful sunset over the water.
|
|
|
Day 8 - Travelling to the east coast of Sabah
In the morning we head down to the east coast of Sabah, a 4-hour (approx) bus journey, where we will stay in a 'floating hotel', in the small town of Semporna. This bay town, with the sea lapping its shores and stilt villages offers some of the finest islands and reefs in Southeast Asia. Today you'll have plenty of time to plan which islands you'd like to visit, to sample the seafood restaurants and to have stroll around town.
|
|
|
Day 9 - Semporna and the islands off the east coast of Sabah
There's an excellent choice of islands to visit by boat, where you can just relax, snorkel or even do some diving...enjoy! If you'd like to try diving then one of the highlights is the near-vertical 'wall' off the east coast of Sipadan island, where colourful tropical fish swim near the surface and huge groupers and wrasse nose about in the murky depths below. There is a limit to the number of people that can go to Sipadan island each day because of its conservation status (and is more expensive) so do let us know soon if you intend on visiting this island. Of course there are many other islands with excellent reef and it should be noted that snorkelling is very good off many of the islands too with clear waters and coral abound. Tonight you can stay a second night in the floating hotel, or you may want to have a change and stay in another local homestay, the choice is yours.
|
|
|
Day 10 - Semporna and the islands off the east coast of Sabah
Your second day enjoying life in the tropics with beaches, coral reef, tiny tropical islands and more marine life you could imagine!
|
|
|
Day 11- Kota Kinabalu
In the morning we make our way to Kota Kinabalu (which is an hours bus ride to the airport and then a apprimately an hours flight) for our last day and where we have the chance to enjoy the cuisine and even nightlife of this so called 'rainforest city'. This is Sabah's largest city, clearly new and 'up-and-coming' and is a great place to do some shopping, or just hang-out in cafes overlooking the sea and islands.
|
|
|
Includes
All accommodation
Most food costs
All in-country transport
Essential camping equipment
|
|
|
|
Excludes
Optional extras such snorkelling, diving and extra river cruises.
Some food costs requiring an extra 40-60 British Pounds. |
