One of the reasons why people come to Borneo, is to spot wildlife in their natural habitats.
After visiting the Orang-utans at Sepilok, I decided to go in search of some more wildlife, by doing a river cruise on the Kinabatangan River.
I met an American traveller on the bus to Sepilok, and so we decided to sign up together, as it would be much cheaper (you often get a single person’s surcharge if going alone).
A river cruise on the Kinabatangan River
Location
The best place to access this river is by staying in the town of Sandakan, which is about a 3 hour bus ride to the river. There are options to stay close by beforehand also, but many start from Sandakan, and get dropped back there, or elsewhere if going to Sipidan Islands to dive.
The River
The Kinabatangan River is the second longest in Malaysia, stretching 560km. Its light chocolately brown colour is inviting, with various trees and shrubbery, housing wild birds, the Proboscis monkey, and the smallest elephants – pygmy elephants. It is a great day out for your camera.
Cost
This varies. I did a 2 day 1 night cruise, which cost 303RM (US$94 or £56), and included return transfer from our hostel, a room in a very basic cabin (which smelt very musty and had a questionably clean bathroom) by the river, drinks and snacks on arrival, dinner and breakfast, and two river cruises . There is an option to pay more for a night jungle trek too. You can also stay for 2 nights and three days. Various companies in town will offer you tours, and they range from 300 to 900 RM (US$280 or £166).
Can you do this independently?
Yes, it is possible to get chartered transport and stay in one of the lodges or homestays. We met a girl who was staying at a homestay and hadu a whole boat to herself, but I’m unsure how to go about this.
My experience
We were collected about 11am, and driven there in a nicely air conditioned bus to the Kinabatangan River. It was then that I got quite excited. I wanted to do an ‘Augustus Gloop’ and dive straight in. My camera was itching to be brought out its case.
We crossed the river to our accommodation – The Kinabatangan Nature Lodge, where we were given a welcome drink and a run down of what was happening, and when.
After some snacks, we headed out on our first boat trip, for an hour an a half. We spotted so much wildlife – the hornbill bird, a kingfisher, a snake, proboscis monkeys, regular monkeys and storks, but no Pygmy Elephants.
We later returned for a dinner, which was incredibly varied and quite Westernised, which made a change.
Everyone else went out for the night jungle walk, but I had no long pants, or head torch, so ended up staying in with my American traveller friend playing cards. No WiFi here, so it made a nice change not to see everyone constantly staring at a phone/laptop.
We retired to bed early as our wakeup call was due to be at 5.45am, and what a wakeup call it was. A member of the staff at the lodge rang the gong for about 10 minutes, so a quick wash, and change of clothes and we were off again.
On day 2 we didn’t see anything remotely different to the evening cruise the night before, apart from a massive crocodile under the tree.
Again. No Pygmy elephant.
After breakfast which again was very Westernised, we were transported back to Sandakan. You could also have the option to be dropped off elsewhere, depending on where your next Port of call was.
Overall, I enjoyed the trip. Despite it being very organised and touristy. Its worth it to see wildlife in their natural habitat. You may be lucky though and spot the elephants!
[…] that I spent just two days in, but honestly failed to connect with, especially having been to Malaysian Borneo, the historic Georgetown in Penang, and to the delightful Cameron […]
[…] enjoyable experiences .. I met Orang-utans and Sun Bears in Sepilok, in a more natural environment. I took a trip through the jungle by boat to spot wildlife, and I did a rainforest Kayak trip, which were all fantastic, yet very tourist […]
Oh dear, so sorry no sweet little Pygmy pachyderms on your visit. I recently (last October) did a 2 nt. excursion (don’t remember the lodge – might even have been the same Kinabatangan Nature Lodge, looks somewhat like the one I stayed at though my cabin was nice and clean) so had more time to track down the wee elephants. We saw a half dozen of them (mom’s and babies) feeding along the river.
(shame on me, I’ve yet to write a post on it with my pics and video – been too busy moving here to Ecuador – soon, I swear, sooooooon).
Still, sounds like you saw lots of other wildlife, and yes, yes – awfully nice to be in a pocket of the globe – with NO WIFI for a change, yes? 😉
Dyanne@TravelnLass recently posted…The Requisite Ecuador CUY Dinner
Yes, I heard from another guy who had been on a 2 night trip that he saw lots. I guess that’s the thing with wildlife … you can’t train them to come out for the tourists, as they are wild.
I did have a great trip, and the wildlife I did get to see was incredible.
Abbi recently posted…Wildlife spotting on the Kinabatangan River, Borneo
Oh my gosh the crocodile looks so big and the boat not as big as I’d like it with crocodiles in the water !! Looks like a great trip tho, bit of a city & wifi detox 🙂
Yeah it was huge, but I’m glad it was under the tree and not in the water. I also saw a yellow bellied water snake wrapped around a tree, I freaked out that it would sneak into my cabin and eat me alive. It was a nice time away from the city yes, very peaceful.