Danum Valley

---

We have just spent a few days in the Danum Valley at a hotel located 50 miles into the lowland rainforest reached by 4x4 vehicles along an unmade road ( fortunately for us graded only the week before so in pretty good condition). The Dunam Valley has one of the few remaining pockets of primary rainforest left in Asia. The Borneo Rainforest Lodge is located 3 miles into the primary forest, the previous 50 miles from the nearest habitation, the town of Lahad Datu, being secondary rainforest following a massive replanting project undertaken after the area had been logged. Most of the replanting took place from 1993 to 2000 but to my eyes looked very established and I could not see the join between the two forests. As it is primary rainforest it is an area where research is undertaken and there should be a heavy concentration of wildlife.

The Borneo Rainforest Lodge offers guided walks with experienced guides, in fact you are not allowed to wander off on your own. We walked to the top on the nearby hill and also on the impressive but very wobbly canopy walk. The hotel is very highly appointed with the rooms being individual cabins linked by raised walkways and a marvellous open restaurant and bar area with even more marvellous food - we ate like kings and queens. Without air conditioning however everywhere feels very hot and humid and damp.

The highlight of our walks was when a few of us who were lagging behind to keep a slow member of our group company were lucky enough to watch a male Orang Utah eating whilst he was sitting on the floor only 10 yards away from us. He is a local in the area and was known to the guide and he was well aware that we were watching him and was almost teasing us with sudden clear views of him as he moved leaves aside but generally keeping our view obscured.

We had hoped to see lots of animals in the area on our various treks and the night drive but sightings were few and far between. We were lucky enough to see a mother and her 3 year old Orang Utah baby, but she is so much in the area that she has been christened 'Sheena'. We also saw a male Orang Utah and some Red Leafed Monkeys. We saw four snakes, a King Cobra rushed across the forest road in front of the 4x4 that I was driven to the hotel in, we also saw a Hahn's Pit Viper whilst out on a trek (you are dead in 15 minutes if one of those bites you) and we found a juvenile Banded Krait Snake on the doorstep of our cabin - another poisonous one apparently and a Green Pit Viper. Bird wise we saw two brown owls sitting in a tree - our first owls. On the night drive we saw a Malay Civet Cat (quite different to the one we saw in Java with ahooped tail and stripes around its neck) and a Flying Squirrel (not that it was flying!).

We rushed off twice to see some passing Pigmy Elephants, even leaving pre lunch drinks on the table on one occasion (!) but were unlucky both times even though we could hear them trumpeting not far away.

Getting 'leeched' is a regular occurrence in the Dunum Valley and I was got on my wrist by a Tiger Leech (I know this because I felt the bite and you can with them whereas you don't feel the Brown Leech bite you. Peter in our group is very attractive to leeches and has been got 5 times already. Fortunately they are easy to remove by either just pulling them off, sprinkling them with salt or zapping them with insect repellent, and do not pass on anything nasty to humans, just suck your blood!! If a leech gets its fill it does not need to eat for another 6 months.

It certainly a noisy place we have stayed with the sounds of the night creatures almost deafening but wonderful.

Back in Kota Kinabalu today for a free day and tomorrow we leave the region of Sabah and fly to Sarawak.

---

Photos

Two Brown Owls
Not sure where their pack of brownies are though!

Banded Krait Snake
On our doorstep!

Saba Deer
In the grounds of the hotel