Originally planning to be here for a week, so we could be in Singapore for Christmas Day. However, after reading some blogs we're worried 7 days won't be enough time to make the most of Borneo - the maximum we can stay for is 10 days?
Hi everyone - I hope you can help us. We need quite a bit of advice about Borneo. We're planning to fly there from KL around 16th December but only have a week to 10 days there before we need to catch our flight to Singapore for a couple of days then on to Oz.
We basically want to see some Orangutans - as close up as possible, and ideally in the wild and go to see the Turtles laying eggs and/or baby Turtles hatching. So we need to know how to make the best use of our time to do this. We were also looking at a trip down the River Kinabatangan to see the wildlife of Borneo and maybe stay in a lodge. Can anyone help with suggestions of where's the best regions to spend the majority of our stay and where else to travel too?
Also some suggestions about accomodation, the best way to travel to each location and how to go about booking tours (or if easy enough to do ourselves) would be great. We're on a backpackers budget so cheap and cheerful suggestions are best 😊
Any help is gratefully received. Thanks,
Jay & Jo
Reply to this Hi
Borneo has two sides, Sabah and Sarawak. So first you need to decide whether you want to go to one or both.
The orangutan sanctuary at Sepilok is near Sandakan on Sabah. They rehabitate orangutans there and they have a lot of jungle to swing around. You can go along for feeding every day when some of them come back from the forest for some food.
From there you can arrange jungle trips down the Kinabatangan, staying in a lodge- where we saw orangutans in the wild. We did a 1 night trip, you can also stay longer.
Turtles may depend on the time of year. Is it hatching or laying season?
We flew to Kota Kinabalu and then took a bus to Kinabalu national park where we hiked around the national park around the mountain (we didn't climb it). From there we took another bus to Sandakan. You can go further on to Semporna from there if you are into diving. We didn't. We returned by bus to KK. It was very easy to arrange all this as we went along. There are a lot of places to stay and travel agents and people speak good English.
Hope this helps.
Kate
Reply to this Thanks for your help. Has really helped us to plan our rough itinery.
1. We are thinking of flying to KK staying there for 2 nights including a day trip to Mount Kinabula (not gona climb it)
2. Fly to Sandakan then get a Boat to Selingan ("Turtle Island").For one night with the turtles. If its in season.
3. Back to Sandakan and on to the sepilok santuary.
4. Next day overland to Sukau with afternoon boat cruise in search of Proboscis monkey.
5. Take morning river cruise up the Kinabatangan River to view more birds and wildlife.
6. Next day go to Danum Valley.
7. And then a day or two at Mabul Island
8. Then back to KK to fly onto SIngapore.
We really want to stay somewhere nice for a couple of nights at Christmas - can anyone recommend a nice place to stay that's not really expensive probably near the Kinabtangan River / Sukau? Also should we try to book most of our accommodation for each place in advance as it's holiday season or is there generally a good choice of accommodation available on arrival?
We've read a few blogs about food poisoning at various accommodation and tips and what foods to avoid or places that are good to eat at the above locations?
Thanks
Reply to this There is home stay program at Batu Puteh, a village which is located right next to the Kinabatangan River. (http://www.misowalaihomestay.com/)
If you are in Sandakan, and if time is permitted, try to make it to Proboscis Monkey sanctuary. You may need to google around on how to get there, as my friend took me there. The sanctuary is quite secluded, you have to take a short ride through oil palm plantation before you reach there. I personally prefer this than Sepilok Orang Utan Centre.
KK offer accommodation range from very cheap backpackers (from RM20) to 5-stars hotel on the mainland, and resorts on nearby island such as Pulau Gaya, Manukan etc. Depending on which part of the town you want to stay. If you don't mind some really dodgy one, then you can probably find some really cheap one.
Around KK, you can consider for a tour up to Tip of Sabah - Simpang Mengayau, along the journey you can stop by to visit long houses too.
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