Blogs from Kinabatangan, Sabah, Malaysia, Asia - page 4

Taxi to bus terminal – bus to Kota Kinabatangan – minibus to jungle – DONE! It was as easy as it sounds. At the guesthouse in Kota Kinabalu we booked and paid for two nights at the nature lodge where we would embark on a number of jungle/river tours and be fed. The only thing we had to organise was the bus to Kinabatangan and this was simple from the bus terminal. There were many to choose from and the costs vary depending on the comfort you desire. The drive was long but stunning. We passed through the Kruger mountain range and were treated to breathtaking views of the beast of Borneo – Mount Kinabalu. Obviously, having already paid we were a little worried that we would arrive in Kota Kinabatangan and be left stranded after ... read more

We were off to Sukau, our rainforest adventure and our base for 3 nights would be the Sukau Greenview B&B located on the banks of the Kinabatangan River, which is Sabah’s longest river, measuring in at 560km. The area is Malaysia’s largest forested flood plain and has oxbow lakes, mangrove swamps and grass swamps. Although Kinabatangan was designated a wildlife sanctuary in 1999 villages and agricultural development merge with the protected areas, but despite this there was apparently a host of wildlife to see along its banks. Once again the tours we looked into for going up river and jungle trekking seemed really expensive, but by booking the B&B we could please ourselves which river boat tours we took and how many over the three days. The B&B was good enough, with an adequate bedroom and ... read more

My short vacation to KK had recharged my batteries, so I was ready to get stuck back into the project on our return to the village. And I didn't have to wait long... the next day we all packed our bags and headed off back to Supu for a three night camping trip, to cut new trails and mark and map those already cut by us on our previous visit. This time, however, the numbers made it a full-blown expedition... Rosli, Albert, Nosali and Din from MESCOT, plus all eight volunteers. It goes without saying that the boat was pretty full! Luckily, we had time to purchase a new tub of Cloud 9s before setting sail. We set up camp in the same place as before, albeit this time the scale had grown to accommodate the ... read more

After seven months of travel, it was time to put down my backpack for a while and do some work. I've been interested in the plight of the world's rainforests for some time, and had been particularly enchanted by the island of Borneo. This trip was the ideal opportunity to explore this great natural resource, and the length of my trip encouraged me to spend a month as a volunteer somewhere on my route... so I chose Borneo. My placement is with a community organization called MESCOT, who operate from a small village called Batu Puteh, on the Kinabatangan River in Sabah, northeast Borneo. MESCOT comprises about 400 local people who turned from working on logging operations (both legal and illegal), cocoa and palm oil plantations to tourism and conservation projects. The organization is now providing ... read more

Orang Utans in einem Reha-Zentrum zu sehen, war sicherlich schon spannend genug, aber wir wollten trotzdem versuchen, zumindest Einen auch mal live in freier Wildbahn zu erleben. Also ging es diesmal nach Sukau, einem winzigen Doerfchen am Kinabtangan Fluss, wo es eine Menge wilder Tiere gab, wenn man den Reisefuehrer Glauben schenkte. Um den teuren Paketpreis fuer eine Tour hierher zu sparen, haben wir uns erneut ohne Reisegruppe auf den Weg gemacht und waeren leider mal wieder fast an der Unflexibilitaet der Malaien gescheitert. Ganz im Gegensatz zu anderen suedostasiatischen Laendern, wo es fuer Backpacker wirklich einfach ist, das Land auf eine Faust zu erkunden, ist man in Malaysia immer wieder auf Tour-Anbieter angewiesen, da einem weder in Touristeninformationen oder an Busstationen noch an Bahnhoefen genaue Auskunft gegeben wird. Immer wieder wird man mit „very complicated“, ... read more