Kinabalu Park established as one of the first national parks of Malaysia in 1964, is Malaysia's first World Heritage Site designated by UNESCO in December 2000 for its "outstanding universal values" and the role as one of the most important biological sites in the world.
Malaysia: Borneo – Return to the Kinabatangan River
The start of a journey down the Kinabatangan River in Sabah, Borneo. This is the perfect place to see several species of monkeys, including the proboscis monkey and the rare Bornean pygmy elephant
Our first visit to the Kinabatangan River in Sabah was back in 2018. The plan had been to spend a few days in the lower reaches of the river before travelling upstream and transferring by land to the small town of Lahad Datu. Unfortunately, on our first day at the Kinabatangan Wetlands Resort I had fallen off a boardwalk and broken six ribs – which put an end to the adventure.
Moving on five years, post the COVID-19 pandemic it was time to return and complete our journey!
After spending a couple of nights at Sepilok, visiting the orangutan and sun bear sanctuaries it was time to head back to the Kinabatangan River. Once again we’d be spending a couple of nights at the Wetlands Resort, hoping to avoid any accidents this time.
We were transferred to Sandakan where we were taking a boat to the Kinabatangan Wetlands Resort. En route, we went off to find some Wellington boots that would be useful for the treks we’d make later in the week in the Danum Valley. We tried one shop and managed to find Karen some bright yellow boots, but nothing in my size. A visit to another shop had an equally fruitless result. So, I would have to use the Keen shoes I already had with me for trekking.
It was time to head for the dock.
Once at the dock, we had to wait a little for the paperwork to be done and for another couple to arrive who would be on the 90-minute boat ride with us. This gave us a chance to catch up with Dido, one of the guides, who had also been at the resort back in 2018 and had helped me get back to Sandakan after my fall.
Soon enough we were out on the water, leaving the calm of the harbour and out on the sea. It took about 30 minutes to reach the mouth of the Kinabatangan River. Whilst the sea had been an inviting shade of blue-green, the Kinabatangan is a brown, sludge colour. Not somewhere you would want to swim, especially as the river is home to some hungry saltwater crocodiles! From the mouth of the river, it takes about an hour to reach the resort, which is located on a narrow estuary, lined with mangrove trees and palms. Very exotic.
Not much had changed since our last visit in 2018, and everything looked and felt familiar. As usual, we had managed to arrive at lunchtime, so we immediately went into the dining room. After we were done with lunch we headed to our room. During our last visit we were in chalet 10, which is right at the end of the boardwalk. This time we had been put in chalet 1, which was the first room. Obviously, they thought the less time I spent on the boardwalk the better and if I did need evacuating that there was a shorter distance to the jetty. The chalets here are huge and extremely private.
Later in the afternoon, we were on a cruise on the Kinabatangan River, along with our guide Andis and our boat captain Sale. We were given special treatment and had the boat to ourselves. The small boat pulled out from the jetty and down the channel to the main river. Along the way we stopped at several places to look at macaque monkeys and a couple of different species. After about 30 minutes we reached a branch in the river. One way was the how we had arrived which went out to the South China Sea, the other headed upstream, which is where we headed.
The banks of the river are covered in dense forest, which is lush and lovely, but on the downside, it is hard to spot wildlife, so you are reliant on the keen eyes of the guide and the boat captain. Luckily for us, Andis and Sale had an excellent eye for spotting, and we were cruising along when they spotted something and headed towards the bank. It turned out to be a single Borneo pygmy elephant who was following a trail that ran down by the river. The elephant was moving quite fast, so we followed it along the river. Initially, we had the elephant to ourselves, but Andis had called the other guides, so we were eventually joined by other boats. We only got glimpses of the elephant, but it was nonetheless great to see an elephant. After a while the elephant disappeared off into the bush and we headed back to the Wetlands Resort. By now the sun was starting to set, which is a great time to see the monkeys as they come down the trees along the river to roost for the night. We got to see some families of maroon leaf and proboscis monkeys settling down for the night.
By the time we got back to the Wetlands Resort it was dinner time.
After dinner, we had one more activity, a night walk along the resort’s boardwalk nature trail. This was once again led by Andis. The boardwalk trail is short, but along the way, we got to see two rhinoceros hornbills roosting in a tree, a small bird curled up on a bush, scorpions, a tree frog, a pair of storm storks, a scoops owl, a samba deer, and most exciting of all a flying lemur.
It had been a busy and exciting day, and most amazing of all I had managed to get to the end of it without falling off the boardwalks and breaking anything!
Day two at the Wetlands Resort in Abai on the Kinabatangan River, was a big improvement on our last stay. The first order of the day was a 6:30 am boat safari on the river. We were off to the Oxbow lake which is reached along a tributary off the main river. It was a quiet morning on the river, and we didn’t see a lot of activity on the banks. It would have been great to see some more elephants, but it was not to be.
The route to the lake passes through a narrow channel lined with tall grasses and mangrove trees, with long roots that reach from the aerial branches down into the brackish water. These trees create a rather spooky and eery tunnel to reach the lake. Oxbow Lake is narrow and curls around almost in a circle, hence the name ‘oxbow’. The edges are dense with natural plants, but the channel itself is becoming clogged with water hyacinths, which are an invasive species. Sale, who was once again the captain of our boat, landed the boat in the plants surrounding the lake. Andis had brought along a picnic of coffee and sandwiches which we tucked into.
After our picnic, we started to head back to the Wetlands Resort. There was not much to see on the way back, and when we arrived it was time for our official breakfast.
The rest of the morning was relaxation time, then lunch, followed by more relaxation.
Late afternoon we headed back out on the river with Andis and Sale for an extended cruise, which would take us out until darkness had fallen on the Kinabatangan. Again, the river was quiet, with no elephants or orangutans. But some macaques were playing down by the river, and some birds. Andis decided to try Oxbow Lake again, but no elephants were to be seen. It was now late afternoon, and there were several families of probiscis monkeys who were looking for roosts in the trees.
The sun started to set, and the boat was pulled too so we could watch the sun go down. It was an amazing sunset. On the way back things were getting dark. The scary thing was we were travelling quite fast down the river in the dark, and from the previous days, we knew some large logs were floating downstream. The thought of hitting one of these logs was nerve-wracking. As we went, Andis shone a powerful spotlight on the vegetation on the riverbank.
Remarkably, both he and Sale were able to see kingfishers, who were relatively small birds, perched on branches by the river. Andis has been promising us we’d see a Christmas tree, which turned out to be fireflies that gather on some of the mangrove trees on the edges of the river. It does look like fairy lights on the tree, and for a moment we thought they were electric lights.
From the fireflies, it was a short distance back to the resort.
It was time to travel further upstream where we would be staying for one night to the village of Sukau, where we would be staying at the Sukau River Lodge.
We had no activities planned for the morning, which gave us the chance to have a leisurely breakfast before taking to the water at 10:30 am. As planned, we arrived at the jetty on time to leave at the appointed hour but were told that we had to wait for three other passengers who were in a meeting at that we would end around 11 am. Two of these folks we employed by National Geographic as ‘Logistics Specialists’. This world-famous institution has developed a tourism business that takes people with lots of money on luxury tours. One of the tour types they offer is travel by private jet, and these people were an advanced party who had come to inspect the facilities at the Kinabatangan Wetlands Resort for a party of tourists arriving here in a few days. There were to be 40 people staying at KWR for two nights, taking up the whole of the resort, a further 50 would be staying at the Sukau River Lodge where we headed. So, a total of 90 people were touring by private jet on this nature and wildlife tour, which would start in Singapore and then take to Borneo, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Madagascar, South Africa, Rwanda and finally Rome (not sure what wildlife is here!). A total of 24 days, for which you would pay the princely sum of $108,000 per person. Out of budget for sure!
Anyway, our fellow travellers did turn up around 11:00 am and we started our 90-minute journey upstream. The temperatures were rising fast, so there was little to see in terms of wildlife on the banks of the river.
We arrived at the resort in time for lunch. It was sadly time to say goodbye to Sale who had been our wonderful boat captain for the last couple of days.
The restaurant was located right next to the river, and we managed to bag a table in a perfect spot to watch the activities on the river. Sukau is a much larger village than Abai, so there was a lot more going on along the Kinabatangan, including some large barges carrying trucks and cars being towed by tugboats. Lunch was great, and a definite upgrade on the food we had been served at KWR. The chef, who was delightful, came out to talk to us, and the kitchen then cooked up a special vegetarian dish for us.
After lunch, we checked into our room, which was much smaller than the room we had left at KWR but was perfectly comfortable (the bed was a bit hard). We had a couple of hours to rest before we were due to set out on an afternoon boat safari.
For the afternoon cruise, we were no longer having a private boat. Andis, who was staying with us for another day or so joined us on the boat, along with another two couples. Our captain was Bart.
We travelled downstream on the Kinabatangan for about 30 minutes, stopping at a sandbank to look at some tiny crocodiles, before turning down a narrow tributary. After about a kilometre Bart pulled the boat to the side of the river. In a low tree, not far from the river, a female orangutan had built a nest for the night for herself and her baby. We could just about make out the mother, but her offspring was still very active and didn’t seem interested in settling down for the night. It was lovely to see, and as we were the first boat there, we had the scene to ourselves. From the boat we could see the young ape teasing its mother, which went on for a good 20 minutes. By now some other boats had joined us watching the antics of this baby orangutan. Just as we thought the youngster was settling down, he decided to leave the nest and take to the tree. Previously, we had just got glimpses of the baby, but he was now in clear view and putting on a show for us. After another 15 minutes, he briefly returned to his mother, before climbing further up the tree and appeared to begin building his own nest. Practising for his future life.
It was now approaching late afternoon and many boats had now pulled up alongside us. Bart decided it was a good time to depart and we left the flotilla and headed back towards the lodge. Along the way, we stopped a couple of times to see groups of roosting proboscis monkeys and a pair of rhinoceros hornbills.
Best time to visit the Kinabatangan River
March to early September are the driest months. This is a great time to see wildlife near the Kinabatangan river. From April to October is a good period for bird lovers as it is the flowering and birding season.
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Where to stay?
1. KINABATANGAN WETLANDS RESORT
During our visit, we stayed at the Kinabatangan Wetlands Resort, which is probably the most exclusive resort in the area. It is a charming resort tucked in the wilderness of Lower Kinabatangan surrounding the pristine freshwater swamps and mangrove forest. The area is recognized internationally as an important wetland area and an attraction for people who find solace in the presence of the wilds and its stunning wildlife.
The resort boasts 4 twin share rooms at its’ Longhouse Cabin which caters for traveller’s on a budget and requiring basic facilities. In addition to this, KWR has 10 spaciously designed Deluxe chalets for guests wanting more privacy, exclusivity and more facilities.
2. NATURE LODGE KINABATANGAN
Nature Lodge Kinabatangan (NLK) is located within Kampung Bilit, a village along Kinabatangan river and takes its name from the white trunked-kabilit trees found in the nearby forest. We are easily accessible by car, and this village consists of only 150-180 people from about 30 households. These villagers are mainly Orang Sugei (literally means River People) who make the living from fishing and making crafts work such as fishnets and boats. They will later sell their crafts to the nearby villages.
3. SAKAU RAINFOREST LODGE
Sukau Rainforest Lodge offers the rare comfort and luxury in the midst of the Borneo Rainforest whilst retaining an Eco-Lodge ethos, the delicate balance of true sustainability.
The Lodge has 20 superior rooms and 20 villas.
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