Wildlife with The Lens: The Kinatabatagan River in Borneo

Standing on a wooden dock watching muddy, sediment filled water swirl past me, I showed on exactly how thankful I was to be a temporary visitor to this land of amazing as well as endangered animals. My husband, Chris as well as I spent a week along the Kinabantagan River in Borneo, Malaysia. Drinking coffee as well as eating fried bananas at our lodge I felt like I was living in a genuine life documentary.

If you enjoy viewing wildlife or have ever wished to experience river cruising as the primary technique for spotting wildlife, this is the location to try.

Most of the surrounding landscape has been cleared for palm oil production. The result is the extremely restricted amount of rain forest left borders the river, therefore forcing the animals to congregate near the shore banks. Although animal sightings are never guaranteed, there is a extremely great possibility you can see some endangered animals unique to Borneo if you see this area.

We spent over two months checking out Borneo, Malaysia extensively. If you likewise desire to see wildlife in their natural habitat, book your plane ticket to Borneo as well as begin preparing. In the meantime, right here is a sampling of a few of the animals we saw.

More commonly heard than seen, hornbills crisscrossed over the river. Hornbills can really be rather difficult to area as they tend to hang out in the tops of tree. countless times I might half see a hornbill fly right over me, land in the canopy as well as have no method to really see the bird.

When they fly, their wings make this whishing noise that seems like a mini UFO flying overhead as well as you are lucky if you catch a great glimpse.

These red leaf monkeys were hanging out in the trees right outside of our B&B. They are endemic, or naturally discovered in Malaysian Borneo as well as Indonesia. After a while this infant got take on as well as went off racing with the treetops as well as would then hurry back to mom.

Bright as well as vibrant, this rufous king fisher darted with the forest. Acutely accurate, they will hang out on a branch just over the water. Their eyes can see with the murky brown water as well as when prey is spotted, they will dive down into the water so quickly that you can miss it in the blink of an eye.

A somewhat bigger predator however likewise simple to miss due to its capability to be extremely camouflaged, this saltwater crocodile basked on the shore. Wary of humans, these guys would squander bit time to slip themselves back into the water as well as seemingly vanish below the murky waters.

Aptly named for their short tail, these Pig Tailed Monkeys only made their appearance when for us. A medium-sized monkey with a stocky build, they have a brown coat with a lighter underside that can be seen as they move with the forest.

With both longer tails as well as longer noses, proboscis monkeys jumped from tree to tree. In the proboscis monkey world, the bigger the nose the better. The picture above is a male proboscis monkey. Tip: Bako national Park is one more excellent location to view proboscis monkeys

With impressive size, this screen lizard was walking along the muddy banks. screens lizards are typical to see, although to see one this huge is rare. This picture was taken from a boat, however these screens needn’t be feared, only respected. any type of screen lizard I have ever come across has always been extremely afraid of humans.

One of the icons of the Borneo rainforest, a herd of 30+ pygmy elephants passed through. We did not recognize it at the time, however we were extremely lucky to have such great sightings of elephants. Elephants will move around the area, crossing back as well as forth over the river as they graze as well as constantly look for the very best feeding grounds.

Spending time along the Kinabatangan River was one of our highlights of Borneo as well as seeing this wildlife was a lifelong dream fulfilled. I can keep in mind watching national geographic documentaries speaking about these unique animals as well as lastly I was able to see them very first hand.

That is what the power of travel does for us – it enables us to take ourselves to locations we had previously only ever dreamed of.

Read More: Borneo On a budget plan – 2 national Parks to see Independently

Traveller Tips:

We stayed at two different locations along the Kinabatangan River.

We very first opted to go on an organized tour with Nasalis. When we got to Kota Kinabalu as well as walked around town, so many of the offers were crazy expensive. Nasalis had the very best offer running at $428 RM pp 3D/2N.

This included four river cruises, two night walks, all your meals, deliver as well as lodging in a four bed dorm (you could always upgrade if you want.) For our preliminary two nights we did this as well as were extremely delighted with them. I don’t understand if the promotion is long running, however at least that provides you a base idea.

After our stay with Nasalis at Nature Lodge Kinabatangan we went further down the road as well as stayed at Greenview B&B. This was, from what we found, one of the very best budget plan choices along the river.

For a nice personal space with bathroom as well as AC we paid ~$30 USD per night. most other lodges along the river were a great deal more than this. The people at Greenview were so nice, the space was clean, great AC, hot shower as well as there was wifi at the dining area.

Cruise costs were $60RM pp as well as might either do early morning, afternoon or night cruise. We did all of them since different animals are active at different times. If you are going on several cruises, ask the office since they will likely provide you a discount.

They likewise had trekking as well as night hikes on offer, however we didn’t do any type of there so I can’t speak to that.

Breakfast is included as well as just let the reception understand if you would like to order buffet lunch ($20RM) or dinner ($25RM)

There are several other little restaurants close-by as well as a excellent method to spread the tourist dollar around by supporting them as well. There were likewise a great number of homestays along that road. If this interests you, inspect out the Tourism Malaysia directory. If you go this route, I would book 1-2 nights to make sure you enjoy the homestay you are at. If not, then you can move somewhere else, as well as if you like it you can prolong your stay.

For transport, Greenview will bring you out to the end of the road for $25 RM pp. You can grab a bus heading north back to Sandakan or south to Semporna. If you understand the day before, the office can book your ticket to Semporna. If not, just get any type of bus to Lahad Datu ($10 RM) as well as from there get a mini bus to Semporna for $25 or $29 RM.

Also, it’s worth discussing prior to going to Borneo, I had no concept what our everyday budget plan would be to have a few of these wildlife experiences. In the month of July we spent 26 of 30 days in a national park as well as still handled to keep a budget plan of about $26 USD per person. You can inspect out the details right here if you are interested.

Enjoy as well as please let us understand if there are any type of concerns we can assist with! ?

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