Danum Valley - Sabah

As many of you know, we recently visited Borneo during Brenna's term break.  We flew from KL to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo (which is also shared with Indonesia and Brunei).  Sabah & Sarawak states are referred to as "East Malaysia" since they are east of the main peninsula of Malaysia.  Kota Kinabalu (a/k/a KK) is a great small city located on the extreme eastern tip of the Bornean island.  Like most cities in Borneo, it has excellent diving/ snorkelling sites offshore as well as a variety of tropical forest habitats from mangroves to the huge dipterocarp forests (the family of tree the redwoods are part of).  Although an interesting city by it's own right, KK's main attraction is Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak in SE Asia at just over 12,000 ft.  Most days you cannot even see the peak as it is shrouded in clouds after about 9:00 AM.  We were very tempted by the climb, but with Rox's bum hip and the fact that it requires an overnight stay at a small resthouse, we decided it was too much for this trip.  So instead, we spent one day exploring the town, visiting the Sunday Market and a few shops along the waterfront before returning to our hotel for a nice relaxing swim in the oceanside pool. 

The next morning, we flew to Lahad Datu, a very small town that serves as the "gateway" to the Danum Valley and Tabin Wildlife Reserve.  Upon arrival at the tiny airport (smaller than Bar Harbor airport!), we were met by the drivers from the Borneo Rainforest Lodge and taken to the local office to confirm our reservation and sign waivers for the outdoor activities we'd signed up for.  Then it was into the truck for a 2.5 hour drive deep into the forest.  The first 1/4 of the trip was on paved road, but this quickly gave way to a narrow gravel track at the edge of town and we were in for another 2 hours of bumping, twisting and turning to reach the lodge-the only commercial property anywhere in the Danum Valley conservation area.  We finally arrived and were thrilled to see the beautiful main building set in the midst of a pristine dipterocarp forest.   Our cabin was comfortable, clean and situated right next to the Danum River.  Despite having no air conditioning, it was quite comfortable with the ceiling fan, screened windows and sliding doors opening onto a good sized porch facing the river.  We spent most of our afternoons on this porch, some days filling the outdoor tub with cool water and treating it as our own miniature pool while the afternoon rains came down.  These rains made the overnight temps much cooler and it was terrific to hear nothing but cicadas and other night noises to fall asleep to.  Our stay was just fantastic, with lots of jungle trekking, a night drive and a night walk.  The treks were always with a guide (or two) and two walks really stand out....the first was a morning "canopy walk" on rope/ chain link/ wooden bridges suspended up in the treetops about 60-70 ft off the ground.  What a beautiful way to view the forest and see the magnificent trees up close.

Brenna will tell you she was terrified, but she did great and we think it was just her tendency to dramatize everything.  The next real standout walk was a hike up to the "coffin cliff" and overlook point about 1000 ft up one of the mountains.  The coffin cliffs were just that, a series of niches and holes in the side of the mountain that were used by the local tribes as a sort of mausoleum for one of their greatest leaders.  They placed the wooden coffin in a small cave to give him a view of the rainforest in the afterworld.  Further up at the overlook point, the trees opened up and all we could see was untouched rainforest for miles.  It was just beautiful...

We could see the lodge far below...

This hike took quite a bit out of Rox as there were a lot of ups and downs and her hips were screaming by the end of it.  After this climb, we stayed closer to the ground and much shorter distances, yet they were no less rewarding as we got to see a variety of wildlife from beautiful birds (including a pair of rhinoceros hornbills flying over our cabin each morning), amazing insects like giant millipedes and whip scorpions, frogs, deer, civet cats, black sqirrels, butterflies, gliding lizards, giant flying squirrels and even the resident orang-utan (it's two words in Malay, from the words meaning "forest person").  "Abu" as he was named by the guides, was a mature male orang-utan with big cheek pads.  We observed him on two walks and it was fascinating to watch one of these rare primates in it's native habitat.  For this photo, he was about 80 ft up in one of the trees.

There were also "icky" things like tarantulas and leeches (leech socks were a must and we still managed to get a couple on our hands.  One even fell into Chris' hair on one walk), but it was still fascinating.  We cannot say enough about this experience.  It was hot and humid, but so worth it, we would go back in a hearbeat.  We highly recommend this for anyone who ever gets the chance and are grateful for the experience!

If you're interested in seeing more photos (and have not already received Rox's shutterfly album), just let us know and we're happy to share.  Bye for now...