Borneo Wildlife Adventure: 8 Days — Sepilok Orangutans, Kinabatangan River & Deramakot

Tour Overview

Itinerary Highlights

Day 1: Arrive Sandakan — Gate to Borneo’s Wild Heart

Arrive Sandakan Airport on Sabah’s east coast. Sandakan was once the capital of British North Borneo — a wealthy timber port that was completely destroyed in WWII. Today it’s a sleepy waterfront town and the launch point for Borneo’s greatest wildlife encounters. Afternoon: visit the Agnes Keith House, the colonial home of the American writer who chronicled Borneo life in “Land Below the Wind.” The house on a hill offers panoramic views of Sandakan Bay. Evening: seafood dinner at the waterfront. Overnight in Sandakan.

Day 2: Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre — Our Red Apes

Morning: Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre — established in 1964, the world’s first and most famous orangutan sanctuary. Set within 43 sq km of protected lowland rainforest, Sepilok rescues orphaned and displaced orangutans, teaching them the skills they need to return to the wild. The morning feeding platform is an unforgettable experience: orangutans swing in through the canopy, mothers carrying babies clinging to their chests, juveniles showing off acrobatics on ropes. They share 97% of our DNA — watching their hands, their expressions, the deliberateness of their movements is like looking into a mirror. The centre also houses sun bears (the world’s smallest bear, with a golden chest patch) at the adjacent Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. Afternoon: Rainforest Discovery Centre — canopy walkways 25m above the forest floor, eye level with hornbills, giant squirrels, and the seemingly infinite diversity of Borneo’s dipterocarp forests. Overnight at Sepilok.

Day 3: Kinabatangan River — Wildlife Safari by Boat

Morning drive 2 hours to the Kinabatangan River — Borneo’s second-longest river (560km) and one of the world’s richest ecosystems. Board small boats for your first river safari. The Kinabatangan is a wildlife superhighway, and in just 2 hours on the water you might see: proboscis monkeys (the males with their absurd pendulous noses and pot bellies, endemic to Borneo), long-tailed and pig-tailed macaques, silvered langurs, monitor lizards basking on logs, and multiple species of hornbills — rhinoceros hornbills, oriental pied hornbills, and the helmeted hornbill with its solid casque (its “ivory” has made it a target of poachers). Crocodiles slide into the water. At dusk, a second river safari — this time searching for Bornean pygmy elephants, the world’s smallest elephants, which migrate along the river corridor. Overnight at a Kinabatangan jungle lodge.

Day 4: Kinabatangan — Oxbow Lakes & Night Safari

Dawn river cruise: the river at sunrise is misty and magical, wildlife at its most active. Hornbills fly overhead with their distinctive whooshing wingbeats (caused by air passing through their primary feathers). After breakfast: jungle walk to an oxbow lake — these abandoned river meanders have become self-contained ecosystems, excellent for birdwatching. Storm’s storks, lesser adjutants, and the magnificent crested serpent eagle are common. Afternoon: visit Gomantong Caves — a cathedral-like limestone cave system home to millions of bats and swiftlets whose nests (made entirely of saliva) are the source of bird’s nest soup. The cave floor writhes with an ecosystem of cockroaches, centipedes, and cave racer snakes that feed on the constant rain of guano — not for the squeamish, but an extraordinary natural spectacle. Night drive after dinner: spotlighting for nocturnal species — slow loris, civets, flying squirrels, and the elusive clouded leopard if fortune smiles. Overnight at Kinabatangan lodge.

Day 5: Kinabatangan to Danum Valley — Ancient Rainforest

Morning drive 4 hours to Danum Valley Conservation Area — 438 sq km of primary rainforest that has never been logged, never settled, completely pristine. This is some of the oldest rainforest on Earth (130 million years). Danum Valley has the highest concentration of wildlife in Borneo: all 10 of Borneo’s primate species, 340+ bird species, clouded leopards, sun bears, and the elusive Bornean rhinoceros. The forest is cathedral-like — dipterocarp trees tower 70m, their trunks buttressed like flying buttresses in Gothic architecture. Check into the Borneo Rainforest Lodge, consistently rated one of the world’s best wildlife lodges. Afternoon jungle walk with a naturalist — they read the forest like a book: scratch marks on trees (sun bear), fruiting fig trees (hornbill gathering point), territorial calls (gibbons). Overnight in Danum Valley.

Day 6: Danum Valley — Canopy Walk & Waterfall

Morning: canopy walkway 27m above the forest floor, reaching a platform where you’re at eye level with the forest giants. The perspective shift is profound — this is where most of Borneo’s life actually happens, in the canopy, invisible from the ground. Hornbills, giant squirrels, gibbons, and orangutans move through this aerial realm. Afternoon: trek to the Danum River and a series of natural pools and waterfalls for a rainforest swim. Evening: night drive — Danum Valley’s night is more alive than most places’ daytime. With luck, see the Western tarsier (eyes larger than its brain, rotating head 180 degrees), the slow loris (the world’s only venomous primate), or the incredibly rare clouded leopard. Overnight in Danum Valley.

Day 7: Danum Valley — Morning Trek & Lahad Datu

Final dawn trek: the gibbons’ morning chorus at Danum is one of the great wildlife sounds — their whooping territorial calls echo through the canopy for kilometers, a sound that has resonated here since before humans walked upright. After breakfast, drive to Lahad Datu, then fly back to Kota Kinabalu. Evening: sunset at the waterfront night market. Farewell dinner of Sabahan specialties — hinava (raw fish ceviche with lime and ginger), bambangan (wild mango pickle), and fresh seafood. Overnight in Kota Kinabalu.

Day 8: Departure

Morning at leisure — perhaps visit the Mari Mari Cultural Village for a taste of Sabah’s indigenous cultures (Kadazan-Dusun, Rungus, Murut). Transfer to Kota Kinabalu Airport.

Included

• 7 nights (lodges + jungle resort + city hotel)
• All meals in Kinabatangan & Danum Valley
• Expert naturalist guide throughout
• All river safaris & night drives
• Sepilok Orangutan Centre & Sun Bear Centre entries
• Gomantong Caves entry
• Danum Valley canopy walkway
• Internal flight Lahad Datu-Kota Kinabalu
• All transfers