Dear zooboy28, do you want to go on with the travel notes? I enjoyed it a lot so far. And I am still waiting for the Bornean elephants.
I'm pretty lucky in that I generally have the luxury of time when I travel so I can wait around for a few days if need be, and also that's just how I prefer to travel anyway, with plans that are fluid rather than set in stone. The unexpected is fun. But I understand that other people don't want to or can't travel in such a way. It does seem to be a normal occurrance for emails to the Field Centre at Danum to get no response. The Rainforest Lodge at Danum would be a better choice if you need a firm arrangement - but it will cost a lot more to stay there because it is a resort. Tabin is probably around the same sort of price as the Rainforest Lodge, and would be equally easy to book through their website. Both these places have guides (probably included in the price, I'd say). There's also Deramakot which is best done through a tour company (you can do it alone but it is quite complicated), and so is likewise expensive. At the Danum Valley Field Centre they chop and change over whether guides are "required" in the forest, but they provide these anyway. All the places do night jeep safaris (and night walks).
Thanks @Deer Forest, I enjoyed writing it up! Unfortunately, I do not have time at present to write up any more, but hopefully I'll get a chance later in the year - probably after you are back from Borneo!
Hey that's where I stayed on a schooltrip to KK around 5 years ago (when I was 9 - at the time I lived in Brunei). Were the hammocks and the free ranging chickens still there? Was the muntjac ever in a mixed species enclosure with the rhino, or was it just Sambars? The aviary was also closed when I went in 2011/2012, it had been closed for months before as well Wasn't there a rhino in the roundabout with an oversized horn? @zooboy28 do you know if there have been any recent sightings of any cool mammal species in the Kinabatangan river. In 2008 the guide mentioned reports of wild bornean pygmy elephants, marbled cats and Sumatran rhinos within the past few months (although that was when there were more rhinos in Malaysia).
As far as I know, it was only ever Sambar. I don't remember the oversized horn, but there is a rhino. Here's a (flattering) photo: Lok Kawi Wildlife Park | Only In Borneo Tours & Travel Sadly, Sabah's rhinos have been extirpated. See trip reports here: Borneo - Mammal Watching
I didn't see any chickens or hammocks I don't think, just dogs and their pups. But it did look like the sort of place that large groups, like schools, would stay too. I think they still see elephants on a semi-regular basis - there are often photos of them posted on various lodges' Instagram accounts for example. But I doubt they see marbled cats anywhere near frequently, and (as @Giant Panda says) never rhinos.
Day Ten: We didn’t have to get up so early today, so after a little sleep in we headed down to the verandah for our last Bornean buffet breakfast at Sukau. This was my first experience of a “safari” lodge, and I guess it’s similar to what @Hix and others have experienced in Tanzania and elsewhere in Africa, and other ZooChatters in Asia and presumably further afield. Probably the main way in which it was different to how I expected was that it was quite social. There seemed to be three main “types” of visitor: young couples (i.e. us, who were generally quite interested in the wildlife), retired couples (who were somewhat less interested in the wildlife, and also interested in doing nothing), and families (who were interested in wildlife, but less common). They were also mostly western; at Sukau there were New Zealanders, Australians, Brits, Greeks, Swedes, Germans, Americans and Russians. And we talked to a lot of them, at mealtimes and on the cruises, especially those on the same schedule as us, which was cool. We also talked to the guides a lot, mostly our guide Rahman, but also Fernando (guide for the other group), and the boat captains. The guides were great at identifying species, and a few times Rahman would come and get me (as I was the most interested of our group in wildlife) to show me something he had spotted. But out on the boats I was (very surprisingly) as good as Rahman at spotting birds, unless he was not pointing them all out (which is possible, as the others were much less interested in birds, and we saw very few small birds on the water (although there probably weren’t that many to see anyway)). But he was still good at identifying everything (except damselflies), and was keen to chat about anything from animal behaviour to Wallace. Unfortunately, this was our last day with Rahman. After breakfast, we packed our gear onto a boat and (with the young American couple) bid farewell to Sukau. We headed slightly downstream to the opposite bank, from where we drove for a bit over an hour, mostly through oil palm plantations. Eventually we turned down a side road, which ended at the Gormantong Caves visitors centre. This included a few displays of local wildlife, especially the cave fauna, which I checked out while my partner met the local puppies and Rahman organised tickets. Then he led us down a wooden boardwalk into the rainforest, where we spotted a sooty-capped babbler and an orangutan. Eventually the boardwalk meandered into a clearing, with huts where the cave-workers stored ladders and other equipment. At the far end stood the vast entrance to the Simud Hitam Cave, the smaller of the two main caves in this massive system. These caves are the largest limestone caves in Borneo, and feature in many wildlife documentaries, including Planet Earth. The entrance was overhung with creepers and vines, and perched on one was a Wallace’s hawk-eagle. While there was little else stirring in the area, at dusk and dawn this would be a prime location for predatory birds. The boardwalk led in to the cave itself, and we donned face masks due to the overpowering stench of ammonia in the cave. This is caused by the deep piles of bat and bird guano covering the floor of the cave, as well as much of the boardwalk. In some places the guano is many metres deep. And it smelt really bad. We could see little of the creators of the guano, apart from a few Pacific swallows near the entrance, with the main culprits either roosting (the 27 bat species) or out for the day (three species of echo-locating swiftlets). Obviously visiting at sunrise or sunset would allow greater viewing as the occupants change-over. There were some swiftlets around, which we thought were black-nest swiftlets. The three swiftlet species each build distinct nests, with the black-nest and white-nest swiftlet’s nests harvested for bird’s nest soup. In addition to the guano creators, the caves also contain a range of other species, most of which rely on the swiftlets or bats. The most abundant of these were the swarming cockroaches that rendered the boardwalks even more slippery than with just the covering of guano, and the centipedes. They centipedes were brilliant, and scuttled across the cave walls on legs that seemed to circle their entire bodies. The boardwalk wound through the cave and looped back to the entrance, giving views of the central cavern, cave walls and ceiling, and a few holes that allowed shafts of light in to illuminate some sections. While this mid-morning visit meant we saw few species, it was definitely worth a visit. Our co-travellers had not come in to the cave, but had stayed near the visitor’s centre, where they saw maroon langurs, which had unfortunately vanished by the time we returned. We then drove to the eastern coastal town of Lahad Datu, the main settlement in the region. We had lunch here, before saying goodbye to Rahman and transferring to a van that took us westward, into the island’s interior – the rainforest of Danum Valley. This 2.5 hour trip that took us past farmland, oil palm plantations, and a few villages, before we headed up into the forest. Apart from a few macaques, egrets and water buffalo, there wasn’t much of interest until we got into the forest. Unexpectedly, it was along this road that we saw a major mammalian highlight, and one that we had not expected to see at all – Bornean pygmy elephants! There was a herd of about ten grazing in tall grass and bushes just off the road, and the van slowed and stopped briefly so we could get a decent view of these stunning creatures. This was the first time I have ever seen wild elephants, and it was a little intimidating, especially as the group was spread out and hidden amongst the vegetation. Despite being elephants they are certainly short! We stopped for less than a minute, as some of the herd (which included a number of young animals) were within ten metres of the van, but this was enough time to see the short coat of brown hair on their backs and note the agitation of some of the females. So an exciting if brief encounter with Borneo’s biggest animal! The road ahead offered a few additional sightings, although no more elephants, with the driver braking suddenly for water monitors, macaques and a changeable hawk-eagle. We also had to stop for an old bridge, which we walked across before the van drove carefully across. After an hour or so through the jungle we arrived at our destination, the Borneo Rainforest Lodge. This is a luxury lodge nestled on a riverbank in the heart of the Danum Valley, and is spectacular. The main lodge is a two-storey building, with a dining balcony that looks over gardens and the river, while an elevated boardwalk winds away from this past a series of stand-alone chalets. Welcome drinks and introductions to our guide followed, before we were taken to our chalet. Our hut had some views of the jungle, and was already occupied by a very large praying mantis! After evicting her from the bed, we settled in before heading out for a quick guided tour of the local forest. Our guide for our time at Danum was good, but had the unfortunate habit of describing some species based on how to catch and cook them, and what they tasted like. Not really what I wanted to hear about. Our first walk started well enough, although there were very few birds about and we were mostly shown the layout of the lodge area, the river, and the adjacent field camp. This was followed by a tremendous downpour from which there was no escaping and we all got thoroughly drenched. This spelled disaster for my small pocket camera, as I was unable to get it into a waterproof bag in time. My main camera was fine however, and the memory card from the smaller one salvageable, so that was a relief. It certainly signalled the end of that walk however. After drying off, a sumptuous buffet dinner was served at the lodge, which was spectacular – rivalling even the breakfast buffets previously detailed. However, the real treat was a little later, when we climbed onto the back of a flat-bed truck, and headed up the road to spotlight for wildlife. Quite how anyone spots anything in the dense forest at night is a mystery to me, especially given the noise the old truck was making, but at least the rain was well gone. The first animal spotted however was sitting in the middle of the road, and the truck had to stop and wait for it to move off – a grumpy looking Malay fish-owl. Further up the road the truck stopped suddenly when a civet, and then a mousedeer, were spotted briefly before disappearing into the undergrowth – I missed both. The guides were using powerful spotlights, and were also using these to scan the trees for squirrels, with Thomas’s and red-and-white giant flying squirrels seen in the overhanging canopies. Apparently these often glide away, but they stayed put that night. On the way back we saw a couple of sambar in the long grass, and stopped to observe a patch of bioluminescing fungus. This was faint, but beautiful and delicate, and stunning to see. We eventually arrived back at the lodge (again waiting for the fish-owl to get out of the way!) and it wasn’t long before we were in bed, thoroughly exhausted after a very long day. Borneo Wildlife Species Lists: Birds: 51 Sooty-capped Babbler Malacopteron affine 52 White-crowned Shama Copsychus stricklandi 53 Black-nest Swiftlet Aerodramas maximus 54 Changeable Hawk-Eagle Spizaetus cirrhatus Mammals: 13 Bornean Pygmy Elephant Elaphus maximus borneensis 14 Thomas's Flying Squirrel Aeromys thomasi 15 Red & White Giant Flying Squirrel Petaurista petaurista rajah 16 Sambar Rusa unicolor brookei
Day Eleven: We awoke early, and (after donning the much-hyped leech socks) headed to the main lodge where we met up with our guide and another couple to set off on a dawn walk through the jungle. There was a thick mist lying across the valley, with the tops of the tallest trees invisible. The still, relatively cool, air was unexpected but pleasant, although we started sweating as soon as we started walking up the road away from the lodge. Our first new species was a little spiderhunter, a gorgeous tiny bird that flitted between flowers and appears to share a similar niche to hummingbirds. These species are largely confined to Borneo, with 8 of the 9 species found here. They are a treat to watch, and I enjoyed watching their antics throughout the lodge gardens. We spotted a few other birds, including Asian black hornbills feeding in a large fig, below an orangutan nest. The highlight though was a banded broadbill, a striking species that perched low down near the road and allowed great views. Our walk continued on up the road, and there wasn’t just wildlife to see in the trees. The road is evidently used as a highway for all manner of animals, and we encountered a number of invertebrates crossing it in the mist. These included large numbers of ants, a few centipedes (similar or the same as the tractor centipede seen by @FunkyGibbon), and a trilobite beetle. This awesome little beast is actually a female beetle that retains its larval form even as an adult, while the males are flighted and approximately one-tenth the size. We had a good look at it, before moving it off the road. Eventually we reached the canopy walkway, where a bridge jutted out from a steep hillside to a trunk fifty metres away. At the trunk was a donut-shaped platform, with another bridge on the other side leading to another trunk. This walkway is very high, up to thirty metres above the ground, with the longest bridge about 77 metres long. It is a great spot to watch birds, and as the mist cleared we started to see a few about, although the low light made photography difficult. While we saw a few green imperial pigeons and more hornbills, the only new species up here was a whiskered tree-swift, essentially the avian version of an emperor tamarin. From here, we returned to the lodge for breakfast. The lodge overlooks the river and the steep, vegetated hill beyond the river looms high above, creating a tranquil, tropical backdrop. Between the lodge and river are gardens, well planted with native shrubs so as to attract wildlife. In addition to the spiderhunters, there were also a range of other birds here, with Pacific swallows and blue-throated bee-eaters the most apparent. Larger birds were also seen occasionally, such as oriental darters and egrets. The insect life was abundant, and there were also some reptiles (skinks) and mammals, with Prevost’s squirrels the most conspicuous. Further down at the river’s edge was a expanse of river rock, with a grassy clearing between that and the gardens. In this area were dusky munias and brown fulvettas, in addition to the ubiquitous sparrows. After breakfast, we set off on a different trail, one that took us across the river and up along the steep hill overlooking the lodge and the wider Danum Valley. This trail was rather ominously called the ‘Coffin Cliff Trail’. The forest through here was very wet, and the drizzle made it wetter still, but this was clearly ideal for the inhabitants. We looked under rocks and logs, and found a range of centipedes, millipedes, insects and some beautiful flatworms. There was also a great diversity of fungi here. The birds were harder to spot, and we only picked up a chestnut-rumped babbler for the first half hour or so. However, as we got higher my partner pointed out a little green bed perched off the side of the track – a green broadbill! This was an exciting bird to see, not only because of its excellent camouflage and general beauty, but because it was one of the few Bornean birds (and very few passerines) I’d previously seen in captivity. Definitely the birding highlight of this trek! The trail continued up a increasingly steep ridge, and eventually we reached a platform that looked out over the Danum River and Valley. Looking down on the primary rainforest below showed the emergent trees over the closed canopy. We could also get a great overview of the lodge, and the field research centre, from the platform. It was much more open up at the platform, and quite noisy, with heaps of cicadas (and a very large katydid). But the noisiest was a family of Bornean gibbons that we could hear down on the cliff below, but couldn’t actually see. We headed down the trail and took another path along to an exposed piece of limestone cliff. This was a sombre and quiet place, where hollows in the stone had been used as burial plots by the local people several hundred years ago. There were still signs of hardwood coffins in some of the spaces, and bones in others. It was a very interesting experience, and amazing to see the remnants of a local civilisation. We continued back down towards the lodge, stopping to look at some more centipedes before our guide stopped us and told us to be very still – there was a Draco ahead. These reptiles are more commonly known as flying lizards, and we lucky to see it actually glide closer to us and land on a nearby trunk, before scampering up a little and gliding away. It was surprisingly small and slender, and difficult to see in the air, but impressive nonetheless. As we crossed the river, we saw a group of long-tailed macaques and a lone great-billed heron, which was another life tick. We had lunch on the lodge verandah, and were lucky enough to be able to watch the trio of Bornean gibbons we had heard earlier in the cliff-side vegetation across the river. They weren’t easy to see, but very loud, and when they swung across on the vines they were quite visible. After lunch was another walk, although it was very hot by now, and the forest much quieter. There were occasional birds – including a yellow-bellied bulbul, rufous-crowned babbler, and a white-crowned shama that followed us for a bit. Eventually we found something a bit more substantial – a troop of red leaf monkeys or maroon langurs. These were feeding only a few metres up, and we followed them as they moved through the trees for a few minutes. One of our party discovered a leech at this point, but I remained leech-less, and somewhat disappointed about it. On our return to the main path, we again passed the large fig tree, and were excited to see a seventh species of hornbill – the critically endangered helmeted hornbill! There were three feeding in the fig, a pair and their juvenile offspring. The species is rare due to its solid casque, which is used for carvings as ‘hornbill ivory’. They are a rather ridiculous bird, with an odd head, extremely long tail with additional extensions, and a habit of falling between branches to move through a tree. They are endearing however, and we watched them for much longer than any other animal. They were definitely the highlight of Danum for me. The late afternoon was spent relaxing, and after another great dinner on the lodge verandah we set out for a night walk with our guide. This was a short walk in the immediate vicinity of the lodge, and we spotlighted for herps and inverts mainly. We also saw a few small birds sleeping, including a Malaysian blue flycatcher. The reptiles included geckos and dragons, although I couldn’t definitively identify any. The invertebrates included a range of beasts, from snails to lantern bugs. The spiders were the standouts however, including some very large tarantulas. We also visited the frog pond, where the inhabitants – file-eared tree frogs – were calling loudly. Nearby we stumbled across a greater mousedeer in the undergrowth, which was great to see before it vanished into the darkness. Overall, this was a very successful day of wildlife watching, and we were thoroughly exhausted afterwards! Borneo Wildlife Species Lists: Birds: 55 Little Spiderhunter Arachnothera longirostra 56 Banded Broadbill Eurylaimus javanicus 57 Whiskered Tree-swift Hemiprocne comata 58 Blue-throated Bee-Eater Merops viridis 59 Dusky Munia Lonchura fuscans 60 Brown Fulvetta Alcippe brunneicauda 61 Green Broadbill Calyptomena viridis 62 Chestnut-rumped Babbler Stachyris maculata 63 Great-billed Heron Ardea sumatrana 64 Yellow-bellied Bulbul Criniger phaeocephalus 65 Helmeted Hornbill Buceros vigil 66 Rufous-crowned Babbler Malacopteron magnum 67 Malaysian Blue Flycatcher Cyornis turcosus Mammals: 17 Bornean Gibbon Hylobates muelleri funereus 18 Red Leaf Monkey Presbytis rubicunda chrysea 19 Greater Mousedeer Tragulus napu boreanus
Given that this trip report has been underway for almost two years, I had to go and re-read the whole thing. Not that I'm complaining. It makes me want to go back to Borneo. I thought I'd also note that the Bornean Clouded Leopard which was seen at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park (at the start of the thread) died last year.
You shouldn't have to read it all again - I endeavour to complete the trip report very soon! Its sad about the clouded leopard, but it was a very poor cage for a big cat, so I hope they don;t replace it until they have built a new enclosure.
You'll have to wait and see... Everyone always told us to watch out for leeches, and made a big deal out of it, but I think it was just a way to sell leech socks!
Leech presence is kind of random. Some places they can be entirely absent, and other places like a plague. Partly it depends on how wet or dry it is. When I was at Danum there were absolutely loads of tiger leeches. The first time I went to Taman Negara in Peninsular Malaysia there were almost no leeches, but at other times they can be everywhere. On my last visit I was getting actual balls of leeches in my shoes (unable to get through the leech socks, so they were collecting under the tongues of my boots in their dozens).
I have heard some horror stories about leeches, including at Danum, and it was certainly wet there (although it did get very hot during the day too). We saw a few, but not many, so I don't think it had reached peak leech level while we were there.
