Borneo safari

By Jayne Francis and Michael Parker

Borneo is not only the third largest island in the world, but it is also one of the most unique places on Earth. Its nearly 750,000 square kilometres are home to an incredible variety of habitats, from dense tropical rainforest to the complex coral reef systems found along the coasts. The island is known as one of the world’s biodiversity hot spots as it is home to some of the rarest and unique animals on Earth. Iconic species such as orangutans, pygmy elephants and proboscis monkeys coexist in the rich jungles, but there is also an incredible abundance of birdlife. More than 400 species of birds are found in Borneo, including eight different species of hornbill.

Our 14 day, small group photographic safari with National Geographic took us to Sepilok, the Kinabatangan River, Tabin Wildlife Resort and Danum Valley.

Our first encounter with the orangutan was at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, founded in 1964 to rehabilitate orphan orangutans. The site is 43 sq km of protected land at the edge of Kabili Sepilok Forest Reserve. Today around 60-80 orangutans are living free in the reserve. When we encountered a mother and baby in the tree canopy, it was breathtaking. They are gentle and inquisitive and make eye contact with you as they munch on their leaves and go about their business.

They generally lope through the canopy with ease for such big animals, making them easy to track and follow.

The Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre is a sun bear rescue and rehabilitation facility in Sabah. The Malayan sun bears are the smallest bears in the world and are only found in Southeast Asia. These bears continue to be threatened by forest degradation, illegal hunting for bear parts and poaching to obtain young cubs for pets. The facility represents one man’s passion and dedication to these very cute bears. Between 40 and 50 bears reside at the facility and they have excellent success in rehabilitating the bears back into the wild.

From Sepilok, we moved deep into the jungle up the Kinabatangan River. Our accommodation was at Sukau Rainforest Lodge, one of the National Geographic unique lodges of the world. Our hardwood bure was nestled amongst the forest and connected to others and the main lodge by raised boardwalks over the forest floor. From the lodge, we ventured out on day and night river cruises, searching for orangutans, pygmy elephants, silvered langurs, hornbills, proboscis monkeys, slow loris, tarsiers, civets and much more. The orangutans were in the trees around our accommodation too, so we spent all of our downtime watching these magnificent animals.

Proboscis monkeys are endemic to the jungles of Borneo, never straying far from the island’s rivers, coastal mangroves and swamps. They are a highly arboreal species and will venture onto land only occasionally to search for food. They live in organised harem groups consisting of a dominant male and two to seven females and their offspring. Male proboscis monkeys use their fleshy pendulous noses to attract mates. Scientists think these outsize organs create an echo chamber that amplifies the monkey’s call, impressing females and intimidating rival males.

The Sunda Coluga, also known as the Malayan flying lemur, is not a lemur and does not fly! Instead, it glides as it leaps between the trees. It is strictly arboreal, active at night and feeds on soft plant parts such as young leaves, shoots, flowers and fruit. After a 60-day gestation period, a single offspring is carried on the mother’s abdomen by a large skin membrane.

The Borneon orangutan is the only genus of great ape native to Asia. Orangutans share approximately 97% of their DNA with humans (and when you get up close and look into their eyes, you just know you are related).

The Bornean orangutan is a critically endangered species with deforestation, palm oil plantations and hunting posing a serious threat to its continued existence. The orangutan population in Borneo has declined by more than 50% over the past 60 years. The species’ habitat has been reduced by at least 55% over the past 20 years.

...Borneo Safari

By Jayne Francis and Michael Parker

The Gomantong Caves are renowned for their valuable edible swiftlet nests harvested for bird’s nest soup (a tradition since 500 AD). Twice a year, from February to April and July to September, locals with licences climb to the cave’s roof (90m) using only rattan ladders, ropes and bamboo poles and collect the nests. The collection is governed by a wildlife protection act and is timed to allow the swiftlets to nest and fledge their young before the nests are harvested.

Tabin Wildlife Reserve covers an area of 122,500 hectares in eastern Sabah. Tabin was declared a protected area in 1984, primarily due to three of the largest mammals found in Sabah: the Borneo pygmy elephant, Sumatran rhinoceros and banteng (a species of wild cattle).

The pygmy elephants of Borneo are baby-faced with oversized ears, plump bellies and tails so long they sometimes drag on the ground when they walk. They are also more gentle-natured than their Asian elephant counterparts.

We had the privilege to visit Tam, one of the two surviving Sumatran rhino in Malaysia. We were able to help feed him and learn about the efforts to save this critically endangered species. Unfortunately, Tam and Iman (the only female rhino in Malaysia) passed away in the following year, making the species locally extinct. About eighty rhinos exist in neighbouring Indonesian Borneo.

Borneo is home to several different cat species. The Asian palm civets lead a solitary lifestyle, except for brief periods during mating. They are both arboreal and terrestrial and active from late evening until after midnight. The leopard cat is about the size of a domestic cat but with longer legs and well-defined webs between its toes.

Our last stop was the Danum valley conservation area, a 438 sq km tract of relatively undisturbed forest in Sabah. It has an extensive diversity of tropical flora and fauna, including orangutans, gibbons, mousedeer, clouded leopards and over 270 bird species.

In the forests of Tabin and Danum, we had our first exposure to tiger leeches. They hang out on the leaves, sense you as you brush past and attach themselves to any bare bit of skin. They inject an anticoagulant into you, so it bleeds quite a bit if you do land one. We quickly learnt the technique of winding them around your finger and flicking them off like a bogey! Our leech socks were invaluable, but the leeches still managed to find a few other places.

The Bornean Rainforest Lodge Canopy walk was designed to be treefriendly without rigging any steel cables directly onto the trees. The platforms are between 15-25m above the ground (less than halfway up the dipterocarp and mengaris trees) and provide a fantastic place to view the 130 million-year-old virgin jungle canopies and the animals and birds moving amongst them.

Our accommodation in Danum was superb, with a fabulous view and a spa bath on the balcony to soak in after our hikes. As in the other locations, the wildlife was right outside our door, giving us lots of time to marvel at the experience.

Endemic to the jungles of Borneo, the red leaf monkeys are named for their shaggy auburn coats. These charismatic old-world primates live in bands of two to thirteen individuals, led by a dominant male and spending nearly all of their time in the trees.

And then there were the birds, the reptiles, amphibians, insects and butterflies: such incredible diversity and a photographer’s dream.

We took a range of lenses, with the super-telephoto being the most used but the wide-angle for the rainforest and macro for the unique insects and amphibians also had good workouts. We learnt not to let our camera gear get too cold in the air conditioning as it steamed up instantly once outside. The rainforest challenged our shooting in low light skills, especially where there was action.

National Geographic couldn’t be faulted for the tour led by a professional guide and photographer. A local guide joined us with all the local information on the wildlife in the area and their current movements at each location. To be with a group of like-minded people who were all keen photographers, learning and developing as we went, was brilliant. In fourteen days, we saw more wildlife, up close and personal, than we could have hoped for. We experienced the struggle between human progress and wildlife habitat destruction first hand and witnessed the devastation being created by the palm oil plantations. We were uplifted by the government and private interventions trying to maintain a balance and preserve these endangered animals. Ecotourism is a great way to contribute to the cause. Small group specialised safaris aren’t cheap, but our takeaways from this experience were priceless. We have made lifelong friends with Charlie, our guide, and some of the tour group ̶ and gone on to do other safaris with some of them.