Borneo

During winter break 2024, Josh and I booked an 8 day tour with G Adventures to Malaysian Borneo. To be honest, I didn’t even know where Borneo was when we moved to Vietnam. I also didn’t realize you could book a tour there. The island of Borneo is made up of 3 countries, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunai.

Here was our tour route:

Kota Kinabalu ->Kota Belud
Kota Belud -> Sungai Kinabatangan
Sungai Kinabatangan->Sepilok
Sepilok ->Sandakan
Sandakan -> Kota Kinabalu

Kota Belud Tambatuon Village

A homestay on top of a fish tank in a rice field with a view of Mt. Kinabalu in Borneo. Our guide was very passionate about helping local people benefit from tourism. He supported this villager’s idea to convert his modest home into a lodging spot even though the neighbors said nobody would ever want to come to their village.

Sungai Kinabatangan

3 Days in the jungle on a wide brown river. On safari in the wilds of Borneo. We went on 4 boat safaris, 2 night walks, and one jungle trek. Guide suggested soccer socks over the pants to keep the leeches out, which did work but the mosquitos got through the two layers and turned my legs into hamburger. We saw so many monkeys, birds, crocodiles, spiders, one wild orangutan, and a snake.

We paid good money to carry a baby tree into the jungle and dig in the mud to plant it like a couple of big dorks.

The jungle trek was especially challenging with the standing water, mud, and enormous mosquitoes that penetrated all layers of clothing except plastic ponchos and rainwear. I thought a lot about Australian and British POWs that were marched through the jungle on Borneo by the Japanese had how they all perished.

Sepilok

Orang Utan Sanctuary

Sun bears, monkeys, and orangutan conservation area in Borneo. I know they are just specks with my phone camera, I was so moved by watching them for hours. One of the park volunteers at the orangutan park said, see them while they are still here because they probably won’t be around for much longer.

Sun Bear Sanctuary

Libaran Island “Turtle Island”

Sea turtles come every night to lay eggs. Folks stay up all night watch for them and collect the eggs to put them in a hatchery area to protect them. I think they never stop smoking cigarettes either. 17 turtles came in the one night we were there. The beach is patrolled by armed police watching for poachers. There is less an 1% survival rate for the cute lil babies skittering to the sea. What a crazy existence for all.