Borneo — The Island of Superlatives - 3
Jungle adventure
Having conquered the heights of Mount Kinabalu and explored the depths of the Celebes sea, the last part of my Sabahan sojourn focused on wildlife. We drove from Lahad Datu to the Danum Valley Field Centre located in a 130 million year old rainforest. Even as we entered the forest, we saw wild boars, a cobra, long-tailed macaques and a lot of pygmy elephant dung.
Borneo has unbelievable biodiversity with several endemic species and among the fastest rates of evolution in the world. Here the mammals are diminutive and the insects are huge.
With our great guide Bong and our group comprising an Australian and a charming and brilliant English family of five, we were ready to explore the jungle over three days.
A tryst with a rare primate
The field centre, as its name suggests, usually hosts scientists and researchers but sometimes allows visitors to stay here. There are dormitories and rooms but far from each other. After checking in at the centre’s headquarters, we went to our dorm to leave our things and walked a kilometre or so to the dining area to meet the group. There were only three of us in the dorm. Next to this building our guide showed me orang utan nests built high up in the trees. He also took me down to a river behind the building to see a green pit viper. I was impressed at seeing so much even though I had barely just arrived.
On our many walks and drives during the day and at night we experienced the magic of this marvellous rainforest. On our first walk to a 400-year old Dusun tribe burial site we were extremely fortunate to cross paths with a female orang utan and her baby barely 20 minutes in. We were absolutely enchanted by this chance meeting.
She crossed the path on the trees above us and made her way into the forest but then stopped, looked back and returned towards us and went off in another direction.
We also saw claw marks of the endangered sun bear on a tree. We reached the burial site of the Dusun tribe where 400-year old coffins made of belian wood or Borneo ironwood and jars can be seen. The indigenous Orang Sungai or the ‘River People’ used caves as special places for burial. On the way back, we also saw shy red leaf monkeys, oriental pied and rhinoceros hornbills and several birds. Back at the centre, we were treated to a delicious dinner. It was December 31st so we celebrated the evening with some beer and three of us walked back to our dorm while the others returned to their rooms next door.
A day and night in nature’s lap
The next morning after breakfast, we crossed a suspended bridge over the river and walked through the jungle past gigantic Dipterocarpus trees. I felt tiny walking past these ancient giants. On the way I saw interesting creatures like pill millipedes which roll up if you touch them and several types of mushrooms including pinkish-orange cup mushrooms. It was a constant battle to keep leeches away. We reached the banks of the river in a clearing in the thick jungle and some of us decided to climb a big rock in the middle of it. While trying some acrobatics I fell into the water and was wet all through the rest of our walk!
After lunch, some of us went on another walk with Bong where we saw a tarantula’s hole in a tree trunk and a tiny brown snake camouflaged in the brown leaves on the forest floor.
We then reached a clearing in the forest where some huge, white, translucent spotted butterflies flitted around us as if we were in a fairy tale.
We watched the sunset from the suspended bridge as rhinoceros hornbills flew above us and deer called from below. Suddenly, a flying squirrel jumped across from one tree to another. It was yet another enchanting moment here.
The night walk
One of the most unique experiences in Danum Valley was the night walk. My friends from the dorm did not want to join me so I went with Bong and the English family. The walk began with beady spider eyes shining like diamonds in our torch lights. We then saw a couple of frogs and birds sleeping on branches above. It was not scary since the forest lacks large predators but there were a fair share of creepy insects like Huntsman spiders and poisonous Scolopendra centipedes.
The sky lit up with a billion stars and as I walked back alone to my room, a kilometre away in the pitch dark, what looked like a leopard cat stared at me, followed by other unrecognisable felines and deer. I continued walking as I heard other creatures in the distance. As I approached the dormitory, the sounds grew louder. The anticlimax revealed itself soon enough when I recognised my friends laughing as I reached the dorm.
The next morning we woke up early and drove under a starry sky to a tower on a hill. The thick jungle spread out below us as far as the eye could see as the sun rose and lit up the misty morning.
Danum Valley is a veritable lung of our planet and I hope humans see reason and stop burning it down in the name of economic development. Our greed for palm oil is killing vital habitats of rare and highly endangered species.
Meeting another primate
The trip ended in Sandakan from where one can visit an orang utan centre in Sepilok and a proboscis monkey centre in Labuk Bay. We went to the latter where we first saw silvered leaf monkeys and a hornbill, had lunch and were shown a documentary about proboscis monkeys. Most of the others in the group including the guide fell asleep in the dark room! Later, we got close to the these unique creatures in their mangrove habitat, beautiful despite their awkward, enlarged noses which males use to attract mates. The blue-faced babies clung to their mothers while the big-nosed alpha males fought off others to stay in control of their harems.
From the park, we returned to Sandakan and left for the airport. My trip to Borneo was an absolute success thanks to the cooperative weather and not least, the kindness and generosity of the smiling Sabahans.
Borneo — The Island of Superlatives — 1
Borneo — The Island of Superlatives — 2
Getting there
Lahad Datu is the closest place to Danum Valley and is accessible by bus from Semporna where there is an airport. It is possible to book a stay in either the Danum Valley Field Centre or the more expensive Borneo Rainforest Lodge and arrange to be picked up by them in Lahad Datu.
Sandakan has an airport but is also accessible by bus from other cities in Sabah.
Hi, I am Prajwal Madhav. I hope you enjoy my posts.
