Danum Valley weekend

[jmharack]

Kit, Thanks so much for such a detailed report. I love your photos and the videos are really fun to watch. Din sounds like a great guide -- had you requested him in advance, and had you requested a private guide? Thanks!

[Thursday's Child]

@@Kitsafari Interesting comments - you took a while to think about going to Borneo because it's so close - whereas we took a while because it's so far! I think that a lot of people in the UK would see Borneo as more 'exotic' than some parts of Africa. I also think that it's easy for all of us to take for granted what 's in our own backyard.

[Kitsafari]

@@pault i can't comment on planet of the apes - somehow i just find it hard to immerse myself in a movie where humans dress in ape clothes and then humanize the apes. i know it is just science-fi but well......hopefully they portrait the apes as intelligent and kind, not evil and all out to conquer earth!

[Kitsafari]

@@jmharack we did get a private guide and we had requested for Din, but having been there, you don't really need a private guide. i think Kittykatuk23 didn't ask for a private guide but requested for a guide specialised in birding. so you probably can request for Din, and they'll try to put you into his group. each group is only 6 guests to one guide.

[Kitsafari]

@@michael-ibk i know what you mean. Africa or even India has the big mammals and the predators that are the big attractions. where we went, it is more the small mammals, and the rainforests make it very much harder for wildlife sightings. but it does provide a great contrast to and balance the eco diversity that you find in africa. i guess, in a way, it provides a complementary complete picture to wildlife for big and small creatures.

[pault]

@@pault i can't comment on planet of the apes - somehow i just find it hard to immerse myself in a movie where humans dress in ape clothes and then humanize the apes. i know it is just science-fi but well......hopefully they portrait the apes as intelligent and kind, not evil and all out to conquer earth!

Hahaha. They don't dress up any more. I believe the apes are intelligent but in general not very kind (although I haven't seen the latest one). However, the orang-utan character in the first was a kind, gentle and rather wise character, which is why I mentioned it (tongue in cheek, but who knows - it is a positive image).

[jeremie]

Really nice report. It seems Danum is a really nice place to spot orang utans!!!! For sure better than Kinabatangan to see the big apes!

Do you know if the research center is far away from the lodge? Is wildlife as good than in the Borneo rainforest lodge?

[kittykat23uk]

@@jeremie it's not too far. If you read my trip report from post 69 onwards I went to both and have compared them:

 

http://safaritalk.net/topic/12548-birds-beasts-and-bugs-trekking-in-sabah-borneo/page-4

 

Wildlife is similar in what you can hope to see. We got excellent sightings of orangutans at both plus a plethora of other wildlife including at BRL colugo, large tree shrew, Malay civet, Malay weasel. In DVFC we saw banded linsang, banded palm civet, malay civet, Bornean tarsier. Red leaf monkeys at both but more frequent at DVFC.

 

At Tabin we got lots of common palm civets, lots of leopard cats, gibbon and slow loris, plus our only Pygmy elephants of the trip.

 

On Kinabatangan we saw several troops of proboscis monkeys, orangutan, gibbon, Malay civet, Silver leaf monkeys.

[jeremie]

@kittykat23uk

 

Thanks! I'll go and see your report!!!!

[Kitsafari]

@@jeremie thanks for all the likes! sorry I came to this late but @@kittykat23uk has already answered your questions! the research centre and the lodge are just about half an hour apart in a car. she's been to the places you mentioned. we stayed too short to see the wide range of species but if you stay longer or stretch into both places and Kinabatangan, you'll increase your chances of seeing more. as in africa, it really boils down to luck too. no guarantee that you get to see what you want to see!

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@Kitsafari

 

What an incredible scene...and an especially witty caption!

I've never seen anything like that before, aside from the I-5 and 405 freeways in Los Angeles.

Almost military precision, like a parade in review for a visiting sovereign.

Very glad that you spotted, photographed and posted that.

Tom K.