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Borneo April 2015: Primates, Pygmy Elephants and much more….


TonyQ

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@@Treepol

We enjoyed the time on the river and I could have happily spent another day there.

It depends on your priorities and how long you have available

 

I was talking to MrsQ about your question this morning and about what other factors might help.

One is that the company that runs the 2 lodges we stayed at run a number of packages and the "drives" seem to follow a set pattern. If you were staying longer you might want to talk to them about how that woud be arranged. Another factor is that people visiting the lodges have differing levels of interest in wildlife (so for example a number with no binoculars). If staying longer I might enquire about the possibility of a day with a private guide and boat so that you could concentrate on what you wanted to look for and stay with it as long as you wanted). I wasn't aware of this as an option when we were there (and to be fair we didn't need it) - but it could be worth enquiring. Junior was our only guide - so I can't comment on any of the others - but he was very skilled, had good knowledge and was very personable.

 

Abai Lodge is on a section of the river by itself, Kinabatangan River Lodge is at Sakau - and there are a number of other lodges here. Bilit is a bit further up the river (but obviously we have not been there). There are also other activities you can do (such as the caves that @kittykat23uk went to - we didn't go - I don't like caves!).

 

The two lodges we went to are fairly basic (though there are lodges that are much more so). But you have stayed at places like Rio Claro in the Pantanal so you would be fine - probably a similar level. They are not like top African lodges. The food was OK and plentiful at Abai, and good and plentiful at Kinabatangan. (And we are difficult customers - do not eat meat, do eat fish). Borneo Rainforest Lodge in Danum Valley is a much higher level lodge with excellent food but it is much more expensive than these river lodges. (we stayed in a deluxe room at BRL as suggested by @@Kitsafari - an excellent choice if you can afford it).

 

We got a boat transfer from Sandakan to Abai (see previous post for timings) - whe we left Kinabatangan to go to Danum we had a road transfer to Lahad Datu and then another transfer to Danum Valley. I will put a bit more about that in the next section.

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Continued

We have a good breakfast, say goodbye and thank you to Junior and then Goodbye to the Kinabatangan River after a really enjoyable stay.

 

We take a road transfer with a careful and informative driver on good roads towards Lahad Datu.

 

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The dread Palm Oil Plantation – you can see how closely the trees grow, leaving little space or light for other plants or animals.

 

This first part of the transfer takes about an hour and a half on good roads. Much of this is spent driving past Palm Oil (on either side of this road and covering the hill ahead)

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We arrive at Lahad Datu and are taken to the Borneo Rainforest Lodge Office. We have a coffee, fill in a few forms, are given a metal water bottle and are transferred to a 4X4 for transfer to the Lodge.

 

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Traffic Roundabout in Lahad Datu from car window

(so @@kittykat23uk we did get to see Clouded Leopard!) Statues of wildlife are actually very common on traffic roundabouts in Sabah

 

This transfer will take about two and a half hours, mostly over decent roads but also some fairly bumpy bits. Palm Oil gives way to secondary forest and then to Primary Forest.

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We come to a bridge - we have to get out and walk across while the car drives slowly.

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The river

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We finally arrive at the lodge and a friendly greeting. We are shown our room, have a very good lunch and a briefing from a guide (who happens to be our guide, Ronald).

 

We have a brief rest and unpack in our room and admire the view from the balcony

 

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River and rainforest from our balcony

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Blue-throated Bee-eaters in front of our balcony

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It was a delight watching these beautiful birds throughout our stay

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Yellow-bellied Bulbul (?)

 

Borneo Rainforest Lodge, Danum Valley

http://www.borneonaturetours.com/www/default.aspx

 

A Deluxe Chalet, is about 10% more than a standard room. We had a River View (as recommended by @Kitsafari) and we were very pleased with this choice. We took great pleasure sitting on the balcony watching birds and other creatures and just soaking in the view.

Edited by TonyQ
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We met up with our Private Guide (not expensive – worth it), left the lodge and began a walk in the forest. After about 15 minutes we were excited to see

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Red Leaf Monkey (Maroon Langur)

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Quality is not great throughout these as the light was very difficult – much was quite dark (many at ISO 6400 – my maximum – and low shutter speeds) with patches of really bright sky. But it was a fantastic sighting - we stayed with the monkeys for about 25mins. We then continued through the forest for about half an hour looking at greenery

 

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and a Water Monitor in the river below

 

and the odd leech, but still hearing the noises of the monkeys high up moving through the trees.We then came across some more, including a mother and baby and stayed with them for about 30 minutes.

 

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Young babies are very pale compared to the adult

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The big advantage of a private guide to us isn’t necessarily that you will see more – but when you see something you want to watch you can stay with it as long as you like. MrsQ and I don’t need to ask if we want to stay in this situation – we just know that we both do! (A group may not be so keen to stay).

 

We went back to the lodge very pleased with our first afternoon walk. It was hot, I was sweaty, but we loved seeing the Red Leaf monkeys.

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After a brief break we went on a night drive with other guests in a noisy open truck. I didn’t expect to see much, but it was surprisingly interesting. We did see

 

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Lesser Mouse-Deer (Head-Body length about 49cm –weight 2-2.5 kg – tiny!)

 

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Red Giant Flying squirrel – just after it landed (we saw it glide quite a distance)

 

We also saw a Banded Palm Civet as we were returning to the lodge.

 

After a quick shower we had an excellent dinner (food is really good here).

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@@TonyQ

"Quality is not great throughout these as the light was very difficult – much was quite dark (many at ISO 6400 – my maximum – and low shutter speeds" - the challenging conditions, I know them very well from Costa Rica, but you managed to get very decent photos; I assume the softness on last few Red Leaf monkeys shots is due to heavy noise reduction you needed to apply because of ISO 6400??

 

The primary rainforest in Danum Valley looks very much like the one at Taman Negara. If only more of such places would remain in that part of the world.

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michael-ibk

Clouded Leopard sighting, yay! Seriously, did you ask about the chances of finding one? The view from the lodge looks fantastic, especially with these beautiful Bee-Eaters around. Again, love the Monkey sightings, and the Mouse-Deer is very special. Did it just freeze?

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kittykat23uk

Great stuff @@TonyQ you almost had me there! :P

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Did u say quality of the photos isn't great? the pictures are great! you caught the wonderful face details of the red leaf monkeys and their sad sorrowful eyes.

 

I didn't recall having to get off the vehicle to cross a bridge - could it be that bridge has gotten more rickety since a year ago?

 

can't wait to hear more. :) but glad you found BRL enjoyable.

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@@xelas

Thank you - yes I think the softness is probably due to noise reduction - probably heavy-handed on my part!

 

@@michael-ibk

The mouse deer carried on eating but otherwise stayed perfectly still.

We didn't ask about chances of seeing a clouded leopard a danum valley - but I think it is extremely rare. I think that Junior (our guide on the river) said he had sen one a couple of times (10 years as a guide with this company and a number of years with others before that). We didn't expect to see one so seeing a pair and a cub was a real bonus :) . I am glad you liked it @kittykat23uk

 

@@Kitsafari

Thank you. The technical quality is not great but I was very pleased with the sighting of the monkeys and still wanted to show what they looked like. It could be the bridge has got more more rickety. BRL is a very good lodge and we enjoyed being there -but we had to work hard for our sightings over the next couple of days!

Edited by TonyQ
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Continued…

We got up early

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Early morning mist from our balcony

 

and wandered around the grounds of the lodge

 

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Swallows

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Banana Plant

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Orange-Bellied Flowerpecker

 

 

Today we would be walking with our guide towards the viewpoint

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View of forest – with viewpoint top right

We walk along the river bank

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Monitor

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View along the river

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Bridge

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And then begin to climb upwards. It is hot, sweaty and hard work with a few treats along the way.

 

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Flying lizard

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We did indeed see it fly (glide really) – which was exciting

 

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Another sort of lizard (!)

 

As we reached the top, I found it hard work (I think I didn’t drink enough). When we finally did reach the top..

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Our only wild Orang Utan (and this is at 300mm and cropped a little)

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View across the forest

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And looking down at the lodge

(the large building bottom-centre is the restaurant and reception area. The white rectangles just to the right of this are the river view chalets (two chalets per building). Our chalet is one of the closest to the bottom edge and mostly hidden by the trees- but part of the roof is just visible. I think it was very well situated)

 

Heading down again we stopped at an old burial site with bones visible on the cliff face and then continued back to the lodge.

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kittykat23uk

I opted not to do this trek! :P

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Back at the lodge we relaxed on the balcony. MrsQ made use of the outside plunge pool/bath to cool off. She told me I should put this picture in!)

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We enjoyed cold drinks (complimentary from fridge in room) and relaxed watching the wildlife from the balcony. We had an excellent lunch.

 

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A lizard on a flowering bush

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Blue-Throated Bee-eater

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This branch was a popular landing point

 

After the early afternoon rest, we set off with our guide to walk in the forest again - but saw very little

 

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Giant Pill-bug (woodlouse)

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Rufous-backed Kingfisher (Oriental Dwarf-kingfisher)

 

We had arranged to meet our guide for a night walk beginning at 8.00pm – so we relaxed on our balcony watching as the light faded and enjoying any wildlife we saw, including

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Rhinoceros Hornbill

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I love the lizard on the flowering bush!

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We met up and before we set off we saw

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Giant Cricket (possibly)

 

We set off walking through forest trails and around the edges of the lodge and staff quarters. It was a really enjoyable activity

 

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Tarantula

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Very big snail (that is descriptive rather than any attempt at identification!)

 

We saw a number of different tree-frogs – I loved them

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And on the bottom of a leaf was a nest (?) where one of the frogs laid its eggs. It starts as a foam but the surface has dried a bit.

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Giant millipede

 

The night walk was a really rewarding activity

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And the frogs also.

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michael-ibk

Agree for the frogs, lovely. And very cool that you saw a "properly wild" Orang-Utan. The flying lizard looks fascinating, a bit like a Mantis.

 

 

 

We enjoyed cold drinks

 

Let me guess - beer? :P

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kittykat23uk

Great stuff! Love the frogs! I think the cricket is actually a longhorn beetle of some kind. And the giant millipede- I think that's a cave centipede or similar. We saw ones like that in gomantong cave.Here's a pic for comparison:

 

13743442064_e4f9ec6662_z.jpgP3233846 cave centipedes by Jo Dale, on Flickr

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Love the frogs and the large snail and the pretty scary looking tarantula

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I opted not to do this trek! :P

X2! And I was glad I opted out knowing how terribly fit I was....Not! My OH did it and told me I wouldn't have made it to the top. But he said the view was fab. His trek was rather quiet too.

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@@TonyQ great shots of the frogs. We also thoroughly enjoyed the tree frogs and the night walk. I love the flying lizard - it looks so thin and cool, and so unlike a lizard.

 

Glad you saw a wild OU, but hope it gets better?....

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@@TonyQ

 

My like goes to tree frogs. BTW, why there is no hand for size comparison with tarantula ;) ?

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@@Bush dog @@Zim Girl

Thank you

 

@@kittykat23uk

Thank you for the identification (I forgot to take any notes so relied on fading memory!)

 

@@Kitsafari

Thank you. That was our only Orang Utan I am afraid :(

 

@@xelas

Thank you. For some reason it was dificult to find a volunteer

 

@@michael-ibk

Thank you. A cold beer may have played some part in the day's proceedings!

Edited by TonyQ
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Continued

Our last full day at Danum Valley - Up early, 6.00 breakfast and out walking with our guide at 6.30.

Things started well with a view of

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Bornean Crested Fireback

 

– they soon ran into the undergrowth but they are spectacular birds. After another 15 minutes we saw a small brown bird high in a tree and after another 40 minutes we saw a Diards Trogon high in a tree – the bright red breast clear but not a good photo.

After another 30 minutes we saw

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Red-Bearded Bee-eater

 

After more walking we reached the series of canopy walkways

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Where we were able to see a few birds, most fairly distant. We then started walking back towards the lodge, seeing a stick insect and

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Quite a spectacular fungus.

 

We were back to the lodge by about 10.00. We had found the morning walk disappointing. We had bumped into other guests and they had also seen very little.

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