Discover Borneo

Optimally placed for trips into the fabulous Bako National Park, Permai rests amid dense jungle at the foot of Mt Santubong, on Borneo’s rugged north coast. You’re only half an hour’s drive away from Kuching, but the location has a vivid, middle-of-nowhere edge, particularly at night, when the sounds of the forest are intense. Accommodation is provided in beautiful luxury stilted villas, 20ft off the ground with their balconies literally in the tropical tree canopy. We particularly love the terrace of the breezy, open-sided café-restaurant (‘The Feeding Tree’) which has breathtaking sea views. Numerous activities are also offered, from sea kayaking to mangrove cruises.

Approached by launch, Bako packs a wide variety of different habitats into a comparatively small area, from mangrove-lined rivers to beautiful sandy beaches backed by cliffs, dense rainforest and shadowy hills. A network of different trails offers plenty of scope for guides walks in the forest. Look out for reserve’s two signature species: the proboscis monkey and bearded boar. Huge monitor lizards are also commonly sighted.

The largest and best-looking city in Malaysian Borneo is Kuching, on the banks of the Sarawak River, at the southwestern edge of the territory. Relaxed and atmospheric, it has managed to preserve much of its historic core of narrow streets and colonial-era municipal buildings, all within a stone’s throw of a waterfront promenade. The mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian, as well as indigenous Dayak, makes for a fascinating cultural jigsaw, while a particularly strong crop of museums provides an inspirational introduction to the island and its traditional societies.

Since it opened in 1964, the world-famous Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre at Sepilok in northern Sabah has cared for apes orphaned or injured by forest clearance. In 43 square-kilometres of tropical forest they are able to roam wild, re-learning essential survival skills such as climbing and foraging which may have been lost through the trauma of displacement. The hope is that in time the animals will be ready to be sufficiently skilled to be released back into the wild. At any given time, between 60 and 80 adults are present here, along with 25 or more babies and youngsters in the site’s nurseries. A smaller centre for rescued sun bears is an added attraction.

Start the day’s adventures with an early visit to the Sepilok Rainforest Discovery centre, making the most of the cooler temperatures to tackle its wonderful canopy walk, leading between a series of watchtowers. The introductory hall provides plenty of information on the area, with lots of interactive exhibits. Afterwards, head to the nearby Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Centre to meet the world’s smallest bear. Your visit will coincide with afternoon feeding time at the centre.

Olive green or chocolatey brown depending on the season, the Kinabatangan is Sabah’s longest river, rising in the mountains of the interior and flowing into the Sulawesi Sea on Borneo’s northeast coast. The mangroves, grassy swamplands, lakes, dipterocarp and ficus forests carpeting its floodplain host a prodigious quantity of wildlife. This is the only place on the planet where ten species of primate are present, and you’ll see a few of them on your approach to the lodge at Sukau, including proboscis monkeys, orangutans, gibbons and several species of langurs and macaques. Safaris are generally conducted in electric-powered longboats.

The guides we use in the area are highly skilled and able to identify lesser visited zones along tributaries of the Lower Kinabatangan where you can expect to encounter fewer visitors and more wildlife. Look out for crocs, pygmy elephants and bears, as well as the region’s signature species: proboscis monkeys and orangutans, which survive here in good numbers.

As with Kinabatangan, the rapid spread of palm oil production around Tabin has seen this patch of the secondary forest fill up with refugee wildlife, including Sumatran rhinos, pygmy elephants, gibbons and proboscis monkeys, as well as orangutans. The unique experience here, however, is the trek to the Lipad mud volcano, a mineral-rich water hole used by animals as a salt lick. Nocturnal walks also yield frequent sightings of western tarsier, flying squirrels and civet cats. Although not as luxurious as the lodge at Danum, the Tabin Wildlife Resort provides a perfectly comfortable base in the heart of the forest and is run by exceptionally knowledgeable and genuinely enthusiastic staff.

The largest area of protected lowland rainforest in Borneo extends over 272 square miles (438 square-km) of the Danum Valley in eastern Sabah. Comprising mostly dipterocarp jungle, the area provides sanctuary for an exceptionally rich array of species, from the rarely sighted clouded leopard and Sumatran rhinoceros to more common pygmy elephants, gibbons and proboscis monkeys. Orangutans are also present. Among the best places to see them is the forest in the immediate vicinity of the lodge where you’ll be staying.

You first foray into the conservation area will probably be a 107-metre-long canopy walk, from which vantage point you’ll be able to begin ticking off many of the 320 species of bird resident in the valley. Around 30 miles (50km) of marked trails thread through the reserve to observation posts and other places of interest, such as a Kadazan–Dunsum cliff-coffin burial site and Sungai Purut waterfalls. Tubing, night hikes to spot nocturnal animals, and pre-dawn treks to panoramic viewpoints where you can watch the sun rise over the mist-drench

The coast around Kota Kinabalu hosts a handful of beautiful luxury beach resorts amid exquisite surroundings. Our consultants will be able to advise you on which to opt for. Wherever you choose, you’ll be assured of spellbinding turquoise seawater, pristine rainforest teeming with wildlife and world-class standards of accommodation and service.