We got up really early on February 3rd to leave the Philippines and head to Malaysia. Our flight left at around 6AM and we arrive in Kuala Lumpur at around 10AM with a couple hour layover. Our second flight left around 2 and we arrived in Sandakan, Borneo around 7PM. It was a day of travel and we were grateful to get to our accommodations, The Sabah Hotel.
We had just a regular room but had a really nice view of the pool.
We wanted to take advantage of the pool before it closed so we got our suits on and got right in.
We played for twenty minutes and then knew we ready for dinner.
We ate right there in the hotel and then went right to bed.
It felt good to sleep:)
This is the Sabah Hotel from above.
It is surrounded by rainforest!
The next morning was our tour pick up day.
We booked our tour through Borneo Eco Tours and had a great experience with them!
Our first stop was at the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary. We got to walk through a really old rainforest with HUGE trees! We were overwhelmed with the beauty of it all.
And yes! We got to see orang tans.
This was the reason I wanted to come to Borneo. I had heard from Kaitlyn and Alyssia's tutor way back twenty years ago that she and her husband went to Borneo to see the Orang Utans in the wild. That has been in the back of my mind for all of these years. It is so wild that we actually got to make it happen!
This sanctuary rehabilitates the Orangs and then sends them fully back into the wild.
Serilok is a HUGE place and they have many acres of jungle to roam. We also saw pig tailed macaques stealing food. One Orang that was carrying a baby came right up and over our heads So cool!
After the Orang Utan Sanctuary we went to the sun Bear Sanctuary to see the smallest bear in the world.
We enjoyed this ,as well.
This cute Chinese family was on our tour with us.
They were from china and their American names were Jeff and Kathy (parents) and Lisa (10) and Bella (8) were their kids. Bella took a liking to us and loved to talk. I was so surprised at how well the kids spoke English. Kathy told me that they begin school and English lessons at 3 years old.
We really enjoyed spending our three day tour with them!
After the Sun Bear tour we went back into the Sandakan Hotel for a buffet lunch.
After lunch we caught our speed boat that took us up the Kinabatangan River for two hours to get to our lodge, The Sukau Rainforest Lodge. By the time we got there it was pouring rain and we were all a little wet. We were grateful to get into our room which was pretty nice. It was Villa number four and we had a nice deck off the back to sit out and enjoy the sounds of the jungle. We were planning our first boat tour just after arrival and it sounded terrible to go out on their uncovered boats in the pouring rain. I knelt down and said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to temper the elements so that we could enjoy the boat tour and be able to see some wildlife. Well, I am here to tell you that prayers are answered. Not only did it stop raining, but for ALL of our SIX tours we had within the next couple of days, we were dry.
We got a little rain at night or in the evenings but what a blessing it was to be able to have the rain stop.
That night we saw an orang utan up in a nest high up in a tree settling down for the night.
Here is the dining part of our lodge as we were coming back from our boat trip and to get ready for dinner.
That evening we were asked to come to dinner in our sarongs so we got all dressed up for the event:)
This is a fun picture on our way back to the villa.
There were bats attracted to the lights that attracted the mosquitos...their food!
Rick was able to get this shot of one just above my head!😮
Throughout the next three days we got to see ALL of the Bornean Five animals which include:
Orang Utan
Pygmy Elephants
Proboscis Monkey
Saltwater Crocodile
and Rhinoceros Hornbill
We got to see many cool birds, I especially love the hornbills. We saw five different kinds!
Lots of monkeys and different birds. It was just a wonderful wildlife experience.
Rick LOVED it so much!
Orang Utan nest
The Sabah region just two weeks prior to our arriving had had severe flooding!
There was flooding throughout the river communities and Sukau Lodge was no different. There were many areas of the lodge flooded out.
Again this is our eating area and generally there is enough space for parking the boats under the restaurant. As you a see the water came RIGHT UP to the floor of the restaurant. Just crazy!
We had a buffet at every meal! So. Much. Food.
We both tried to not eat too much but with so much in front of us, it was difficult!
The Kinabatangan River
One afternoon we took a nature walk around the lodge.
This was a cool spider web. the spider made this pattern in its web to full insects into thinking it was a flower.
On one of the free afternoons we had scheduled a couples massage. When we got to the room it was set up for a pedicure and Rick didn't want anything to do with that so he went for a swim while I got some reflexology on my feet and a small shoulder rub. It's good he didn't do it because he would have NOT liked it!
Afterwards, I joined him in the pool. The water felt nice!
Here are a few pictures of some of the wildlife we saw.
This was the Gomanthong Cave. Rick took this tour while I opted to go on another river cruise.
He got to see a whole lot while I got pretty much nothin'.
That was ok because I had already felt like I'd seen a lot... although I would have LOVED to see the group of SEVEN elephants and a couple extra orang utans that he saw!
Rick went to the cave with his guide Jan and they had a great experience. They walked through the cave and saw lots of bats, bat poop, centipedes, and lots of cockroaches!
those things were the reason I didn't go. I refer NOT to see that kind of stuff!
After the cave they climbed 576 stairs....yes, that's FIVE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY SIX!!
They went to with the exodus of the millions of bats in the cave. Rick thought it was such an amazing experience an came back to the room Super excited about his afternoon! I'm so glad he got to see something special!😀
On the way up he saw another Orang.
And had a GREAT view of the valley.
And got to see more monkeys!😆
Here is a photo of the bats coming out.
The next morning after breakfast we got back into the speedboat to head back to Sandakan.
Goodby Sukau Rainforest Lodge!
These are the pictures of some of there wildlife we saw!
What a dream trip going to Borneo was for us! It was an amazing adventure that we will never forget!
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