Culture, Nature, Wildlife of Sabah and Danum Valley

• A courteous English-speaking guide will be at the Kota Kinabalu Airport for facilitating your arrival, transfer by AC vehicle to your hotel of choice and hotel check-in. The rest of the day is designed to give you some time to get used to the tropical climate and to relax away any jet lag that you may experience. Night stay at the hotel.
• Meals included: None

• We enjoy a relaxed breakfast at the hotel and start the day with an introductory tour of the city of Kota Kinabalu. There is a to explore including the Chinese Buddhist temple, the Blue Mosque, the Sabah Museum and the local markets. Enjoy a local Malaysian lunch in the market today to get a flavor of the place.
• We start for our visit to the wetlands after the lunch. We drive southwards to the town of Beaufort and further on to a place called Kota Klias. Here we shift to a long boat for a river cruise into the adjoining Mangroves. This is a rewarding trip for the wildlife enthusiast – you can spot the distinctive Proboscis monkeys that are only found here in Borneo, Macaque Monkeys, and birds. As the evening sets in, the glittering fireflies gather on the mangrove trees just like an array of small Christmas lights. They light up the trees in the most beautiful way (may be difficult to see if full moon or raining). Enjoy a typical Malaysian dinner before returning to the city. Night stay at your hotel.
• Please note: River cruise by boat is always on shared basis / join in.
• Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

• We move out of the hotel with our overnight bags for a night out tour. The road trip takes us north to the tip of Borneo. The drive has a lot to explore with visits to the local markets along the way. We experience the village life in the native villages, rice fields, rubber plantations and numerous fruit orchards. The drive will take us to Tanjung Simpang Mengayau which is just before the town of Kudat. This is our vantage point as it is the highest point in Borneo Island and has stunning views of the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. That picture postcard snap will surely come from here. We place also has mountain streams and pools, a great place to relax and swim in the crystal-clear waters of the pools around. We now start our journey to a traditional longhouse, this one is the Rungus longhouse and will be our place of stay for the night. The longhouse has only basic accommodation and you will get a bedding along with mosquito nets. The longhouse is a remarkable blend of village life and tradition, you can enjoy traditional dances along with local food.
• The night stay will be at the longhouse.
• Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

• This is a day of exploring go visit the surrounding areas, the village lifestyle. Go trekking in the region and observe the various aspects of the local lifestyle. Get involved in the way traditional things are done, the methods of making traditional handicrafts. Visit a nearby village to observe the long-standing traditional way of making Gongs, this place specializes in this. Also, explore the traditional beekeeping techniques of the local people. We will enjoy a traditional lunch on our way back. The trip will also involve a visit to a local pottery making center to see how pots are made and decorated with traditional motifs. The rest of the day is available for relaxation and exploring the city. The night stay is at your hotel in Kota Kinabalu.
• Meals included: Breakfast and lunch

• We enjoy breakfast at the hotel and take the road through the ridges of the Crocker Range to the Southern end of the Kinabalu Park. At Poring, we will join a jungle trail that will take us to the extremely pictures canopy walk made of a series of bridges built about 40meters above the ground. The Canopy bridge provides a bird’s eye view of the ancient rainforests. The hot springs are famous for the therapeutic value of the sulfur baths if time permits do take a rejuvenating dip in the hot waters.  We now break for lunch and proceed to the Kinabalu Park Headquarters. Your guide will take you to the exquisite Mountain Garden in the park. You will be able to see a large collection of rare orchids and plants endemic to Borneo in this garden. After completing the park visit we return to the city and relax at the Hotel.
• Meals included: Breakfast and lunch

• After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we reach the Jetty for a 20 min boat ride that takes us to one of the coral islands within the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. The islands have shallow reefs and pristine beaches, spend the day swimming in blue waters or snorkeling amongst the corals or just relaxing on the beach. We have a simple box lunch for the day and after a quick shower return to the mainland in mid-afternoon. Please note that all boat transfers and always on a shared basis. Return to the hotel for some quiet time. Night stay at the hotel in Kota Kinabalu.
• Meals included: Breakfast and a packed lunch

• Enjoy a relaxed breakfast and sometimes at leisure at the hotel before a transfe r to the airport is arranged. Take your departure flight for onward journey to Lahad Datu from the Kota Kinabalu airport.
• Your pick-up will be waiting at the Lahad Datu airport for a 2.5-hour drive to the Danum Valley, Borneo Rainforest Lodge. This will be our base for the 3 days we spend in Danum Valley. Danum Valley is one of the oldest rainforests in the world. It is unique as this was undisturbed by man before becoming a conservation area. Today it has evolved into one of the foremost rainforest research areas in South East Asia. The place now has a permanent research facility and an extensive trail system to explore. The valley is home to over 15,000 plant species, 94% of these belong to the dipterocarp genus. Other unique flora seen in the valley are pitcher plants.
• We enjoy lunch and then go out trekking in the pristine rainforests of Borneo. The trails are designed to give splendid views of the forest along with options to swim in the rock ponds and there are some canopied suspension bridges to give you a bird’s eye view of the landscape. We return to the lodge for dinner and then go out exploring the forest to spot some of the larger mammals of Borneo.
• Overnight stay is arranged at the Lodge’s twin bed chalet.
• Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

• The ancient forest of Danum Valley is home to over 270 bird spices. We will go on a guided trail to spot some of the rare birds we can see in the valley. In the afternoon we will explore more trails which take us to some beautiful waterfalls and old burial sites. The dusk brings with it further exploration of the forests, this time for the predators that come out in the night.
• Overnight stay at the chalet
• Meals included: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

• The beauty of this place is almost endless, it is photography lover’s paradise. Take a trek to the beautiful Fairy Falls and Serpent Falls. The walks will take almost the entire morning and by the time you return to the lodge, it would be lunchtime. The rest of the afternoon can be spent on your own exploring the treks or just relaxing. You can also opt for a guided trek along the Segama River, a beautiful trail that takes you deep into the virgin forests.
• We return to the chalet for the night.
• Meals included: breakfast, lunch, and dinner

• This is a day where you explore the bird trails on your own. Experience the wilderness and listen to the bird calls to spot them high-up in the forest canopy.  We return to the lodge for lunch and transfer to the Lahad Datu airport.
• Meals included: breakfast and lunch.

Please note - All guests visiting Danum Valley are required to sign a letter of indemnity

Notes

• Due to fluctuations in demand hotels can be changed without prior notice. We do assure you that any substitution will be within the offered category
• The tour detailed itinerary may change due to unforeseen events – we will cover all that we have stated here only the program by day may change. For example, if our program states a city tour on Day 1, it may be postponed to Day 3 instead. This is mostly a last minute adjustment and will be without any prior notice
• The rivers and parks are eco-sensitive areas and thus all boat transfers and tour activities in the parks are on shared basis.
• The accommodation at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge is managed by Borneo Nature Tours
• It is important to note that separate charges and permissions are levied for professional photography or filming
• Being a rainforest, the weather conditions are unpredictable, activities may be re-organized to best meet operational situations
• Given changing ground conditions we reserve the right to change or cancel a program should condition beyond our control require so
• All guests visiting Danum Valley are required to sign a letter of indemnity.