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Adventures in the Lost Worlds of Borneo
     


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Shrouded in mystery and with a real sense of the unknown lingering amongst its valleys and mountains, the island of Borneo remains an ideal place for a modern day adventure. With new species being discovered every year and large swathes of habitat still to be explored, Borneo has a great deal to offer those who want a real wilderness adventure.

This wilderness and wildlife adventure takes you from beneath the sea at some of South East Asia's most diverse coral reefs, to its highest peak: Mount Kinabalu. In between, you will experience a deep rainforest wilderness trek to the 'Lost World' of the Maliau Basin, Sabah's best white water rafting, and a diverse array of wildlife including orangutans.

After your first night in Borneo, you will find yourself rafting down 30km of the Padas River. One minute you will be rafting through Grade 3 to 4 rapids, whilst enjoying gentle stretches of river with areas of dense tropical forest on either bank the next.

The true feeling of exploration on this trip begins when you first set foot in the Maliau Basin. Famed for its extraordinary wealth of biological diversity and its reputation for being an untouched, unspoilt tropical haven, there is little wonder that the basin is known as Sabah's 'Lost World'. Home to large numbers of orangutans, Bornean white bearded gibbons and proboscis monkeys, clouded leopards and leopard cats, the basin represents one of the most important protected areas within Borneo, with even the critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros finding refuge here.

With an exceptionally high number of waterfalls, the Maliau Basin is the catchment of Sabah's largest and most important river, the Kinabatangan, which sprawls across an area of over 580 square kilometres. The Maliau Basin's 25 km wide saucer-shaped sedimentary depression (closely resembling a volcanic caldera) is enclosed on all sides by cliffs and steep slopes reaching 1,675 m high in places and is located in the heart of one of the most remote and pristine parts of Borneo.

A visit to this forested wilderness haven is no walk in the park and access is strictly controlled. Camping style accommodation is all that is permitted to keep visitor impact to an absolute minimum. Over the course of 6 days, you will trek an average of 10km a day through the rainforest, investigating as you go its abundance of flora and fauna. There will be plenty of opportunities to cool down and swim in its many forest streams and waterfalls, including the spectacular Maliau Falls. Many of these waters are the colour of tea, stained by natural tannins.

Accommodation is based at 3 different rainforest camps, which offer a real, in-depth taster of 'living' within the forest and with opportunities to climb to observation platforms 100ft up in the canopy. From here you can view birds and see the forest canopy from above. You are likely to be alone on the trail and feel as though you are experiencing a place where few have walked before.

After leaving Maliau, you will spend a few days on the idyllic tropical island of Lankayan. Set against the stunning backdrop of pristine coral reefs, you can spend your time in the water, glimpsing into what life is like on a healthy, tropical reef, or relaxing on a white sand beach with tropical foliage behind you.  The clear, warm waters around this white sandy island are bursting with marine life and those that are lucky enough to dive or snorkel there will be left with memories of an amazing underwater experience. Colourful parrot fish, bizarre frog fish, harmless leopard sharks and many more species all make their homes here on this vibrant, shallow reef. You may not be the only ones resting on the shores of Lankayan however, as turtles frequent the island, coming up onto the beaches to lay their eggs before heading back into the sea and on with their watery voyages.

We then take you into the forest home of the Bornean orangutan for close encounters with this endangered and enigmatic great ape. After an energetic hike through the dense lowland forest home of wild orangutans at the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve, you visit one of the world's most famous wildlife rehabilitation and conservation programmes: the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. The young captive or abandoned orangutans here are orphans of deforestation for timber and conversion to oil palm plantations. The highly trained and motivated staff at the sanctuary work hard to readjust these orangutans to a life back in the wild. Whilst at the centre, you can see these young orangutans being fed and cared for.

Your trip culminates in the national park surrounding Mount Kinabalu, with a climb of the highest peak in South East Asia. On your first day, you will enjoy the lush foothills of the mountain, walking along a walkway set high up in the forest canopy and relaxing in the hot springs. Following either the regular trail, the world's highest via ferrata route, or the picturesque Mesilau Trail, you will walk through ever-changing habitats, past numerous species of orchids, the world's largest flowers, the biggest carnivorous plants on Earth and a whole host of colourful birds and secretive mammals. Ascending through cool montane habitats into ephemeral cloud forests, tree ferns, bamboos and primitive Agathis trees, the trail eventually gives way to a stunted forest of rocks, tangled tree roots, liverworts and spongy mosses hanging from the trees. Your journey will eventually reach the 4,095 m peak of Mount Kinabalu from where you will be able to admire the sun rise over Borneo and reflect upon your adventures here.

A good level of physical fitness is essential for this trip