Tag Archives: leech

How to prevent leech bite?

Some of us might get bitten by leeches when we trek in the Malaysia forest. Leeches don’t kill but they are extremely irritating and disgusting blood suckers. I was first bitten by the forest leech when I was on the way to Poring waterfall. I still hate leech bite, so I never stop asking the experienced trekkers how to avoid leech bite. Below are some of the tips that I’ve collected so far.

Above: Tiger leech gets its name from its orange stripes

Above: a fully-fed happy brown leech

6 Ways to Prevent Leech Bite

1. Anti-Leech Socks

Anti-Leech sock is the MOST effective way of preventing leech bite. It does not contain any chemical to drive away the leech. Basically it is just an oversized sock that you wear it over your trousers as outer layer to cover the opening of your sock and jean. If a leech crawls on your leech sock, then you can spot it and get rid of it. FYI, you can buy anti-leech socks online shop such as Shopee (search by keywords “leech socks”).

Left & Middle: anti-leech socks cover the opening of your trousers. Right: Herb that can stop the bleeding caused by leech bite.

Click Here to read “How to use and where to buy anti-leech sock?” if you want to get a pair of leech socks

2. Tobacco Sock

Tobacco can kill leech in minutes. Spend a few dollars to buy some grinded tobacco leaves from the tamu or pasar (local market). Put it in a container and soak it in water (but not too much). Soak the socks in the tobacco water overnight. Leave the socks dry up next day. If you wear the sock, leech may crawl on it but it’ll halt moving after a while due to the poisoning by tobacco.

To see if tobacco can kill leech, I sprinkled some tobacco leaves on a leech and it died within a minute.

3. Dettol

Heard this from the villagers in Long Pasia. During World War II, people were wondering how the Japanese soldiers bear the leech bites in jungle warfare. Later they learn that the army applied Dettol on their hands, necks and legs. The strong smell kept the leeches away. However, if you go for wildlife watching, I won’t advise you to do this because your smell will scare away all the wildlife hundred feet away.

Above: the body size of leech can double or even triple after sucking blood. One full meal can last it for several months.

4. Lady’s Stockings

I heard from someone that there is a scientist in Danum Valley, who enters the forest frequently for research and seldom got leech bite, though he wears short pant. His secret is to wear the stockings (yes, the pantyhose used by lady).

5. Insecticide Socks

I got this tip from a friend who works for a lumbering company. Just got a pair of long soccer socks, like the one wore by ah pak (old uncles) for jogging. Wear it all the way up to your knee (also cover the opening of your jean). Then spray Baygon brand insecticide on the sock and shoe. FYI, other brands such as Ridsect does not work well. The leech dies almost instantly the moment it touches your shoe or sock.

Pic: Baygon insect (pest) spray, only some supermarkets or stores selling it.

6. Insect Repellent

The easiest way is to buy a bottle of Mosi-Guard at Guardian (also available in other local pharmacy / drugstore) and spray it on your shoes and socks. It is an insect repellent but its eucalyptus extract can prevent mosquito, as well as leech attack up to 6 hours. Insect repellent with DEET is also effective but it is very hard to find here (probably local restriction on such chemical). You may click the picture below to read the article:

Above: Mosi-Guard insect repellent also can repel leeches. You can find it in many pharmacy shops in Sabah.

I spray Mosi-Guard insect repellent on my shoes and anti-leech socks, and I almost got 0 leech bite during jungle trekking in most leech-infested area of Borneo. This repellent only makes you smell terrible to the leeches. A few stubborn leeches still want to get on your shoes but most of them won’t move on.

More Useful Facts

1. Leeches live in humid area. So you can expect more leeches near the river and during the rainy session. The forest that has more wildlife tend to have more leeches too. Leeches not only hide on the ground, you also can find them on the leaves and twigs of low shrub. Leech is the most abundant in lowland forest. I encounter leeches in altitude of 800 Meters above sea level, but the number is a lot lesser. However, in drought season, you may not see a single leech in the forest.

Above: tiger leech can attack you from any direction.

2. Some says, if you walk in group, the people at the front have less chance of getting leech bite, most victims are people at the back. Leech is sensitive to body heat and vibration. The first person passing by will “wake” them up, making them active and look for the next comers. Well, based on my experience, everyone has equal chance. In fact, first person gets very high chance of leech bite because he always has to stop to wait for the slow movers behind, giving leeches more time to crawl onto his body.

3. Leech is blind and likes to bite warmer area (due to thinner skin) such as armpit, skin between toes and butt. That’s why I hate it. It loves sensitive spots. You better wear long sleeve and tuck in your t-shirt. How does it gain access to your butt? For example, fashionable girls who like low cut jean, or you do your no.2 in the forest. Whatever, just don’t bite my balls.

4. Some may tell you that leech can leap / jump to you. It’s just an exaggeration from people who are so afraid of leeches so their imagination goes wild. Leeches only can crawl. That’s it. I have walked hundred of Kilometers of forest trail and never see any leech that can jump.

5. Someone even say if you cut a leech into half. Each half will grow into a new leech. It’s bullshit. I tried that before. The leech just turned pale and died.

6. I don’t believe the widely circulated non-sense + scary leech stories such as leeches grow in your brain. But I do believe that if you let leech got into your nose, it will live inside permanently due to free flow of food supply. My mom personally saw this happened to one of her dogs. Avoid washing your face in forest stream and don’t swim in still water.

Pic: fully-fed tiger leech sleeping on a twig

I was bitten by leech. What should I do? OH NO, Help!!! I’m going to die!

Don’t panic, don’t scream. It’s just a bug as weak as mosquito. If you are bitten by a leech, do not try to pull it away by force. This would leave permanent scar on your perfect skin. You can apply salt, tobacco, eucalyptus oil, lime fruit juice, tiger balm or medicated oil (e.g. Minyak Kapak or 驱风油) on it and it will shrivel and drop. Or just let it finishes its meal and drop off itself. The last resort is to put your finger on your skin next to its oral sucker, then gently (but firmly) slide your fingernail toward its mouth to detach it from your skin.

Above: bleeding caused by leech bites. Look scary, but from their smiles, you know it is no big deal. Just treat it as a leech therapy. You won’t bleed to dead anyway. Leech also doesn’t carry any disease and poison.

Due to anticoagulant to facilitate blood flowing, leech bite will cause your wound to bleed for hour but it will stop eventually. A guide taught me to stick a small pieces of paper on the wound to speed up the clotting and it works! Apply anti-septic cream on the wound to prevent infection and you will be fine. Keep your wound dry and clean. It will itch for a few days before fully healed, but don’t scratch it.

Types of Forest Leeches

There are 2 types of leeches in Borneo rainforest, namely, tiger leech (species: Haemadipsa picta) and brown leech (species: Haemadipsa zeylanica). The Tiger Leech can extend its body more than 6cm long, while Brown (ground) Leech is much more smaller, only about 2 cm. The bite of tiger leech is sharp & painful (like 5 mosquitoes bite you on same spot). If brown leech bites you, you may not feel anything at all, due to the anesthetic chemical in its saliva.

How to use and where to buy anti-leech sock?

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The 130-million-year rainforest of Borneo is older than Amazon, but there is one small bug that scares its visitors. Like other rainforest in South East Asia, the best lowland forest of Malaysia is always infested with forest leeches, the little wiggling and slimy blood suckers, which are extremely persistent to crawl onto your naked skin for a feast.

Their bite is nothing more than a minor cut, but the anti-clotting agent in their saliva causes you to bleed profusely for hour, some find the bloody view a terrifying experience. I was always shocked by the screaming of the girls who find leech on their skin, so I decide to write this guide.

Leech sucks, so how to prevent being leeched? The MOST EFFECTIVE way to prevent leech bite is by wearing anti-leech socks or leech-proof socks (leech socks in short), as shown in the photo above. Leech socks have become a standard part of the outfit for jungle trekking in Borneo.

So you want a leech sock huh?

There are 4 types of leech socks (see following photo). In most cases, you only need to pick type no.1 or 2. Type 3 and 4 are less common and listed here FYI only:

Please see photo above for numbering.
No.1: Elastic-strap leech socks – most commonly used.
No.2: “Deluxe” leech socks – expensive but the best.
No.3: String leech socks – old fashion but still in use.
No.4: Long leech socks – same as No.1 but longer.

Though look different, all of them employ the same simple mechanism to keep leeches at bay. Basically they are just oversized socks for you wear over the trousers, to block leeches from accessing your skin from the opening of your trousers.

1. Elastic-strap Leech Socks

A pair costs RM18 to RM24 (USD5-USD6.50) and made of cotton cloth. It is the most commonly used. If you don’t want to read further, just buy this one.

FYI, you can buy anti-leech socks at online shop such as Shopee (search by keywords “leech socks”).

To use it (it is easier to wear it in sitting position), (1) wear it like socks all the way up but at outer layer, so you can cover the opening of your pant. (2) Then pull the elastic strap to tighten and seal the opening. (3) Note the adjustment knot to control the tightness of the strap. (4) repeat the steps for another foot and put on your hiking boot or shoes.

Keep your legs comfortable, an extremely strong tight is not necessary. I know you worry that leech might sneak in through the sealed opening but that’s very unlikely. The closed loop of the strap always hooks on something in forest, so you may want to hide it behind the socks.

Below is a 1-min video to show you how to wear this anti-leech sock:

The Good: reasonable price and comfortable to wear.

The Bad: during long walk, the socks will slide down gradually. You have to pull it up regularly. It is made of cotton cloth, so it gets wet easily during rain or if the trail is muddy.

2. Deluxe Leech Socks (Water Resistant)

A pair costs RM38 (USD11.50) and made of nylon material (upper part) and linen cloth (lower part). I call it “Deluxe” because it is very expensive.

Just wear it like other leech sock. This leech sock has internal elastic grip on top and bottom of the nylon (blue part), so you don’t need to tie any string. But I find it a bit tight though. Maybe it’s new.

Above: close-up of Deluxe Leech Socks

You may watch the 1-min video below to see Deluxe Leech Socks:

Personally, I think this is the BEST leech sock, due to the reasons below.
The Good: The materials are more water-resistant and durable. That means the socks can be cleaned (e.g. mud) and dried quickly. This is important for long period of jungle trip, because wet sock is very hard to dry up in humid forest of Borneo. The double grip points also keep the leech sock in position.

The Bad: the most expensive type. For that price, you can buy two pairs of other leech socks.

3. String Leech Socks

A pair costs RM15 (?USD4.50) and made of cotton cloth too. This design is phasing out and replaced by Elastic-strap Leech Socks.

The design is similar to other cotton leech socks. Since it has no elastic grip, you need to tie a noose on the cord to seal the opening, like how you tie shoe lace.

The Good: cheaper. If you know the right technique to tie the knot, the socks won’t slide down.

The Bad: The strap is not elastic so you have to tighten it stronger to hold the sock in place. However, this causes extra stress and discomfort to my skin. After long day of jungle trekking, it will leave thin lines of bruises on my skin at the strap area.

4. Long Leech Socks

A pair costs RM34 (?USD9) and made of cotton cloth.

In general, it is same as Elastic-strap Leech Socks, but it is a few inches longer and have two elastic straps.

To compare the difference, I wear both long and short leech socks, as shown in photo above. I think it’s for people who wear short pants.

The funny thing is – leech sock is for leech-phobia tourists. Our local people don’t wear leech socks. Those villagers who always go in and out forest normally wear long soccer socks, less effective (60-70% leech proof) but costs only a few dollars. In fact, most of them don’t really bother about leeches.

If you can’t find any leech socks for sale, you can use soccer socks instead, which is readily available and cheap. Make sure you get the long one with very tight weaving that leaves no tiny seam for leech to wiggle its way in. The soft-bodied leech only needs a loose hole as tiny as pencil tip to puncture your skin for blood.

Does anti-leech sock make me 100% leech-proof?

Good question! The answer is NO. But it’s 90% leech-proof and does make a big difference. To understand why, you need to know how leeches “attack”.

There are 2 types of leeches in Borneo jungle, namely, Tiger Leech and Brown Leech. Brown leeches are smaller and usually active on ground level with wet leaf litter. Occasionally you may see it crawling on grass. When it crawls on your leech socks, you can just flick it off. Brown leech can be fend off easily by leech socks.

However, for tiger leech which is bigger and active from ground to waist level, you have to be vigilant all the time. Especially in wet season, tiger leeches will hide and wait in the leaves and twigs of shrubs along the trail. If your body touches the bushes, you will pick up tiger leeches on your legs or waist. The leeches will crawl up and look for exposed skin on upper part of your body, for example, armpit, neck and belly. Leech socks won’t work in this case. So you need to keep an eye on your body (or ask your buddy to check regularly). Anyway, just avoid contacting any low shrub and you shall be safe.

When leeches crawl to your leech socks, 90% of them will go inside your shoes. Leech dislikes dry surface so the dry cloth of leech sock deters them slightly. You will find half-death leeches in your shoes. But it is different story when it rains and your leech sock is wet.

Where to buy leech socks?

You can buy them in online shops such as Shopee and Lazada (search by keywords: “leech socks”).

There are also a few places in Kota Kinabalu where you can find anti-leech socks. I only name two shops here. When you buy leech sock, check the sewing and make sure there is no hole on the socks.

Montanic Adventure Store

Montanic Adventure Store is on the second floor of Suria Sabah shopping mall (in Kota Kinabalu City).

Below is their contact:
Address: 2-78, 2nd Floor Suria Sabah Shopping Mall, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Tel: +60 88-274538
Facebook: @MontanicSuria

Some popular nature destinations such as Tabin Wildlife Reserve and Danum Valley also sell leech socks in their souvenir shops, but at higher price. Please share with us here if you know any other shop selling leech socks.

To learn more tips to combat leeches, you may Click Here to read “How to prevent leech bite?”.

Photos taken in Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

10 Weirdest Bugs of Borneo

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Borneo is the Kingdom of Bug. Do you know each rainforest tree supports up to 1,000 species of insect? And this doesn’t include other bugs which have no leg, many legs, 8 legs, etc. Most of them can make girls scream. However, I’m really fascinated by bugs, so “bug hunting” is always my favorite activity during jungle trekking. Below is a list of 10 weirdest bugs of Borneo (in my opinion).

No. 10: Stalk-eyed Fly

“You need long eyes to get laid.”

No, Stalk-eyed Fly doesn’t need a long penis to impress female. The long eyestalks projected from the sides of the head of male fly is a symbol of sexy. Female always prefers to mate with the male fly which has longer eyestalks.

Pic: a pair of mating Stalk-eyed Flies

Pic: this male Stalk-eyed Fly has eyestalks longer than its body.

Imagine both of our eye are 2 Meters apart. Would you marry a guy like that?

No. 9: Lantern Fly

“The unicorn in world of insects”

Lantern Fly gets its name because people thought its snout was luminous at night (No, it doesn’t). Actually the “nose” is an extension of its mouth for feeding on the sap from plant and tree.

In 19th century, there is a widely circulated myth that persons bitten by Lantern Fly will die if they don’t have sex within 24 hours. Well, Lantern Fly doesn’t bite, so I guess nobody is killed this way.

Whatever, due to its peculiar mouth and colorful wings, Lantern Fly is a favorite subject of photographers. You would find it stays still on tree bark during dusk.

No. 8: Pill Millipede

“Be a slimeball when in danger.”

When disturbed, pill millipede will roll its body into a ball to defend itself.

When pill millipede rolls into a ball, I would give it to a clueless city girl, telling her that it’s a beautiful nut. She would keep it in her pocket. Then I’ll wait for the scream. *hahaha*

You can see a Pill Millipede “rolls” in following video:

No. 7: Whip Scorpion

“This bug might be fond of SM sex.”

With leathery carapace and a whip-like tail, Whip Scorpion looks like a kinky lover. Probably it also enjoys whipping its prey to death? Just kidding.

To know its weapon, you may keep your face very close to Whip Scorpion for an unforgettable surprise. Last time my camera was too near to this bug, and it sprayed very potent chemical (a mix of acetic acid and octanoic acid) to my lens. The smell was so terrible that, for hour, my camera smelled like a stinky socks soaked in strong vinegar.

The good thing about Whip Scorpion is – it can control the population of roaches. Ask your mom to keep a few in the kitchen as cockroach killer and vinegar supplier. 😀

No. 6: Violin Beetle

“The musician of insect’s world?”

Violin Beetle reminds me of a fable about a lazy grasshopper who plays violin and doesn’t listen to ants’ advice to stock food for winter. Whoever see Violin Beetle will be amused by its funny shape.

Violin Beetle is quite a secretive creature and I only see it once. Beware, it is not a romantic violin player. When threatened, it’ll emit a noxious fluid that can hurt your eyes and hands when contacted.

No. 5: Cave Centipede

“The creature from the darkest corner of hell.”

I bet most of you are afraid of centipede. How about a fast moving centipede with long legs?

Most bugs are attracted to light, but this eerie bug hates light. You can find a lot of them on the wall of a cave. Their bites are nasty so watch where you put your hand during caving.

Cave Centipede looks just like a freak coming out of our nightmare.

No. 4: Leech

“The friendliest dweller of rainforest.”

If you walk in the deep forest of Borneo, you will be greeted by hundreds of this little annoying blood sucker. Not only it makes girls scream at highest pitch and maximum volume, I had seen it makes many big guys jumping in panic.

Pic: Leeches want to add you as a ~~Food~~ Friend

Leech is blind but it survives the hostile forest environment by being the most persistent bug. When it senses your body heat, it’ll come for you and never quit until it gets a few drops of your warm blood. They are especially abundant during wet season.

Once it gets on your skin, it’ll look for the warmest (most sensitive) spot of your body for a buffet. By the time you find out, it already becomes a hanging blood bag 3 to 5 times bigger.

Pic: leech crawling on camera

The anticoagulant in leech bite will make your wound bleeds profusely for hour, a terrifying scene for the weak-hearted.

Pic: a fully-fed leech

To get rid of leech, you may read my article on “How to prevent leech bite?”

No. 3: Ant-Snatching Assassin Bug

“An insect that wears carcasses as trophy.”

Ant-Snatching Assassin Bug is not only weird, it is also disgusting. They mainly prey on ants. After sucking the ant dry, Ant-Snatching Assassin Bug will put the dead body on its back. It can stack more than 20 dead ants at a time.

Seeing such corpse-carrying behavior may cause discomfort to your stomach (I think it is funny though), but it is a good camouflage to confuse its predators such as jumping spider.

My photos may be not so clear. You may check out better close-up photos here.

No. 2: Horsehair Worm

“Horse hair? It is more like the hair of a demon!”

I wish I’ve never seen this sinister parasite, as it makes me sick just by thinking about it.

You know mantis is a fierce predator feared by all insects, but it is a victim to Horsehair Worm. One day I saw a mantis running restlessly around, then it fell into a basin. To rescue it from being drown, I grabbed the mantis. Then I saw a worm crawling out of its butt, it was so GROSS.

Horsehair Worm enters insects’ body when the victims (e.g. mantis, cricket) drink water containing its larvae. When the worm is fully grown inside its host and ready to get out, it’ll control the brain of parasitized insect, causing it to seek water and drown itself, then it’ll wriggle out from the ass of its host and return to water.

Horror movie does happen in real life. Luckily, Horsehair Worm is harmless to human.

No. 1: Stick Insect

“A walking twig.”

Besides being the Weirdest of all, Stick Insect is also a winner of Best Camouflaged and the Longest Insect in the world. The longest insect in the world is a 56.7cm-long (22.3 inches) stick-insect (species: Phobaeticus chani) found in Sabah.

Pic: a stick?

Pic: No…. It’s a stick insect.

The look of this bizarre bug resembles a stick, and it behaves like a stick too. When it moves, it rocks back and forth to imitate twig swaying in the breeze. Even its eggs also look like seeds, to fool the carnivorous predators. If Charles Darwin saw Stick Insect, he would think it evolved from plant.

Pic: a pair of mating stick insects, looks like two sticks fucking each other..

Many species of stick insects are parthenogenic, which means the females can produce eggs (offspring) without mating with males!

Pic: giant female stick insect (species: Haaniella echinata) in Danum Valley, it is endemic to Borneo.

There are around 3,000 species of stick insects in the world, and they have rich variety of shape and size.

So, which weird bug is your favorite? 🙂 Nevermind if you dislike them all, they dislike human too, so it’s unlikely that you would find one of these bugs in your house.

Photos taken in Sabah Borneo, Malaysia

Imbak Canyon, the Green Canyon of Borneo

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Most tourists and researchers, who have visited Danum Valley or Maliau Basin, agree that Sabah has the best Borneo rainforests. Both forest reserves are so pristine that they would become our next UNESCO World Heritage Sites. You will be happy to know that Imbak Canyon, a Class-1 30,000-Ha Forest Reserve in the Heart of Sabah, is as high quality as them.

As seen in the map above, Imbak Canyon is a 3-KM-wide valley about 150 Meters above sea level (asl), flanked by ridges running parallel 25 KM from west to east, which are mainly sandstone cliffs with a height up to 1,500 Meters asl. This impressive landscape is formed by 750 Meters carving of the Sungai Imbak (Imbak River) over thousands of years. Though Imbak Canyon is not as majestic as Grand Canyon, it has dense forest that is over 100 million years old. It is a “Green Canyon”!

Pic: Imbak Canyon is just at the north of Maliau Basin.

Road Trip to Imbak Canyon

However, to get there, you need to drive nearly 300 KM for more than 6 hours from Kota Kinabalu (KK) to this remote forest. The 3.5-hour drive from KK to Telupid town is on paved road, the rest on gravel & muddy road, which can be steep and muddy. Probably that’s why it isn’t a popular destination for ordinary tourists.

Pic: the junction to Imbak Canyon at Tongod. This marks the start of our 3-hour bumpy ride.

Though Imbak Canyon is only accessible by 4-Wheel Drive (4WD), some loves this and call this an adventure. Trust me, this is the most “violent” ride that I ever followed. The feeling is like sitting on the wild horse that tries to throw you out of its back. Thrilling though.

The 4WD needs to be equipped with snorkel (to cross river), locker and jungle trekker tyres (with costs RM1,000 each). Besides, you need a skillful 4WD driver, not those middle-aged uncles who drive 4WD in city street. We are glad to have Gilbert, a North Borneo Safari driver to come with us. His 4WD is unstoppable and he also helped to pull out a few 4WDs stranded in mud during the course.

You can watch the following 2-min video of our 4WD trip:

Click Here for wider video

We stopped by Kampung Imbak (Imbak Village) in Tongod for a short break and buying supplies. This village is the last civilization on the way to Imbak Canyon.

Pic: funny signage that translated as “Attention. Please don’t drive too fast if you know the law. Be careful, this is village area, or else.” Probably the villagers are unhappy of the dust created by passing vehicles.

Pic: red BBQ chicken wing of Kg. Imbak. They apply coloring that looks like roasted pork (??).

Pic: grocery shop that sells chicken meat and seafood.

We continued our journey after shopping. About 13 KM before Imbak Canyon, we need to cross a wide river, which is the biggest obstacle. There is a bridge under construction. Once the bridge is complete in future, Imbak Canyon will be more ready for tourism.

Update (Nov 2012)!

The bridge is completed and can be used now. However, some may still prefer to cross the river for fun.

Luckily the river is not deep so our 4WDs can cross it without problem. Our trip was cancelled once, because this river was flooded during rainy season. Before the bridge is complete, if it rained, we would needed to wait 3 to 4 hours for the flood to subside before crossing.

In worst case, the water level can reach the window of 4WD.

The bumpy ride can freak out faint-hearted passengers. The trick is not to sit stiff and counter the momentum. Just relax your body and let your weight “stick” you to your seat like soft mud. You will find that your fat is so useful in this case.

We passed by oil palm plantation and saw some electric fences that prevent pygmy elephants from entering.

Finally, we arrive Tampoi Base Camp (or Tampoi Research Station) of Imbak Canyon at 12:30pm. Tampoi is the name of a Borneo fruit. We check-in at Tampoi Camp and have our lunch there. The forest and campsites of Imbak Canyon are managed by Yayasan Sabah Foundation.

Imbak Waterfall

After feeding our stomach, we proceeded to the most famous attraction of Imbak Canyon – the Imbak Waterfall. Imbak Waterfall is only 10 KM away from Tampoi Camp, but it took us more than an hour to get there, due to the steep and slippery road. We were told that we would need to walk, if there was any landslide or fallen tree blocking the way.

Pic: the entrance of Big Belian Camp (BBC Camp), where Imbak Waterfall is located. At the right is a wooden staircase to Imbak Waterfall. Our cars can park near the entrance, so it’s only a short walk to the waterfall, very convenient. The Kangkawat suspension bridge at the left leads you to the jungle trail.

Pic: the view of Imbak Waterfall from the viewing platform. Note the man is so small.

Pic: the front view of Imbak Waterfall and Imbak River. The water is in light tea color but it is very clean. The color is caused by the tannins leaching out from the plant growing in Imbak Canyon.

Imbak Waterfall is a must-see if you visit Imbak Canyon. I would say it is one of the most beautiful waterfalls of Sabah.

Imbak Canyon is an important water catchment area. This Imbak River is one of the sources of Kinabatangan, the longest river of Sabah. More than 30 species of amphibians and reptiles live in this river.

Imbak Waterfall is about 80 Meters in wide and 8 Meters in height. The photo above will give you an idea of its scale. It’s very slippery on top. My friend saw a Sambar Deer (largest deer of Sabah) there.

Pic: close-up of Imbak Waterfall

Look closely and you will see hundreds of cascading “miniature waterfalls” on the sandstone or mudstone layers of Imbak Waterfall, a very interesting feature. Yes, I took a bath at the waterfall. The water is so cooling and refreshing. I didn’t use soap b’coz I don’t want to pollute the river.

Pic: piles of sandstone and mudstone rocks next to Imbak Waterfall

Can you spot the man on the waterfall?

Besides Imbak Waterfall, there are other waterfalls such as Kuli Falls, Majau Falls and Pandan Falls in the canyon. Imbak Canyon is a mountainous region so there are many waterfalls to be discovered.

To see more of Imbak Waterfall, you may watch the 1.5-min video below:

Click Here for wider video

Forest of Imbak Canyon

Imbak Waterall is the most popular attraction of Imbak Canyon, but the real gem is the virgin forest there. In short, Imbak Canyon consists of two main vegetation, i.e., Lowland Dipterocarp Rainforest in the valley (Dipterocarp is the most important tree family of Borneo) and Montane Heath Forest (a.k.a. Kerangas, abundant with native orchids and endemic pitcher plants) on the ridges of higher altitude. Over 70% of the forest is unexplored.

Pic: a tree with huge buttress in BBC Camp. The ranger told me there is a tree with buttress that looks like crocodile in Kuli Camp.

There are a few forest trails in the canyon, ranging from 1 KM to 17 KM in distance, for those who want to do jungle trekking. Even though I stayed in Imbak Canyon for a day, I have seen or heard Serpent eagle, Helmeted hornbill and Gibbon. Many wildlife such as pygmy elephant, sambar deer, leopard, sun bear, mouse deer, orangutan, proboscis monkey and Sumatran rhinoceros also live here.

Pic: a dead tree with big hole that can house 3 to 4 people inside.

Tall trees such as Kapur and Keruing are common in the canyon, and Kapur Merah is the “iconic” tree of Imbak. To scientists, this virgin forest is a “botanical gene bank” where we can source for the seeds of rare and endangered plant species, which are considered high in pharmaceutical and biotechnological potential.

Like other primary rainforest, you can see a lot of fungus, mushroom and termite nest along the nature trails. They play an important ecological role in decomposing rotten dead wood/leaf, to recycle the organic nutrients.

Pic: a huge Ironwood (Belian) tree which is about 800 to 900 years old.

For birders, you will be pleased to know that over 200 bird species are found in Imbak. 5 of them are endemic to Borneo, namely, Borneon Bristlehead, Blue-headed Pitta, Black-throated Wren-Babbler, Borneon Blue Flycatcher and White-browed Shama.

Night walk here is fun as you may find vine snake and scorpion. But be careful of the hornet that is attracted by your torchlight, I was stung twice. It’s so painful that I thought it was snake bite.

Pic: a fully-fed Tiger Leech resting on a twig. It’s so fat and full that it ignored me.

Many are afraid of this blood sucker. Anyway, tiger leech is not a tiger, and its bite is not harmful, so no need to get panic if you see one on your skin. The presence of leech means the forest is healthy and full of wildlife (food source).

Pic: the leeches bypass my anti-leech socks and feast on my leg.

After the leeches are full and drop off my skin, they start to get horny and mate. I’m proud to say that my blood donation contributes to the birth of more baby leeches, haha..

Their mating process is so “intense”. You may watch 30-sec of them in video below:

Click Here for wider video

Tampoi Base Camp

Visitors can overnight in Tampoi Base Camp, which provides basic accommodation and facilities. A 3-day-2-night or longer stay is recommended. They also have camping ground for big student or researcher group. Though no mobile phone coverage, they have Wifi and public phone (i-Talk) in camp. For me, that’s really impressive for a campsite deep in the jungle.

Below is the location of Tampoi Camp and Imbak Waterfall:

View My Sabah Map in a larger map

Pic: Dining & Activity Hall of Tampoi Camp

You would see orangutan wandering around the camp in early morning.

Pic: accommodation of Tampoi Camp. It’s divided into male and female sections.

Pic: bunk beds with mosquito net.

It can be chilling at night, so it’s advisable to bring your sleeping bag for extra warmth. However, the night was warm during my stay. The electricity is cut off between 12am to 3am daily.

Pic: bathroom and toilet in Tampoi Camp

More Photos & Info

You can check out my photo album, to know more about what to expect in the trip. If you decide to visit Imbak Canyon Conservation Area (ICCA), you can book the tour with North Borneo Safari, the tour operator who is experienced in adventure tour and provides everything from 4WD transport, tour guide and meals in the tour.

Photos taken in Tongod, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Night walk in Poring rainforest

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It was an exciting night in Poring rainforest. I finally found the insect that I had been looking for years. Many friends are also very impressed with this insect. Please read on to see it.

I suppose Poring rainforest is an ideal site for night walk due to its rich flora and fauna. Surprisingly, no tourist asks for a night safari in Poring, so I had to hire a nature guide to start one at 7pm. The fee is about RM70-100 (?USD20-30) per hour. We have a happy start when we spot a white wolf spider with red mouth.

Above: A litter frog that has big head, cute..

Then we saw a giant river toad, which is endemic to Borneo and famous for its foul smell. I didn’t smell anything though. There is a myth that this toad will laugh if you tickle its belly.

We rub its belly gently with a twig. You may watch the 1-min video below to see if it laughs:

There are quite a number of big spider around, like the leopard spider above. It is easy to spot them coz their eyes reflect our torchlight.

Small spider waits for prey in fungus cup.

A very long stick insect. The guide says the village kids are used to eat the eggs of stick insect because its eggs are big and look like chocolate.

Fat stick insect on tapioca leaf. Seem like stick insect loves tapioca leaf coz I found a few more.

Here comes the highlight of my night walk. Can you spot anything in the photo above?

Can’t see it? Below is the answer. It’s a Leaf mimicking Grasshopper (Chorotypus gallinaceus) that perfectly camouflaged as a dead leaf.

I had heard about this insect. I’m so glad to see one. When I was busy taking its photo, suddenly it just played dead and dropped itself to the ground. The guide and me shouted, “Oh sh*t!” because it would be very hard to spot it among the foliage. Luckily we located it again.

We also saw a big snail near Kipungit Waterfall. So far it’s the largest forest snail that I’ve ever seen.

Above: Giant bent-toed gecko on tree trunk.

There are some tiger leeches lurking in the bush. They were so excited when they sensed our heat.

Another highlight is the mating of two tiger leeches. It lasts for quite a long time and both leeches caress each other like crazy. You may see their action in the 1-min video below:

Click Here for bigger video

Our night walk ended at 11pm, just before the heavy rain came. I can’t wait to go back there again one day. If you love such activity, Poring is highly recommended for night safari.

More Photos

You may check out my photo album on Poring night walk for more nice pictures:

Other articles about Poring Hot Springs Park:

Photos taken in Poring, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Minitinduk Gorge, ancient gateway to Mt. Kinabalu

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Minitinduk Gorge is the ancient gateway to Mt. Kinabalu, as it is on “The Hugh Low Trail”, an original summit trail used by documented first male climbers, Sir Hugh Low (1851) and Sir John Whitehead (1888), and female climber, Lillian Gibbs (1910), of Mt. Kinabalu, the highest peak of Malaysia. After another “tourist” trail opens in 1924 (by R.F. Evan and Sarel), climbers / tourists are no longer using this trail located in Kampung Kiau (Kiau Village) of Kota Belud district.

Last month I joined a 2-day-1-night camping trip organized by The Sabah Society to explore the gorge. The weather was good for the past few days until we departed in the afternoon, but the heavy downpour didn’t hold us back. By 2:30pm, we reached the junction to Kampung Kiau (Kiau Village), which is a few Kilometers (KM) after Nabalu and 29 KM before Ranau, and where we met up with Mr. Martin Moguring, our guide from Kinabalu Park. Dr. Ravi, the co-writer of the book “The Hugh Low Trail”, is the organizer of this trip.

Then we drove to the school in Kiau Village, which takes another 30 minutes. We parked our cars in the village and walked to the starting point, just a stone throw away from the village. We were told in advance that we will cross multiple small rivers, so most of us were wearing short. Our group also hired 3 porters (Rony, Abinus and Bengent) to carry some of our bags and supplies.

Jungle Trekking & River Crossing

The distance from Kiau Village to Minitinduk Gorge is only 3.5 KM and take about 2 hours of trekking. For the first day, we walk 3 KM to Sambatang Cave and camp there. The second day we walk from the cave to the Gorge, which is only 500 Meters away. FYI, the gorge is in a private land outside of the Kinabalu Park boundary.

In the beginning, we passed through the farmland, mainly consists of paddy, maize, ginger and other food crops.

Pretty soon we entered the secondary forest, characterized by dense undergrowth. It is still raining so it’s very humid in the forest and this “activates” the little brown forest leeches that live in deeper jungle and love wet environment (and our blood!). There are not many of them and most are only 1cm in length. I had seen forest leeches 5 times bigger in primary rainforest, so these tiny-sized blood suckers didn’t bother me. I didn’t even feel that I got one leech bite until I saw my leg bleeds.

Though it’s a newly generated forest, there are still potential dangers around. Like the harmless looking plant in photo above, its leaves are poisonous and able to make your skin really painful and itchy when touched. But there are many “good” plant too, Martin shows us some plant that can be used as food, preservatives or herbal medicines by local people.

As I’m an experienced hiker, the trail is not rugged and I consider it as an easy walk, not strenuous and challenging at all. Most of the time, we moved on the nature trail adjacent to the Kadamaian River and its tributaries such as Kolapis, and there are about 10 river crossing. But I’m not so used to river crossing. After heavy rain, the rivers rose, turning swift and deep.

Though the depth of river only reaches our knee level, the current is strong enough to push you down if you don’t stand firm. The worst thing is the murky water caused by heavy rain, we can’t see the irregular bottom. We had to cross slowly, probing the depth in front with one foot to avoid stepping into deeper water. I almost fell into the icy-cold water with my camera once.

My best advise is – Trust NO rock and boulder near the river. They all look deceptively safe to step on, but they offer zero friction, after being “waxed” by the river for a long time!

Our socks are soaking wet. Only Dr. Ravi walks with happy dry feet. He also shows us his simple solution – just drill a hole on the shoe for draining of water, lol.

As we were moving further up the river, the boulders get bigger and bigger and see more and more cascading streams, the characteristics of river upstream. The water is so clean, unlike other milk-tea color rivers caused by excessive logging in upstream area (e.g. Padas) of Sabah.

Sambatang Cave

Finally we reach Sambatang Cave at 5:30pm!

Actually Sambatang Cave is a cavernous space under an overhanging huge boulder. It can accommodate 3 to 4 people.

Since the daylight is vanishing, we quickly setup 3 camping tents on the flat area near the cave.

According to the porters, Sambatang Cave is an ideal natural shelter, even the heaviest rain can’t flood the cave.

The porters collected some wood and started a camp fire to “smoke” the cave, as the smell can keep creepy animals such as snake and centipede away from the cave. I’m so happy to keep my feet dry and warm.

Light not only attract insect, it also draws human. After having instant noodle as dinner and a few rounds of hot coffee, everyone squeezes into this small cave to warm themselves up with camp fire.

Night Walk

When I started to see bugs crawling around the cave, I decided to take a night walk to check out the bug party in forest.

Above: a stick insect pretends or thinks that it’s a stick.

You can hear a lot of frog calls near the river.

Same as frog, toad is everywhere too.

Above: This little green frog is almost invisible on the green fern.

When the night is late, I go to bed in Sambatang Cave, which is also the place the early explorers like Sir John Whitehead and Lilian Gibbs spent their night before heading to the summit, as described in their chronicles more than a hundred years ago. Do remember to bring floor mat and sleeping bag if you plan to sleep inside the cave. Torchlight / LED headlamp is needed if you want to do your business in dark night. The night was so cold that I can feel the chill in my 7°C-grade sleeping bag.

What’s for Breakfast?

My biological clock waked me up at 6am next morning. I saw the porters busy preparing breakfast. From their happy smiles, they must be waiting for something really tasty.

Out of curiosity, I take a look what is inside the pot. Oh dear, those are the frogs they catch. No wonder I saw them searching for something along the river last night. Well, I was there hunting for frog photos but they hunt for the frog meat.

Then they grill the frog over the fire. Please note that only certain frog species are edible as some are poisonous. You can find the edible frogs for sales in local native market called “Tamu”. Species such as Limnonectes ingeri (greater swamp frog), Limnonectes kuhlii (Large-headed Frog) and Limnonectes leporinus (Giant River Frog) yield high demand as food by local people.

Above: almost done…

They gave a frog leg for me to try. Being open-minded and “adventurous”, I eat it. To my surprise, the frog meat is so sweet and tender. It is slightly chewy but taste a lot better than chicken, trust me.

Minitinduk Gorge

After breakfast, we leave our bags in cave and head to Minitinduk Gorge, which is only 500 Meters away. 15 minutes later, we exit the dense canopy and see Minitinduk Gorge is right in front of us! Minitinduk means “the meeting of two beaks” in Dusun language. The gorge looks like a twin towers less than 50 feet from each other, with Kadamaian River flows between them. Someone believe the gap is even narrower and both sides almost touching each other in the past, as a legend says a Kiau couple can jump over to the other side, when they try to escape from a group of headhunters from Bundu Tuhan.

We take a group photo with banner. We look so small in the photo. The gorge is about 150 feet in height. There is a theory saying that the gorge was once a waterfall with a lake at the bottom. One day the waterfall collapsed and creates the gap that bisected the hill, based on a historical record that there should be a lake under Mt. Kinabalu but is never found.

Inside the gorge is an opening with Kadamaian River flows between the vertical rocky cliffs. Even though tourists nowadays don’t use this trail, the Kadazandusun people believe this is still the holy trail for the spirits of the dead to go to their final resting place, the Mount Kinabalu, and this gorge is the gate. It sounds scary when our day of visit coincides with the Chinese ghost festival day.

The water of Kadamaian River is from Mt. Kinabalu. It looks cleaner than our tap water and nice for a dip. Too bad I didn’t bring my swim trunk.

If you follow the ancient trail further upstream, you can reach the summit trail of tourists at Lowii or Paka Shelter of Mt. Kinabalu. On the way, you will see super-huge Kadamaian Waterfall. Someone estimate the height of Kadamaian Waterfall is about 250 to 350 Meters and could be the tallest waterfall of Malaysia.

Enough with photo-taking, we left Minitinduk Gorge. It is really a nice trip over the weekend.

We packed our backpack and go back to Kota Kinabalu city at 11am. Personally I would like to thank The Sabah Society members who spent months of research to retrace this historical trail. You may watch the 6-minute video on our trip to Minitinduk Gorge.

More Photos

You may check out the photo album of Minitinduk Gorge for more nice pictures:

Reference
“The Hugh Low Trail: The Quest for the Historical Trail to the Summit of Kinabalu” by Dr. Ravi Mandalam, Dr. Chin Shui Hiung and Christopher Chin, published by The Sabah Society, Jan 2004

Photos taken in Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Sepilok Rainforest to Mangrove (part 3 of 4)

Long-Tailed Macaques

It was a late afternoon in Sepilok Laut Reception Center. “The bad guy is coming!” the forestry guide warned me, “Do NOT leave any belonging outside your room.”

>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest

Then I saw a long-tailed macaque sitting in the wood about 15 Meters away from us. It looks so kind, with a face like a friendly Santa Claus. In fact, macaques can be so aggressive that even the big orangutan doesn’t dare to agitate them.

After observing us cautiously for a while, this monkey came closer to our building and sneak under our platform, peeping us through the gaps of the boardwalk.

Then the rest of the cheeky monkey followed. The guide told me that just a few days ago, these monkey stole the syringe and medication of a tourist, who has diabetes, and ran into the forest. The monkey also knows how to open a door.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest

There is also a group of red-leaf monkey living nearby, but they are very shy and seldom come near to the building.

“This is an alpha male,” the guide says, “We call him Paul.” Indeed, Paul is relatively larger than other monkey in his gang. Look at the size of his balls!

The guide wanted to get Paul closer to me for a mug shot session, so he gave Paul a pack of chocolate biscuit. Paul came forward to accept the offering and enjoyed the biscuit only 5 feet in front of us.

The expression of monkey is so rich and human-like. Of course I got a lot of good/funny photos. It is not advisable to feed them. If they are too used to human, they will attack anyone who carries food and become a nuisance to tourists. For now, they are still wild.

That’s a female monkey on the roof. Probably the wife of Paul.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest

In the mudflat not far away from our building, a few baby long-tailed macaques busy searching for food. They also eat crab. That’s why they are also known as Crab-Eating Monkey.

And there was a big monitor lizard stalking on these little monkey. It is very smart. It stayed still whenever the monkey looked at its direction.

But too bad the monkey still discovered the lizard and making alert call to warn others.

Mission failed, so the disappointed lizard retreated into the mangrove.

After meal hour, those monkey groomed one another. They are so relax and don’t even bother about us. I even heard their annoying screeching noise during bedtime.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest

If you want to see more monkey faces, check out the video below:

Click Here to see wider video

This place is supposed to be ideal for bird watching. Due to the poor weather, I only saw a few Pacific Swallow, Ashy Tailorbird and Common Iora. If you are lucky, you would see woodpecker, kingfisher, hornbills, etc.

Night Safari

If you stay in the jungle, always take a walk at night, you will see more interesting stuffs than daytime. After dinner, I told the guide I wanted to do a night safari at night. He is also very interested and want to join, so we went into the wood at 7:30pm. As expected, there are so much too see at night. I search slowly with torchlight and turned almost every leaf. Though the guide was with me, he was always out of my sight, leaving me engulfed by darkness, scary…

Hammer head worm.

Stick insects.

Fungus beetles busy mating.

Big ant..

Jumping spider..

>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest
We also saw scorpion, frog, big millipede, snail, centipede and other small creatures.

Above: a few leaves weaved and connected by human-hair-like threads, spooky!

The jackpot of my night safari is the Borneo Anglehead Agamid, which is endemic to Borneo. It is quite small and shorter than the length of my palm. Unfortunately, suddenly it rained and I didn’t bring my raincoat, so we had to run more than half a KM back to our building. That ended my day.

FYI, they say there are a lot of fireflies in deeper part of the mangrove. You may hire a boat to check it out at night.

Update (Nov 2012)!

The jungle trail to Sepilok Laut Reception Centre (SLRC) is changed. You may want to read the new upgrade and latest change of SLRC facilities here.

Photos taken in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Sepilok Rainforest to Mangrove (part 1 of 4)

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Nearly half of Sabah is covered by forest. However, less than 3% of our forested area is virgin rainforest. Our very famous Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center is part of Kabili-Sepilok Virgin Jungle Reserve. From there, you can try a 5.5KM jungle trail from Sepilok virgin rainforest to a pristine mangrove forest.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest

My plan is to spend 2 to 3 hours to complete the walk of this 5.5KM jungle trail to reach the mangrove forest, spend a night in the hostel of Sepilok Laut Reception Center, then take a boat to Sandakan town in the next morning. I know some travel agents offer such package but the response is very poor, as most tourists are only interested in seeing orangutan and not keen to try the nature trail infested by forest leeches.

View My Sabah Map in a larger map

As the Sepilok rainforest is a first class forest reserve, you need to get a permit from Sabah Forestry Department to enter the jungle. Therefore, I went to the Sandakan District Forestry Operation Office (not the HQ) in Bandar Leila (near to UMW) of Sandakan to collect the permit. Besides, I was also paying for guide, accommodation and boat (see details in this blog entry). Forestry Department is very efficient and thanks to Mr. Kwan. They also express that they really want to promote this place.

The booking and payment took me less than 10 minutes, then I drove 40 minutes to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center, where the trail begins. My guide, Uncle Severinus, was already waiting for me. A forestry guide is required coz we may encounter dangerous animals such as orangutan, sun bear and poisonous snakes. Yes, dear tourists, orangutan can be very dangerous. Part of the trail is not well-marked, so people can lose their way.

First we walked on a boardwalk, which is the same one used by tourists to go to orangutan feeding platform. Then the guide opened a small gate to the forest trail. FYI, they also have a bird watching trail and a 2KM “Water Hole” trail. The trails here are really nature and heavily foliaged. The guide says in future they will open a new trail from Rainforest Discovery Center to connect to this trail.

Jungle Trekking from Rainforest to Mangrove
In the beginning, you will see many big trees of lowland dipterocarp forest, with an average height of 55 Meters! We pass by a Sun Bear conservation center which will be opened for public soon.

The forest trail is next to the river so it is flooded occasionally during rainy season and become wet and soggy.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest

In dry season, this trail poses 0 degree of challenge to me. But it was wet season that time in Sandakan, the trail becomes very muddy after weeks of raining. Though I was wearing the water-proof rubber shoes “Adidas Kampung”, I still have to avoid sinking my own feet into the soft and sticky mud.

Part of the trail is totally flooded. We have to walk at the edge of the trail, or snake around in the wood to find another easier route to bypass the flood. We even “lost” for a few minutes and had to turn back to retrace our trail. Luckily, my guide knows the place very well. He knew that we were on the wrong way coz he felt the place “macam lain” (look different). Now you know why you can’t go alone without a guide.

To feel what we had been through, you may watch the 4-minute video below:

When we were busy passing through the dense undergrowth, we waked up the sleeping blood suckers, the Tiger Leech! Leech is sensitive to vibration and body heat. I believe they can sense us 10 feet away though they are blind.

The tiger leeches always hide in the shrubs and leaves and most active during wet season. When my body was brushing through the shrubs, the tiger leeches would hop on me. I removed more than 20 big tiger leeches and countless small brown leeches from my shirt and skin. I was wearing leech socks but with so many leeches around, it is still a miracle that I didn’t get a single leech bite!

>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest

Usually leech is absent during dry season. After jungle trekking, I checked inside my shoes and removed a few more. Always “de-leech” yourself before entering the room! Leech is annoying but it does not cause serious harm. I worry more about falling tree branches during rainy day.

Not everything in rainforest is creepy. I came across some beautiful creatures too, like the golden hammer head worm above. Ok, it is as creepy as a leech too.

There are some tiny frogs found along the flooded trail. My guide is always happy to catch one to show me.

Above: the signage in the jungle. But they don’t tell the remaining distance to my destination. There is no hut and resting point on the trail.

Above: the footprint of Samba deer, the largest deer species of Sabah.

Above: sleeping centipede. Look nasty.

Above: sleeping tractor millipede. So, not only human feels sleepy during rainy day huh.

The trail is less muddy after 2KM. I saw some fungus but the variety is fewer than I expect. I feel that part of Sepilok forest is a logged-over forest.

Above: a “bleeding” tree

We saw a few camera trap on the way. But the researcher removed the camera due to flood concern.

Above: I saw thousands of such cicada chimney on the forest floor. We hear cicada calls all over the place as if they are the key residents of the jungle. We also heard the loud calls of Tokey lizard and it sounds like chicken.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest

When we get closer to the mangrove, we meet two hilly trails. They call the trail in photo above as “green hill”. It is a long descending trail.

At noon we reached Sepilok Laut Camping Park (a.k.a. The Gap) which is only 1KM away from my destination, Sepilok Laut Reception Center. It started to rain heavily and we took cover under the roof of a multi-purpose hall.

Then we heard something fled into the wood. It was a herd of proboscis monkey. I saw a big male proboscis monkey sitting on a tree about 100 feet away from us!

We used the water and toilet in the camping park. See the broken mirror at the basin? The guide says probably it is broken by angry monkey, who thought it saw a rival male in the mirror, lol.

The toilet and shower rooms are well-maintained and divided into male and female blocks. School teachers and students can consider to have a camping here. The camping ground can accommodate 80 people.

When the rain turned small, we quickly continued our jungle trekking. Very soon we saw the 500-Meter signage.

And finally we reached Sepilok Laut Reception Center at 1pm! I spent 3 hours 30 minutes, which is considered very slow as I stopped a lot to photograph. Normal people can reach here within 3 hours.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Sepilok Forest

The rain started pouring. But my guide, Uncle Severinus, wanted to go home. He is a very friendly village man from Tambunan. He is old but strong and even offered to carry my heavy backpack twice. I think he is very cute so I take one picture with him. You can see that my shirt is all wet. It’s sweat, not rain.

Another forestry staff, Justinus, in the center shared his lunch and rice with us, so nice. I had some chocolate bars as quick lunch, but it felt so good to enjoy fish and hot soup in cold raining day after a long walk. Justinus has stationed here for a week and happy to see human.

We were not alone. There were something lurking in the dark and looking at us…

Update (Nov 2012)!

The jungle trail to Sepilok Laut Reception Centre (SLRC) is changed. You may want to read the new upgrade and latest change of SLRC facilities here.

Photos taken in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo