Tag Archives: Proboscis Monkey

Where to see Orangutan, Proboscis Monkey, Sunbear, Pygmy Elephant and Hornbill of Borneo

Does Sabah have anything extraordinary on world map? Foreigners would not know your favourite celebrity in Malaysia. But when you mention the word “Borneo”, they would reply, “Oh I know, that’s where orangutan lives!” Orangutan is a superstar in animal kingdom and is featured as much as Kangaroo and Panda in nature channels.

Superstars of Borneo: Orangutan, Proboscis Monkey, Pygmy Elephant, Sunbear and Hornbill

However, orangutan, a.k.a. Man of the Forest, isn’t the only wonder in our 140-million-year-old Borneo rainforest (Amazon is only 60 million). Come and meet the “Borneo version” of Playboy, Teddy Bear, Mini Jumbo and Love Bird, which are Proboscis Monkey, Sunbear, Pygmy Elephant and Hornbill respectively, the other four iconic wildlife rule the third largest island on earth. Allow me briefly introduce these charismatic and must-see animals of Borneo:-

1. Orangutan – Man of the Forest

say Hi to your cousin (just kidding), orangutan, is one of our closest relative, as their DNA is 97% resemble to human. If you look at their eyes and expression, you know they are thinking animal. Orangutan probably inspired the making of first King Kong movie, and you may have seen orangutan in movies such as Maurice in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and King Louie in Jungle Book.

Orangutan is only found in Borneo and Sumatra

Orangutan is smarter than Chimpanzee. They know how to use tools, memorizing the fruiting season of different fruit and pass on this knowledge to their offspring. Orangutan is the only great ape of Asia. So please stop calling orangutan a monkey, that’s an insult to them lol.

2. Proboscis Monkey – Playboy of Borneo

This peculiar long-nosed monkey has an amusing nickname, i.e. Orang Belanda (means Dutch Man in Malay language) because of its big nose and beer belly (don’t be offended ok, if you are from Netherlands). Though you would think the long, pendulous nose of adult males is funny, the female monkey think it’s sexy. And strong male proboscis monkey has dozen of wives.

Never feed Proboscis Monkey with banana. Their digestion system is meant for breaking down mangrove leaves. Anything sweet will ferment and create lot of gas in their stomach, and that could cause death.

3. Pygmy Elephant – Mini Elephant

Pygmy Elephant is the smallest elephant on earth and only a thousand of them left in Sabah, so they are critically endangered and far rarer than African elephant (with a population of 350,000+ and always reported as “in worrying status” by world media).

Pygmy elephant is the most endangered elephant species

Pygmy Elephant looks like Asian Elephant, but both species separated from each other around three million years ago, and Pygmy Elephant evolves into a smaller subspecies that has longer tail and round baby face. Pygmy Elephants love durian and they swallow it as a whole.

4. Bornean Sun Bear – Teddy Bear of Borneo

About the size of a dog, Bornean Sun Bear is the world’s tiniest bear. The baby bear is so adorable and cuddly that some people keep it as pet illegally. For such a beautiful creature, you might imagine that they live a fairytale life in a candy house filled with cookies.

Instead, they live in danger every day. Poachers shoot them without hesitation, for their highly priced gallbladder. And their cute baby bears would be kept as pet, but will be abandoned eventually after they grow too big to be handled. Never live in the wild since young, these bears won’t survive.

5. Hornbills – Love Birds of Borneo

Hornbills are monogamous and a symbol of fidelity. I always see them flying in pair. There are 8 species of hornbills in Borneo, each with interesting characteristics. For example, Helmeted Hornbill is called Burung Tebang Mentua (Chop Mother-in-law in Malay language) by locals because of its long eerie call that sounds like evil laughter.

During hatching period, female hornbill seals herself inside a tree hole, leaving a slit for feeding by her “husband”. The male can come back and forth as many as 70 times a day to feed. This goes on for months until the chick hatched. If this is not love, what it is then.

Best Place to See Them All?

You can see these “big 5” wildlife in only 2 days in Sandakan, the gateway to wildlife sanctuary of Borneo. Sepilok and Kinabatangan will be your best destinations for wildlife sighting in Borneo. For tour and accommodation, I stayed in the lodges of Nasalis Larvatus Tours which are rated as 4+ stars by TripAdvisor.

1. Sepilok

Sepilok is a a virgin forest reserve about 26 KM away from Sandakan City and highly accessible by public transport. Tourists love this place because they can see Orangutan, Sunbear and probably Hornbill in one trip. The following are three parks that are adjacent to one another in Sepilok.

1) Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (SORC)

Founded in 1964, SORC is the most popular tourist attraction in Sandakan. Orphan orangutan is sent here for survival skill training such as climbing and food hunting. They will be released to the wild after they “graduate” from this orangutan school. The best time to see them is during the feeding time at 10am and 3pm daily. The Centre also has a hall where you can see cute baby orangutan playing in nursery.

Feeding time at Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre

2) Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC)

Located just next to SORC, BSBCC houses and rehabiliates over 40 bears rescued from illegal zoo and pet owners. BSBCC won the Best Nature Attraction in Sabah Tourism Awards 2017 and its founder Dr. Wong is named as one of the CNN Heroes in 2017.

The bears roam in a confined forested area for tourists to observe them from a rised platform. You will be amazed by their tree climbing skill and playful behavior. Some staffs are around to share the story of each bear. Their sad stories could make you cry, but sun bear gets far less attention than Polar Bear and Panda.

3) Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC)

RDC is a beautiful forest park with tall tropical trees, lake, nature trails and exhibition hall. You can walk on their 15-Metre high sturdy walkway to see everything at canopy level.

Canopy walkway of Rainforest Discovery Centre

This place is also an ideal bird-watching location where you would find hornbill, kingfishers, pitta, and Bornean Bristlehead, the superstar endemic bird of Borneo. If you are a tree hugger, check out the Sepilok Giant, an estimated 800-1,000 years old Ironwood tree in the park.

Nature Lodge Sepilok

For accommodation, I spent a night in Nature Lodge Sepilok (GPS: 5.875559, 117.950068, see Location Map) in Sepilok and able to make a day trip to all 3 parks near the lodge.

Below are some photos of Nature Lodge Sepilok.

Nature Lodge Sepilok is a family friendly accommodation

The lodge is constructed in smaller scale to give more privacy and tranquility to tourists. They don’t want a big lodge with hundred of noisy tourists.

The room is nice and clean with air-conditioning. It is as comfy as a 3-star hotel room. The pictures above shall give you an idea.

The open bathroom of Nature Lodge Sepilok

And the toilet and bathroom is a little surprise. It’s a backyard garden with bath and toilet area partly concealed by plant. There is no tall building around, so don’t worry about your privacy. In fact, taking bath and doing my business in semi-open area is oddly satisfying. One of my friends found bird nest in her bathroom.

Cute & friendly cats at Nature Lodge Sepilok

Every time I walked around the lodge, I always ended up with cat fur all over me. The cats there are so cute and friendly.

Breakfast at Mango Garden Cafe of Nature Lodge Sepilok

The food in Mango Garden Cafe of Nature Lodge Sepilok is delicious and rich in variety. They even look yummy in photos. Every meal time is a happy time for me.

Delicious food in Mango Garden Cafe of Nature Lodge Sepilok

By the way, you can buy almost every necessity in their shop, e.g. raincoat, soft drink, instant noodle, snack, toiletries, sunblock lotion, insect repellent, drinking water.

Nature Lodge Sepilok is really a great place for a relax and leisure vacation. For booking, you can reach them at: www.insabah.com or Phone: +60 16-8302038

2. Kinabatangan River

Let’s keep it short, Kinabatangan River is simply the best place to see orangutan, proboscis monkey, pygmy elephant and hornbills in the wild. You need a bit of luck to see pygmy elephant and orangutan though, as they are always on the move (please note this is not a zoo).

Kinabatangan River is the longest river of Sabah

No matter what, I can assure that you won’t be disappointed with your trip in Kinabatangan, because there are so many other amazing wildlife to look at.

Nature Lodge Kinabatangan

Seeing wildlife in their natural habitat is a more exciting experience, so I visited Kinabatangan and stayed in Nature Lodge Kinabatangan (GPS: 5.494785, 118.204908, see Location Map) at Bilit Village, which is in upstream of Kinabatangan.

We stopped at Kedai Kopi Santa of Kinabatangan Town for lunch. Their Soto (Beef soup) is one of the best in Sandakan.

It took about 2 hours of road trip from Sandakan City to Bilit. The Lodge is located about 30 Metres away from the Kinabatangan River.

Nature Lodge Kinabatangan is a highly ranked accommodation in Tripadvisor

After we checked into our room, we started our sunset river cruise and saw a baby crocodile on the river bank right away.

Kinabatangan River is one of the best bird-watching sites in Borneo

There were many birds along the river. I saw Purple Heron (many!), Little Heron flying next to our boat, Black & Red Broadbill, Lesser Adjutant (known as Burung Botak locally, means Bald Bird), Rhinocerous Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Brahminy kite, and Oriental Darter (Snake Bird).

Then we saw a group of Long-tailed macaques in commotion. They stood up looking at a pile of log, probably there was a monitor lizard or crocodile hiding in there. The highlight is a few herds of proboscis monkey on the trees.

Sunset river cruise at Kinabatangan River

After the interesting river cruise, we had our buffet dinner in the lodge. We enjoyed some fresh vegetables planted in their garden.

Buffet dinner at dining hall of Nature Lodge Kinabatangan

The activity didn’t stop there. We went for a night walk in the forest around 8pm. If this adventure is too much for you, you may stay back at the lodge to join some fun activities such as local dance.

With the help of our guide, we spotted a few nocturnal animals in the dark. A jewel-color kingfisher slept like a fluffy ball on a twig, so cute. A researcher put up a white sheet to attract insects with light. We went busybody there and checked out the bug. Near the end we saw a number of big flying foxes foraging on a cotton tree. It’s quite a thrilling experience.

Nature Lodge Kinabatangan is in the forest of Kinabatangan

After day long of playing, I went back to my lodge to rest. The lodge is inside the rainforest. It’s a special feeling to sleep in a forest, so peaceful and quiet, almost like a therapy.

They also have dormitory if you prefer backpacker style accommodation.

Reading room in Nature Lodge Kinabatangan

My room is quite spacious and comfortable. I love big space as it makes me more relaxing, so I’m really happy with my room, and it has air-conditioner.

The next day we waked up around 6am for a morning river cruise. Though it’s really early and I was sleepy, the sighting was very rewarding. The morning was cool and refreshing with a bit of mist on the river.

We spotted an Orangutan on top of a Durian tree

We were so lucky to see an orangutan waked up from his nest high up on a durian tree. Another trophy is Storm’s stork, which has only around 200 left in the world, and Kinabatangan is their stronghold.

River cruise is the best way for wildlife sighting at Kinabatangan

Wild Proboscis Monkey is quite common here. You can easily see about 20 of them here.

Group of wild Proboscis Monkey in Kinabatangan

If you love to experience this safari trip, you may contact Nature Lodge Kinabatangan via the following channels:
Website: naturelodgekinabatangan.com
Facebook: NatureLodgeKinabatangan
Phone: +60 88-230 534
E-mail: sales@nasalislarvatustours.com

Both Nature Lodge Sepilok and Nature Lodge Kinabatangan are operated by Nasalis Larvatus Tours, a licensed travel agent of Malaysia.

Flight to Sandakan

You can fly to Sandakan City by Malaysia Airlines or AirAsia from Kota Kinabalu City (KK)(50 min flight) or Kuala Lumpur (KL)(2 hours 50 min). Flight is available every day. If you book at the good time, you can get really cheap round-trip ticket like about MYR200 for KK-Sandakan and MYR400 for KL-Sandakan flight. You can use Google Flights to check the fare prices from all airlines. Nasalis Larvatus Tours also can pick you up at Sandakan airport.

Famous Spring Noodle and Century Egg Dumpling of Sandakan

By the way, Sandakan is the second largest city of Sabah and also a foodie paradise, do try some yummy local food such as spring noodle when you visit Sandakan!

Photos taken in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Firefly Eco Camp – Good Morning to Borneo monkey

Night Fishing in Klias

Klias River is inside Peat Swamp Forest with brackish water, which looks murky all the time. The river seems lifeless, but you will know that you are wrong when you fish.

Klias River is connected to the sea. During high tide, fishes will follow the current entering the river for feeding. If you fish during that time, you will catch something in minutes.

Pic: our fishing bait is hot dog LOL. But it works well!

Most of us are first-time anglers. We were so excited when it was almost effortless to catch big fish in a few minutes.

Pic: one caught to make one family happy

May be you want to watch our fishing video below:

All the fishes we caught that evening was catfish (暗钉 in Chinese, means “Hidden Nail”). It is a very common fish, though edible, locals consider it a lower-grade (dirty) fish, due to the impression that it eats human dung fallen from riverside toilet. It has venomous thorns on its pelvic and dorsal fins, which can cause severe pain when poke into your skin. Be careful when you remove the fishing hook.

Actually we targeted for Giant Freshwater Prawn (Udang Galah) that night, so we released all the catfishes. It was fun anyway.

Pic: the hut where I slept

We had a couple of beer while fishing at river side. We talked until late night. I couldn’t wait to enter my small hut as it was so cool.

The hut may look small from outside, but it can fit two people comfortably. Though there are only bed, light and fan inside, to me it’s a “luxurious camp”. I slept really well throughout the night.

Morning River Cruise in Klias

The next day I waked up early, sat at the small balcony to enjoy the nice river view. It was quiet in the morning and I saw some movement in the canopy. The monkey had waked up earlier than I did.

After having some light breakfast, we were ready for a morning river cruise on Klias River.

Pic: the misty swamp forest in the morning

Pic: the calm river of Klias with beautiful reflection on water

Very soon we spotted the first proboscis monkey. It’s a female with pointy nose.

Then we saw the male proboscis monkey with big nose. From their eyes, we could see that they were not quite concern about our presence, a big contrast to evening time when there were too many tourists and boats around. We were the only tourist boat on the river that morning.

So we could get really close to them for a good look. One of them was so relax and even yawned. This one was just on top of our heads. I was so worry that it would poo. Our boat found about 5 to 6 herds of proboscis monkey.

Pic: silver-leaf monkey. There were some macaques too.

Pic: the mangrove trees of Klias River.

Pic: Peat Swamp Forest is an important habitat for rare Borneo wildlife

Pic: Nibung Palm, a tree that grows between swamp and dryland. Its straight and strong trunk can be used for building houses and bridges.

Pic: fruits are abundant in the swamp but no monkey eating them, probably they are poisonous.

Pic: mangrove trees that can survive in the water during high tide.

I saw some birds such as Brahminy Kite, Oriental Darter (Snake Bird), Stork-Billed Kingfisher, Hill Myna and Greater Coucal. Sometimes you can see hornbill and woodpecker around this area too.

Below is a short video of our Morning River Cruise:

How to get there

Firefly Eco Camp is about 80 Kilometers away from Kota Kinabalu (capital city). It is very accessible, just next to the road (left side) to Kuala Penyu (see location map).

Pic: the signage and entrance of the camp at roadside. You won’t miss it.

Pic: the dining and activity hall of Firefly Eco Camp

Below is a short video of the camp and its dining hall:

Pic: view of Firefly Eco Camp from the river

If you have a big group such as 20 students, you can book the long house dormitory.

The room rate starts from RM68 (≈USD20, as of Aug 2013) per head per night. You also can consider a 2-day-1-night full-board tour package for RM298 (≈USD90, as of Aug 2013) per head, which includes transportation, meals, accommodation, 3 river cruises, etc. They also offer optional tour to Sands Spit Island and other places.

For booking or latest info about Firefly Eco Camp, you may contact Borneo Starcruise (星程生态旅游公司) at:
E-mail: info@borneostarcruise.com / borneostarcruise@gmail.com
Website: www.borneostarcruise.com
Facebook: Click Here
Address: Ground Floor, Lot 7, Jalan Pasar Baru, Kampung Air, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Tel: +60 88-212009 / +60 17-8137911 (hotline)

Photos taken in Beaufort, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

The Magic of Light at Weston River

Weston the Historical Town

Named after a railway engineer, Arthur J. West in 1889, Weston town was an important meeting point for trains and ships, due to its strategic location back in the old days of British colony era. Today it becomes just another “remote” Sabah town between Beaufort and Sipitang. Few knows that Weston is the town which North Borneo Railway first constructed.

Pic: the old wooden shoplot built during British time over 50 years ago.

Pic: such shophouses are getting less and replaced by cement building.

Pic: SJK (C) Che Hwa (委士珍启华小学 in Chinese), a primary school in Weston

Probably one of the oldest wooden school of Borneo, Che Hwa school is a two-storey building constructed in 1932, and funded by donations from timber tycoons, charcoal merchants and shopkeepers of Chinese community*. In 1930s, many Chinese lived in Weston, the period when Weston was a key hub. Now this school has only 5 teachers and 7 students.

Pic: water village of Weston

Weston River was used to be called “Jump-Jump” River because of the mudskippers here. In late afternoon, you would see many villagers gather around the boardwalk, fishing and playing RC speedboats there.

Pic: this old timber jetty exists since 1896, another legacy of British.

British government abandoned Weston port when they learnt that the shallow water of Weston is unfit as a deep sea wharf. Now this jetty is a favorite spot for local anglers.

Pic: the new jetty built next to the old timber jetty

After a short tour in Weston town, I got on a boat arranged by W.P.M.S. Tours & Travel and headed to their Weston Jaafar River Lodge nearby (see Location Map).

Weston Jaafar River Lodge

The lodge is a 2-storey wooden building built on riverside and surrounded by dense Nypa palm (or Nipah). Nipah swamp forest, which has existed over 70 million years, is one of the oldest forest type in the world.

Pic: Weston Jaafar River Lodge

Pic: Eric, the lodge owner is looking at us from top floor

With me is another group of tourists in the Weston tour. We first dropped by the lodge for a hi-tea before our sunset river cruise. It is a great experience to enjoy afternoon tea next to a river.

Pic: top floor of the lodge. There are sofa if you want to laze around.

We had some fried noodle with tea/coffee. I really love the traditional desserts made by the locals.

Pic: a Paradise Tree Snake in the display tank. It is a common snake in mangrove.

Pic: kids checking out the local fishes in aquarium tank. If I’m right, the fishes at the bottom right are Marbled Goby, a highly-priced freshwater fish and delicacy.

River Safari & Wildlife

It was around 5pm after we were done with tea break, everyone couldn’t wait to start the river cruise. The cool thing about wildlife sighting here is – we don’t even need to move our legs to look for animals.

Weston River is part of the largest wetland (Klias Peninsula) in Sabah. Wetland is a generic term that covers different aqua-ecologies such as coastal areas, river, lakes, mangrove, peat swamp, nypa swamp, etc., and it is the important habitat for some endangered Borneo wildlife such as Proboscis Monkey.

Very soon our guide spotted a saltwater crocodile taking a nap on the muddy river bank. It is about 3 Meters in length.

Couple of months ago, a 1-Meter crocodile was found in city drain and made news headline. Haha, compared to this beast, that city croc looks more like a gecko. FYI, crocodile never ceases growing throughout its life, it can reach massive size if it lives long enough.

Please don’t go, Mr. Crocodile…

The Nipah forest along Weston River is in great shape. Nipah trees grow very well in estuary, where sea and river meet, sometimes they are even dense enough to form a mini island in the river. Locals use the leaves of Nipah Palm to make roof and its sap to create sugar.

The water of Weston River is a mixture of saline and freshwater, so it is a bit murky. However, crabs and prawns grow faster and bigger in brackish water like this, a reason why Weston is famous for its seafood. During high tide, groupers and snappers will swim to estuary, something that the local anglers are really happy about.

During our river cruise, we saw the superstar of Borneo, the peculiar Proboscis Monkey on the trees along the river. There were about 20 of them in a few herds far apart from one another. Some of them looked at us with catch-me-if-you-can expression on their faces. The long nose of male proboscis monkey is a symbol of sexiness to turn on female. They have big belly with very long intestines inside to digest the tough cellulose of tree leaves.

Proboscis Monkey is only found in Borneo and only 7,000 of them left in Sabah (and another 5,000 in other parts of Borneo), an endangered species. Another unfortunate thing is – they have low survival rate if held in zoo.

If you are a bird-watcher, you will be pleased to know that there is a small population of Lesser Adjutant resides in Weston wetland. It is an ugly big bird with bald head.

Magical Sunset

The sunset that I have been waiting for was coming, the sun was sinking slowly to the horizon. My guide, Simon was a bit worried because the dense cloud of earlier rain would spoil the moment. In Sabah, normally you get either the worst or best sunset after rain, it’s a 50-50 bet. Clear sky in sunny days usually doesn’t end with beautiful sunset, as sunset needs cloud and humid air as canvas, to paint its colorful light.

Pic: the start of sunset, the colors are dull and not so promising…

When our hope was low, the colors on the dense cloud gradually turned intense. The “Magic Moment” of sunset only lasts a few minutes, so everyone keeps their eyes wide open, to enjoy every second of the view.

Even the sky at the east was colored by sunset.

Click here to see Bigger Photo

A splendid sunset over a horizon of mangrove trees, a view that I’ll miss forever! I believe the reason why Weston has nicer sunset than other places of Sabah is because it is nearer to the Equator.

Everyone onboard is happy. The sunset is really one of the highlight of our trip.

Again, it is meal time after sunset. We went back to Weston Jaafar River Lodge for dinner buffet.

Fireflies!

Right behind the lodge are a few trees lit up by fireflies like Christmas trees. Eric planted some mangrove trees around the lodge to attract Proboscis Monkey, what he didn’t expect was these trees also became a magnet for fireflies.

I noticed a girl next to me taking photo of fireflies that circling around her, so I got an interesting photo (see above).

We started our night river cruise after dinner.

Many mangrove trees on the riverbank were full of fireflies! Hundreds of them synchronized their twinkling like the pace of heartbeat. Most city people never saw a firefly before, so they were really excited, especially kids.

The fireflies even flied into our boat (noted the dotted light trail).

At the end, Eric showed us a pretty mangrove flower that only blooms at night, as it relies on bats to pollinate. It is an Apple Mangrove (Species: Sonneratia caseolaris), locally known as Perepat. Its young fruit is edible and can be used as a traditional medicine to cure coughing.

Though artificial and colorful city light is cool, it is lifeless and empty, only the light of nature can shine through our heart.

How to Join the Tour

If you want to join this half-day Weston trip, you may contact W.P.M.S. Tours & Travel for information and booking. Below is their contact:
Address: Lot 4, 2nd Floor, Block 9, Damai Point Commercial Centre, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Tel: +60 12-8463321 (Simon Choo)
Website: westonpms.tripod.com
E-mail: westonpms@gmail.com

*Reference: “Colonial Townships In Sabah: West Coast”, written by Richard Nelson Sokial (PAM Sabah Chapter) in year 2012, (ISBN: 978-983-40734-4-2).

Photos taken in Weston, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

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