Borneo – 10 Day Itinerary

In August we spent around 10 days in beautiful Borneo. This trip differed from the norm for us because one of my besties, Kerry, decided to venture into the wilderness with us. Coming all the way from England for 10 days, I wanted to make sure she had enough experiences to make the long ass return flight worth it. With a trip to organise, I obviously got straight on PowerPoint. I didn’t want to leave anything to chance, with it now being high season. I mapped out some potential routes and trips for us to partake in. Once confirmed with my fellow travellers, we booked a few internal flights and hostels and set about our planned  10-day trip through Sabah, Borneo.

Perfect if you have 1 – 2 weeks in Borneo, want to see all of the wildlife but also get some downtime in.

TDLR; Kota Kinabalu > Sandakan / Sepilok > Kinabatangan > Sepilok > Kota Kinabalu

Note: Please check the bottom of the page for a straight up itinerary.

Borneo was somewhat of an unexpected trip for us. By the time 6 months had rolled around, we found ourselves trying to plan the remaining 3 months so we could sit back and enjoy the remainder of our trip. Finding extremely cheap flights from Singapore to Borneo, it didn’t take me long to make up my mind.

Borneo and Sumatra, Indonesia, are the only countries where you can see Orang-utans in the wild. I have been lucky enough to experience this myself in Sumatra back in 2014, but one can never see enough Orang-utans. A small amount of research and I convinced myself that the vast variety of wildlife we could potentially see would make it a trip to remember. Reflecting on the trip now, it amazes me that Borneo was never an initial contender.

We flew into Kota Kinabalu and headed straight to our hostel ‘Borneo Backpackers’. We ventured down to The Waterfront for a couple of cocktails and one of the best sunsets I have ever laid my eyes on. One of those rare sunsets where you get to actually see the sun drop below the horizon. Though I doubt it’s a rarity here in KK.

We spent the following day meandering around the city, followed by another chilled evening at The Waterfront. I allowed 2 nights here so that we had time to recoup from the flights.

Note: There is, of course, more to see around this area than the touristy Waterfront. For instance, you would also fly into KK if you were ambitiously planning on climbing Mount Kinabalu. You can also head up to Jesselton Point Jetty and catch a boat across to one of the islands.

KK airport is about a 30-minute drive from the city and the internal flight to Sandakan is unbelievably short (and stunning). Honestly, the seatbelt sign had just turned off when it turned back on again. We thought we must be hitting some turbulence, but no. 20 minutes in and we were coming in for landing.

TIP: Flying from KK to Sandakan, try to sit on the left-hand side of the plane (facing the front) you will get the most amazing view of Mount Kinabalu as the plane practically flies level with it.

In Sandakan, we checked ourselves into our hostel ‘Harbourside Backpackers’ which, is conveniently situated opposite the Harbourside Mall making it a dream for getting taxis (and a shameful McDonalds). We took the day to wander around and made our plans for the following day. It was just as well we planned to chill in the hostel because we were hit with the mother of all storms. We assumed this was an average storm in Borneo until we saw the detrimental damage it had.

Sepilok is technically part of Sandakan though it’s about 30 minutes to reach by taxi. This is where the fun really happens. In one small vicinity you can visit The Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, The Sun Bear Conservation Centre and The Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC). Please scroll to the bottom for map detailing all locations.

We had planned to visit the Orangutans and Sun Bears in one day but unfortunately, due to the storm, some trees had fallen through viewing platforms at the Sun Bear Conservation. Instead, we headed up to the RDC. It’s a 30-minute walk if you can bear the heat (which I doubt you’ll want to) and a super short taxi ride away.

In the famous words of Owen Wilson. Wow. Just wow. Obviously, the place is totally teaming with tourists but we found everyone to be respectful and relatively quiet. We’re all there for the same reason after all. A short walk through the jungle and you arrive at the feeding platform. We coincidently turned up right on time for feeding (10 am). We rocked up, cameras ready just as Orangutans were swinging in on cables and enjoying their bananas on the platform. We saw a male, a female and a few little ones. We overheard that the male isn’t even in the rehab centre but just shows up sometimes for the free food. I man after my own heart.

There is an AC cinema room, an information centre and a cafeteria (for a much-needed cold drink). We still struggled to see out more than 2 hours here though.

In an ideal world, I would dedicate a completely separate morning for this. If time allows it, treat this as its own morning activity. We visited straight after the Orangutan Centre and whilst it was super fun following the different trails through the jungle and traipsing up and down viewing platforms, we didn’t see any wildlife (save for a few lizards running out in front of us).

When we spoke to the women at the ticket booth she indicated that most of the birds like Hornbills come out early for feeding. It was still so relaxing to perch on a viewing platform above the canopy and just listen to the sounds of those elusive animals.

TIP: Binoculars would probably have helped out in this scenario.

These bears are so sweet. I mean obviously, if you were to approach one it would probably still rip your face off. But they’re adorable to admire from a safe distance. After the damage of the storm there was only one platform open but the enclosure we looked upon held 3 adorable bears that we watched contently for some time.

The staff here are super knowledgeable and are happy to answer any questions. Plus they provide a little telescope you can take close-ups on your phone with. We overheard one saying that her grandmother and their generation sadly believe that the bile of these animals can cure certain ailments. So not only is the habitat of this animal under threat due to the widespread of palm oil plantations, people are illegally poaching them for medicinal purposes too.

We hope that by visiting the above-mentioned centres, we have contributed to providing a safer future for the endangered animals of Borneo. They are great places to learn about the negative and positive effect humans are having on the rainforest and its inhabitants and the ways in which we can help secure their future.

This was the absolute highlight of our trip. Somewhat tainted by the bat that urinated in my eye – but that’s another story. In short what should have been a 3 days 2 nights trip turned into 2 days and 1 night. If you can hack the wilderness I would recommend the 3 days 2 nights. We went with Uncle Tan’s. If you’re desperate to see the endangered Pigmy Elephants, you’ll need to find another tour. Our basecamp turned out to be nowhere near to where these animals are usually spotted. Oh, and it’s a big place.

Staying on the Kinabatangan promises to be an experience. On our boat ride to base camp, we already spotted Orangutans. They were just chilling in the top of a tree, being all wild. I don’t mean like ‘girls gone wild’ just, I don’t know, foraging or whatever it is they do. It was one of those, pinch yourself moments.

We saw wild Proboscis monkeys too. The boat drivers will just pull in a bit on the bank and let you sit and watch them for a while. I was jealous of those people with real cameras at this point. Our trip included a night safari which is kind of spooky. Luckily the biggest crocodile we saw was only about 15 inches long. We spotted lots of different birds and I’m sure everyone in our group would agree it was a trip they won’t forget.

You’ll need to be OK with basic (and I mean basic) amenities. Seeing as our trip turned into a 1-night affair, we just omitted showering altogether. Showering would have entailed a bucket full of river water with a scoop to pour over yourself. Something the guides described as refreshing. I’m not buying it.

You’re situated in a shared wooden hut which has walls and a roof but no door. Mattresses on the floor with a sheet and a mosquito net. Pillows are rentable from the dining area. The toilets are real ‘Western’ toilets – though I wished they weren’t. It’s a lot easier to not come into contact with anything over a squat bowl. Toilets are flushed with the cheeky river water and scoop invention.

After the sweatiest game of football, you can ever imagine – a great idea at the time. We bundled back into a minivan to Sandakan and jumped in a taxi to a niceish hotel close to the airport. I say nice ‘ish’ because as soon as we stepped into the lift we were confronted with a ‘no spitting in the lift’ sign. I knew we weren’t on to a winner. Here, we showered in a boring normal shower, ate some awesome curry and passed out. Ready for our early morning flight back to Kota Kinabalu.

With the flight being so short, we had a full Sunday ahead of us back in KK. This time we checked into ‘The Jungalow’ an apartment next door to Borneo Backpackers. This gave us a nice open space to chill together as Kerry had to leave at 5 am the next day.

It was a Sunday so we ventured out to the Sunday market we had unknowingly slept through the week before. The market was good and varied. We picked up a few souvenirs here and spent the rest of the day relaxing so Kerry could actually feel like she’d actually had a holiday and not one of those ‘oh god I need a holiday from that holiday’ moments when she returned.

We all had a great time in Borneo, we saw so much and somehow, I feel like we barely scratched the surface. We ventured East to Sandakan but West & South will deliver more National Parks and trekking options. I’ve been told that Orou Sapulot offers a great community adventure programme.

If you’re an animal lover, I couldn’t recommend this place enough. Getting to see animals in their natural habitat is such a lovely thing to behold and it gives me hope that the tourism this pulls in, will encourage governments to do more in protecting their land against deforestation.

Please see below for the itinerary we followed:

Day 1 – Arrive Kota Kinabalu – Wander / Rest – Watch the sunset from the Waterfront (large selection of bars and restaurants).

Day 2 – Explore KK – Visit one of the islands – on a Sunday, visit the Sunday morning market on Gaya Street

Day 3 – Fly to Sandakan – Wander / Rest / Plan following few days

Day 4 – AM: Taxi to Sepilok – Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (10AM) – The Sun Bear Conservation Centre

Day 4 – PM: Rest or explore Sandakan – visit Puu Jih Syh Buddhist temple (closes 4:30PM)

Day 5 – AM: Taxi to Sepliok Rainforest Discovery Centre – Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary. Arrange price with a driver beforehand to take you and wait for you at both.

Day 5 – PM: Wander / Rest

Day 6/7/8: Kinabatangan River Tour 2 nights 3 days

Day 8 – PM: Check into a nice hotel close to Sandakan airport to recoup

Day 9 – Fly back to Kota Kinabalu

Day 10 – Fly to next destination or home

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