Malaysian Borneo: Jungle Days & River Nights
How our childhood dreams led us to sleeping in bamboo huts, encounters with orangutans, and unexpected friendships
Happy Sunday and hello from Melbourne, Australia! Our two weeks between Malaysian and Indonesian Borneo were everything we hoped they’d be, and we’re so excited to be sharing the recap of Malaysian Borneo today to start (which encompasses the bulk of our time on the island).
We gave Borneo’s unparalleled wildlife our undivided attention, but infrequent access to the internet and our desperate need to recharge since getting back to Australia are equally at fault for our silence over the last three weeks.
One of the most exciting aspects of this leg of the trip is that it was our first instance of group travel. We signed up for the trip through Intrepid Travel, given how much more complicated it would have been to self-plan. The more affordable option, catered to 18-35 year olds, suited us well, though we were unsure of what to expect, having never done group travel before and always DIYing it. Spoiler: it far exceeded our expectations!
Quick notes on Borneo:
Borneo is the third-largest island in the world, and is itself not a country, but rather divided between three countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei.
Brunei sits entirely within Borneo, while the Malaysian mainland is in Southeast Asia, and Indonesia is made up of thousands of other, smaller islands.
Borneo has been on our radar since we were kids. Claire learned about it from a computer game about geography, and I learned about it from a Nickelodeon show called The Wild Thornberrys. The show is about a family of nomadic wildlife documentary filmmakers, and one member of the family, Donnie, is a feral boy they found in Borneo who was raised by Orangutans (the animal Borneo is most famous for). A fun fact about the show is that the gibberish that Donnie speaks in is voiced by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Our primary motivation to visit was to see orangutans, which Borneo is famous for. We didn’t expect the breadth of other wildlife and cultural experiences that we’d have.
Our Group & Guide
The first evening, after arriving in Kota Kinabalu (KK), we met our fellow travelers and our local guide, Chichi, who is from a village near Mount Kinabalu in Sabah. Our group of 15 ranged from early 20s to early 30s, with Claire and I on the older side. Most were from Australia and the UK—Chichi mentioned that we were her first guests from the US since last year.
HUGE shoutout to Chichi for being a fantastic guide, who leveled up the trip in every way. We learned so much, and had so much fun! Also shoutout to the one member of our trip who subscribed to our newsletter (Hi Dawn!).
Besides the two couples and one pair of cousins, the other nine people were all solo traveling, many on multi-month journeys and one Australian girl who was on her first trip abroad! While that first meeting was admittedly a bit awkward, friendships quickly blossomed over our shared adventures in the coming days.
After intros, we headed to KK's night market on Gaya Street, where approximately 100 stalls served different local foods. Claire waited in a long line for Kway Teow, a flat noodle dish that became one of our favorites—we ordered it several more times throughout our time in Malaysian Borneo. I got octopus and doused it in sambal, thinking my experience with American sambal had prepared me—it hadn't. I should’ve taken the shock in the server’s eyes as a hint. My intestines rumbled a bit, but I ultimately survived. Our dinners were about $3 each that night.
Part One: Village in the Jungle
The next morning, we drove a few hours to begin our ~2 hour trek into the jungle to the Ratau village. I took my first of two tumbles almost immediately after starting (not the first of our year of travel). Throughout the trek we experienced stunning views, swinging bridges (of questionable sturdiness), and got our first taste of Borneo’s intense humidity.
As mentioned, we came to Borneo primarily for orangutans and hadn't researched much beyond that (perks of joining a pre-organized trip), so it was a delightful surprise to spend our first days hiking to a village where we slept in bamboo huts with mosquito nets. During our stay at Ratau, we learned about traditional foods, jewelry making, fishing techniques, and sampled homemade rice wine.
After practicing net fishing in the river, we got to swim, and I took the opportunity to bathe with a bar of soap right in the river—definitely a "when in Borneo" moment. This was where we really started bonding with our fellow travelers.
On our second day, before leaving the village, we participated in a traditional dance and martial arts demonstration. I got to perform martial arts with a local master, while Claire danced on stage with locals and some new friends from our group.
Claire made a particularly strong connection with Swani, one of our local village guides. They bonded over BLACKPINK songs and dancing (JISOO’s Earthquake captured below), eventually exchanging Instagram handles.
Part Two: Sepilok Rainforest & Rehabilitation Centers
After our village experience, we drove to Sepilok, home to famous wildlife rehabilitation centers. On the way, our guide made an unexpected stop to show us piles of palm oil fruits by the roadside. She provided eye-opening context about the palm oil industry, which is widely-condemned by foreign media—explaining how it has contributed to habitat loss for orangutans while also acknowledging that it provides essential income for over a million Malaysian. She highlighted recent sustainability efforts and the slowly growing orangutan population.
In Sepilok, we first visited the Rainforest Discovery Center, which far exceeded our expectations. During our night walk on elevated treetop walkways (reminiscent of Vancouver's Capilano according to Claire), we spotted an incredible variety of wildlife:
Red giant flying squirrels gliding between trees at dusk
A Western tarsier (our favorite)
A slow loris (an extremely lucky sighting)
A black scorpion that glowed under UV light
A venomous pit viper coiled among branches
The next day brought our first orangutan encounter at the famous rehabilitation center. While it initially felt somewhat touristy—we sat in an air-conditioned room with a glass wall, watching orangutans come for food laid out by rangers—it was still magical to see these creatures up close, especially two mother-baby pairs.
We learned that the rehabilitation center has no fences, allowing orangutans to come and go freely. The distinction between "wild" and "semi-wild" orangutans became clear—with semi-wild ones being former rehabilitees who were more comfortable around humans. We also learned that they often break into the center's cafeteria to steal snacks.
Before leaving Sepilok, we had a funny moment when Claire, excited to spot a long-tailed macaque, made extended eye contact with one. Our guide quickly warned her to look away, as this particular monkey species can become aggressive when stared at—and this one was apparently readying for confrontation.
Part Three: Kinabatangan River
This was the most immersive part of our trip and felt like the Borneo we had come for. Upon arrival, we were surprised to find that we needed to take a small boat across the river to reach our jungle lodge. The dock itself was partially underwater, due to heavy rain the previous night, requiring us to balance on flimsy planks while boarding the boat with all our luggage.
Our riverside lodge was exactly what we'd imagined Borneo would be: remote, surrounded by wildlife, rustic, with no working Wi-Fi. We felt fortunate to have air conditioning given the basic accommodation.
That evening, we embarked on the first of four speedboat wildlife spotting trips down the river. Then, after dinner, we went on a guided night walk through the jungle surrounding the lodge. While trodding through ankle-deep mud in our rented boots, we spotted mostly insects, some sleeping birds, and a couple of Bornean civets (small local wildcats).
The next day was our full day at the lodge, where we did three additional river spotting boat trips at dusk, before lunch, and at dawn. Over our various boat rides, we managed to see four of the "Borneo Big Five":
Orangutans (finally spotting a wild one on our fourth boat ride!)
Rhinoceros hornbill (at the very end of the fourth boat ride)
Crocodile
Proboscis monkeys
We missed only the pygmy elephants, as the high water levels kept them away from the riverbanks. Next time we're in Borneo, we'll definitely time our visit to maximize elephant-spotting chances.
One of the most memorable moments happened during the several hours of downtime we had between our third and fourth boat rides. Claire and I were sitting in the lodge's common area when one of the employees ran over shouting "Orangutan! Orangutan!" We sprinted to the back of the lodge to see a wild mother orangutan with her baby, hovering in the trees above the lodge buildings. We immediately alerted the rest of our group to ensure everyone could witness this special sighting.
Part Four: Usukan Cove
Our final destination was Usukan Cove. Upon arrival, we immediately jumped into the water (despite warnings about jellyfish) and caught the most beautiful sunset of our trip. By this point, our group had bonded significantly, so we spent the evening singing and chatting late into the night.
This was also where I had my first encounter with tokay geckos in their natural habitat—such a cool experience, especially hearing their distinctive "to-kay" call (which you can hear in most episodes of this season of White Lotus). Having first discovered these geckos in Florida and learning they were native to Southeast Asia, seeing them in their natural environment was special. And of course, I caught one later that night.
The next day, we took a boat to Pandan Pandan Island for snorkeling. While not the best for marine life, the perfectly blue water and temperature made for a wonderful day with our group. Unfortunately, our banana boat spray sunscreen proved woefully inadequate against the Bornean sun, and nearly everyone in our group emerged with horrible burns. I felt slightly validated that Claire got burned too, as I'm usually the only one in our relationship who turns lobster-red.
Wrapping Up in KK
We returned to Kota Kinabalu for our final evening with the group, enjoying surprisingly good burrito bowls and quesadillas at a local Mexican restaurant before hitting a dive bar for farewell drinks. The next morning, after a group breakfast, everyone went their separate ways.
For us, the priority was decompressing and regrouping. I visited a local medical clinic to have wax buildup suctioned from my ear (I'd lost hearing in my left ear for about a day). The experience was impressively professional, only $20, and the doctor even showed the whole procedure on camera. A reassuring first medical experience during our year of travel!
We then retreated to the Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu (an amazing value at just 5,000 Hyatt points per night) to enjoy some luxury after ten days of very basic accommodations. The rooftop pool and great gym helped revitalize us before we headed to Jakarta for two days of relaxation and eating ahead of our next adventure—sleeping on a traditional wooden boat called a klotok in Indonesian Borneo.
More on that in a few days. We promise to return to our regular cadence :)
Can't believe I got a shout-out 🥺 So looking forward to hearing about the rest of your adventures!