11-Day Nature Trip in Malaysia with Turtle Island and Sepilok

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Day 01

Arrival in Kota Kinabalu

• Welcome aboard. Once you've made it to your accommodation with a bit of help from your representative, kick back and enjoy your day.
• Wander around Kota Kinabalu if you have the time, but if you want to take it easy, that's fine too because you've got another day here at the end of the tour.
• Meet your tour leader at the hotel at 6 p.m., discuss a few formalities, and then sink your teeth into some of the local food immediately afterwards.

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Day 02

Kinabalu National Park and Poring Hot Spring

• Step into Malaysia's best-known National Park, its skyline dominated by Kinabalu Mountain, which rises 4095 metres to stab at wisps of clouds and graze a piece of the sky. Considering that the park has an estimated 4,500 species of plants, your obvious starting point is the Botanical Garden, a veritable treasure chest housing the sinister and carnivorous pitcher plant and 1500 varieties of orchids, 77 of which are endemic to Kinabalu.
• Wash your cares away at the Poring Hot Spring in a soothing sulphur bath after visiting the gardens. Complete your day by skimming along the treetops on a Canopy Walkway whilst trying to maintain that air of graceful dignity as you go about it.

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Day 03

Tea Factory Visit and Transfer to Kinabatangan River

• Catch the heady aroma of freshly picked leaves as you start the day with a visit to a tea factory, whilst simultaneously learning the ropes of what goes into making a good brew.
• With your head abuzz with some newly acquired knowledge, clamber onboard your private vehicle and drive deeper into the jungle to make it to the edge of the Kinabatangan River.
• Return to your lodge after lunch and, as the sun begins to hang low, throw a leg over a riverboat, settle down comfortably, and scan the riverbanks for wildlife as you go on an evening cruise down the river.

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Day 04

Wildlife Cruises and Jungle Walks on Kinabatangan River

• Wake up early to the sounds of the forest as you gear up for a repeat of last evening's adventure. Only this time, you get to watch the river wake up to the changing light. Listen to the stir of silver-tailed macaques and proboscis monkeys as they limber up and skip among the trees, while keeping your eyes peeled for the stately orangutans and pygmy elephants that watch your progress from their forest cover.
• Indulge yourself in some culinary lessons or walk the length of some jungle trails for the rest of the day. Put in a night walk for good measure to see the jungle's nocturnal inhabitants brush off the day and go about their business in the dark.

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Day 05

Gomantong Caves and Labuk Bay

• Journey overland to Gomantong after breakfast and take an exploratory step into the interiors of its fascinating limestone caves, teeming with swiftlets and bats that get occasionally arrested by a shaft of light filtering from yawning gaps above.
• At ground level, walk past the army of cockroaches and other insects that feed off the guano and, when the season's just right, watch the locals collect the droppings from the walls for soup.
• After that, leave for Labuk Bay, a mangrove haven that acts as a sanctuary for Proboscis Monkeys, Slow Lorises, Otters, and Hornbills that rove through the forests here. At the same time, Silver Leaf Monkeys swing and spring so close to the viewing platforms that you can almost reach out to touch them.

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Day 06

Sepilok Orangutans, Sun Bears, and Rainforest Canopy

• Learn about the rehabilitation process of orangutans at Sepilok, the largest orangutan rehabilitation centre in the world.
• Following a 20-minute documentary about the programme - the primary purpose being the reintroduction of orphaned orangutans into the wild - enter the tropical rainforest to watch these primates feed at the behest of park officials.
• Step into the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre next, and then the Rainforest Discovery Centre, the latter involving a trudge across a 150-metre-long canopy walkway that offers a unique perspective of the lush rainforest from 25 metres above the ground.

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Day 07

Turtle Island Nesting Experience

• Following breakfast, step out of the mainland and head for Turtle Island. Spend a lazy afternoon here or go traipsing around the surrounding islands as you wait in anticipation for the night show. Hawksbill turtles and green turtles arrive en masse and crawl ashore like an army invading some secret base under cover of darkness.
• While turtles generally return to hatch eggs on the same beach where they were born, depending upon the season and other variables, Turtle Island is the only place in the world where they arrive every evening without breaking pattern, the exact hour being an exception, to nest. Bear witness to this phenomenon and the rituals of hatchlings being released back to the sea.

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Day 08

Sandakan Memorial Park and Flight to Langkah Syabas

• This morning, return to the mainland and visit the Sandakan Memorial Park, established to commemorate the fallen soldiers. They succumbed to one of the most tragic events perpetrated in this part of the world during the Second World War.
• Learn about and contemplate the stories of the horrific Sandakan Death March and those who died during a similar march to Ranau.
• Take a flight out to Kota Kinabalu after your visit here and then transfer to Langkah Syabas Resort for your overnight stay.

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Day 09

Leisure and Water Activities on Dinawan Island

• Bask in your private paradise at Dinawan Island, a private resort surrounded by the clearest of waters and views of Mount Kinabalu looming in the distance. Choose to spend your time here on sun deck chairs or go snorkelling and scuba diving.
• Swim, go sea boarding, or even kayaking until you're hungry enough to clean out the seafood buffet at lunch.
• And when the day draws on towards late afternoon, return to your accommodation at Langkah Syabas with a full heart.

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Day 10

Mari Mari Cultural Village Experience

• Compress and even revisit the knowledge you've perhaps acquired over your days spent in Borneo by visiting the Mari Mari Cultural Village. Located away from the city, the village serves as a museum to preserve the region's culture.
• Observe a life far from modern conventions and trappings and step into a world where starting a fire, making blowpipes, and tattoo piercings were the norm. Understand the belief systems, legends, and stories of the various tribes, and participate in a lost world that strives to keep itself alive by revealing itself to the world at large.
• Return to your hotel after a traditional lunch at the village itself and chase it down with a final dinner together back at your resort.

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Day 11

Departure from Kota Kinabalu

• It's time now to bid farewell to your tour leader and new friends, but not without a backpack full of memories.