11-Day Borneo Adventure Tour from Kota Kinabalu with Turtle Island

1

Day 01

Arrival in Kota Kinabalu

• Hello and welcome aboard! Once you've made it to your accommodation with a little help from our 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.
• Be sure to meet your tour leader at the hotel at 6 pm to talk through a few formalities, then sink your teeth into some local food immediately afterwards.

2

Day 02

Kinabalu National Park and Poring Hot Spring

• Step into Malaysia's best-known National Park this morning, 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 as well as 1500 varieties of orchids, 77 of which are endemic to Kinabalu. Wash your cares away at Poring Hot Spring in a soothing sulphur bath after your visit to the gardens.
• Complete your day by skimming along the treetops on a Canopy Walkway while trying to maintain that air of graceful dignity as you go about it.

3

Day 03

Tea Factory Visit and Kinabatangan River

• Catch the heady aroma of freshly picked leaves as you start the day with a visit to a tea factory, while simultaneously learning the ropes of what goes into making a good brew.
• With your head abuzz with some newly acquired knowledge, clamber on board your private vehicle and drive deeper into the jungle to make it to the edge of the Kinabatangan River.
• Kick back for a moment after lunch at your lodge 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.

4

Day 04

Wildlife Cruises and Jungle Walks on Kinabatangan

• 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.

5

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 are 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 seasons are just right, watch the locals collect the droppings from the walls for soup.
• Leave for Labuk Bay thereafter, a mangrove haven that acts as a sanctuary for Proboscis Monkeys. Slow lorises, otters, and hornbills rove through the forests here, while Silver Leaf Monkeys swing and spring so close to the viewing platforms that you can almost reach out to touch them.

6

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 of which is 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, as well as 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.

7

Day 07

Turtle Island 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 of the night show. Hawksbill turtles and green turtles arrive en masse and crawl ashore like an army invading some secret base under the 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 the only exception, to nest. Bear witness to this phenomenon and to the ritual of hatchlings being released back to the sea.

8

Day 08

Sandakan Memorial Park and Return to Kota Kinabalu

• Return to the mainland this morning and visit the Sandakan Memorial Park, established to commemorate the fallen soldiers who 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 of 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.

9

Day 09

Dinawan Island Escape

• Bask in your own 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 while your time away here on sun deck chairs or go snorkelling and scuba diving.
• Strike out for a plain old 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.

10

Day 10

Mari Mari Cultural Village

• 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 with a view to preserving the region's culture.
• Observe a life far removed from modern conventions and trappings and step into a world where starting a fire, and 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.

11

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. Departure transfers are included on the day.