Borneo is a large island — the third largest in the world — that is divided into three regions: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. Its expansive rainforest and biodiversity make it a popular destination for the adventurous traveler. Some of its most famous wildlife include pygmy elephants, clouded leopards, orangutans, proboscis monkeys, sun bears, and crocodiles. I’d never heard of the island before this trip, but we stumbled upon it while researching Malaysia. We decided to visit the Malaysian region for one week to try and see some of these rare, elusive animals in the wild. We chose an eco lodge in Sepilok, which is home to three major sanctuaries: the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary, and the Sun Bear Conservation Centre. There is also the Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC), which is a nature preserve filled with wildlife and boasts a 620 meter-long skywalk.
A benefit of staying in an eco lodge — rather than in the closest city 20 minutes out — was that three of the four centers were walking distance. The first day, we went to see the orangutans and the sun bears. The Orangutan Rehabilitation Center does a morning feeding on a viewing deck to entice the orange apes to make an appearance. They are solitary and shy animals, so it isn’t guaranteed that you’ll see much. The feeding ended up being dominated by the “mafia of the jungle,” a.k.a. the macaque monkey, who quickly forced out the lone orangutan who did show up to grab some fruit. Disappointed, we tried our luck further along the pathways in the sanctuary’s rainforest, where we got extremely lucky. Right above the path, we spotted a flash of orange: a mother and her baby making a nest in the trees. Every day, orangutans make a new nest in a different part of the rainforest by breaking off thick bundles of branches and leaves. It’s an impressive display of strength, balance, and intelligence. Eventually, the two began swinging into the trees, potentially feeling threatened by the large crowd gathered below. The baby showed surprising agility for one so small. We followed the pair for a while until we lost sight of them as they headed deeper into the forest.
Bolstered by our success, we then headed to the sun bear conservatory across the street. Sadly, the center disappointed us in comparison. It was much smaller than the orangutan sanctuary with very few viewing spots. There were a couple bears present, who were much smaller than I imagined. They have sweet faces, but they were mostly laying down and chewing. We enjoyed seeing them, though it was nowhere near as spectacular as our morning had been. We only spent about 30 minutes observing before we headed to the RDC. There, our luck with orangutans resurfaced.
The skybridge at the RDC is very impressive. It goes high up, matching the height of the tallest trees in the rainforest, which can give you vertigo if you look down for too long. We were wandering along with the skybridge all to ourselves when suddenly we saw two orangutans rounding the corner of the bridge. Matt and I froze in place so as not to scare them away. Accustomed to humans, they ignored us and sauntered across the walkway in front of us, then proceeded to climb up into the trees. Up close, they are quite large and my heart was pounding from the adrenaline. We ended up spending hours at the RDC, wandering both the skywalk and the jungle floor below (the latter I did begrudgingly.) I ended up covered in mud, sweat, and mosquito bites, but Matt was thrilled.
Our second day, we headed to see the proboscis monkeys. If you don’t know what they look like, imagine Squidward’s nose on a large monkey. They are hilarious to look at and they are also incredibly bold. The sanctuary had multiple viewing decks set up, with the visitors on a bridge over a marsh. The proboscis monkeys had absolutely no qualms in running across the bridge past the guests. One monkey got so close to Matt that we thought he was going to jump him. As a species, they’re loud, somewhat aggressive, and great swimmers. It was fascinating to see them interact with each other. Typically, they exist in groups of one alpha male and multiple females. Sometimes, you get “bachelor” groups where a bunch of males live together. Sadly, their population (along with many of the wildlife in Borneo) has declined over recent years. We were glad to have supported all three sanctuaries in their efforts to boost the species’ numbers.
That night, we opted to do a firefly river cruise. Coming from California, I’d never actually seen fireflies before, and it was a magical experience. We were taken on a little speedboat along the river during sunset, where we spotted a baby crocodile and more proboscis monkeys (these ones were truly wild.) As night fell, trees began to light up like Christmas trees and glowing orbs bounced along the water. It was quite the romantic experience.
Our third day in Sepilok, it was storming, so much to Matt’s delight we finally went and saw the new Mission Impossible movie. We bought half the movie theater’s condiments since it was so cheap. Sipping on hot chocolates with boxes of popcorn and the entire movie theater to ourselves, we felt like royalty. It was interesting to see a movie in a foreign country; I was surprised to find that all foreign movies are shown in English with Malay subtitles.
Our last two days ended up being the most rough of the entire trip for me. Having just come from Bali, staying in the jungle for several days was quite the adjustment for me. Of all the countries we ultimately visited, I struggled the most in Malaysia, and this is entirely due to my hatred of bugs. Mosquitos flourish in the jungle, and the accommodations there tend to adopt a more “open air” style. This meant that we stayed in a room with an adjacent outdoor bathroom, which would not have been my first pick. However, I was coping relatively well until we ended our Borneo stay with an overnight tour to the Kinabatangan River.
The Kinabatangan River is a famous spot to try and see orangutans, pygmy elephants, crocodiles, proboscis monkeys, and clouded leopards. Sadly, we did not spot any elephants or leopards, and our guide informed us these sightings are getting incredibly rare. The consequences of mass logging and deforestation mean that many of these animals are losing their habitats and they rarely visit the river anymore. However, we did get to see a massive crocodile, although I was not thrilled by how close the tour guide brought our tiny motor boat to its teeth. Our group stayed overnight in dormitories right along the river with one shared outdoor bathroom. This was truly jungle living. Part of our tour offered a jungle night walk, which took us deep into the trees in the pitch black. This was the most miserable part for me, and I covered every inch of my body except my eyes to try and protect myself from leeches and mosquitos. At one point, our guide shined his flashlight and we could see hundreds of mosquitos buzzing in the light. If you needed to use the bathroom in the night, you’d share the stall with about 10-15 mosquitos, all desperately trying to get a bite. I was relieved to depart the next morning.
We spent our last day in Sandakan before our flight. It is not an exciting city, so we went to the movie theater again, this time to see Indiana Jones. It felt luxurious after roughing it in the deep jungle. If I had to label a part of my trip as my least favorite, it would probably be that overnight river stay. Overall, I was grateful to have seen so many incredible animals in their natural habitats, but I felt like I could have done a day tour and seen the same animals without the added stress of bugs. This experience taught me more about what I look for in a vacation. Matt, however, was much less bothered by the environment and he found the pros outweighed the cons. There is no right way to vacation, and what is one person’s stress may be another person’s joy.
With our jungle trekking out of the way, we flew to our next destination in Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur.
Rianna and Matt’s must-dos in Borneo, Malaysia:
- Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre
- Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary
- Sun Bear Conservation Centre
- Rainforest Discovery Centre
- Kinabatangan River tour (day trip only if you’re like me)
Postcards Home to Mum 
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