Essential Borneo

Kick things off in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah’s state capital. Your adventure begins this evening with a welcome meeting at 6 pm. If you arrive with time to spare, spend the day exploring this busy city’s bustling markets, learning about the region’s Indigenous cultures at Sabah Museum. Kota Kinabalu has a great food scene, so once you’ve met your leader and travel companions you can opt to eat dinner together at a local restaurant to get better acquainted with the group.

This morning you’ll head over to the airport for a short flight to Sandakan. When you touch down, you’ll hop on a private minibus and travel to Sandakan War Memorial, built on the site of a former Japanese prisoner of war (POW) camp. This spot also marks the starting point of the tragic Sandakan Death Marches, during which 2400 POWs were forced to walk through the jungles of Borneo. Continue on through the rainforest to reach your homestay for the night.

This afternoon you’ll have the option to visit Batu Tulug burial caves, where more than 100 ancient wooden coffins were discovered in 1984. Speculate about who they belonged to and just how they got them up there while you admire their beautiful carvings. You’ll spend the night in a family homestay and enjoy a local meal cooked by your hosts, followed by an evening cultural performance. If you’re feeling up to it, why not challenge the locals to a game of footie to break the ice?

After breakfast, say goodbye to your hosts and make the short journey by minivan and boat to an eco-lodge on the banks of the Kinabatangan River. Once you’ve settled in, hit the water for the first of today’s two included river cruises. Keep an eye out for wild orangutans, proboscis monkeys and maybe – if you’re lucky – even pygmy elephants. Afterwards, you’ll have the chance to visit a local reforestation project and the option to give back to the forest by planting trees. At lunchtime, get to know the local cuisine with an included cooking lesson. In the late afternoon, you’ll embark on another cruise up the river. The animal action in this wildlife lover’s paradise can change a lot during the course of a day – so fingers crossed for a few more sightings. Tonight you’ll fall asleep to the sounds of the jungle in a rustic stilted bush hut.

If you can’t get enough of wildlife spotting along the river, wake up early for an optional extra cruise – just tell your leader you’d like to attend the night before. Keep your eyes peeled and you might be lucky enough to spot short and long tail macaques, a variety of birds including hornbills and kingfishers, crocodiles, or reptiles like snakes. Whether you choose to cruise or not, we’ll all leave our jungle eco-lodge mid morning and drive in a private minivan to Sepilok – home to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. You’ll have the afternoon at your leisure to settle into your dorm-style rooms at tonight’s jungle lodge and have some lunch. Later, you don’t want to miss the Rainforest Discovery Centre. The RDC has a 620-metre long, 28-metre high canopy walkway with downright spectacular views of the giant rainforest trees. At dusk, opt to take a guided walk around the grounds; the place comes alive after dark and you’ll spot plenty of birds overhead, and maybe even a few nocturnal slow lorises, tarsiers and flying squirrels.

Today is the day you'll visit the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and meet the world’s cutest red heads. These beautiful, quirky creatures will tug on your heartstrings; watch them going about their daily business – eating bananas while hanging upside down, for example – and swing by the nursery where young orangutans learn how to climb on a specially constructed jungle gym. Later on, you can head out to meet some of the other local animals. Perhaps, spend some time at the Sun Bear Conservation Center, where staff rescue and take care of once mistreated Sun Bears with the hopes of rehabilitating and reintroducing them into the wild. You can also hang out with gentle giants of the jungle with another opportunity to join the orangutan afternoon feeding session at the rehabilitation centre.

This morning travel via Kundasang by minibus into the unspoilt wilderness of the World Heritage-listed Kinabalu National Park. Take some time to hang out, enjoy the surroundings and do some stretches ahead of tomorrow’s climb. There are some beautiful nature trails you can follow through the lowland tropical forest and a Botanic Garden to explore – this 5-acre garden is an excellent showcase of the diverse plant life on the mountain, as flora from all over the park has been replanted here. It’s home to 4500 species of plants, plus hundreds of types of birds and butterflies. Otherwise, just relax in the afternoon and enjoy the cooler climate. This evening your leader will give a safety briefing about the climb and answer any last-minute questions. Stay overnight at the park's headquarters in a dorm with shared facilities. Nestled amongst the lowland forests, this is the perfect place to chill out before the ascent begins.

Rise early to begin the climb up Mt Kinabalu, South East Asia’s highest point (4095m/13,435ft). This is a challenging walk – uphill all the way with steep, uneven steps. Altitude can affect anyone, regardless of fitness level, and will slow you down (it's important to understand the dangers and symptoms of altitude sickness). There’s no rush, so take your time and enjoy the pristine environment. The upper mountain can be deceptively cold. Ensure you have warm layers, waterproof gloves, a hat, head torch, waterproof jacket, good walking boots and extra socks. You’ll cover 6 kilometres today and stop at a resthouse near Laban Rata (3,272m/10734ft) for the night. The mixed gender bunk rooms are very basic – extra blankets can be hired from the park office. Get to bed early as you’ll be up again at 2 am to hit the trails, making for the peak.

Rise around 2 am in order to catch the sunrise at the summit of Mt Kinabalu. The climb from Laban Rata to the summit takes 2-4 hours and, due to the altitude, can be hard going even for the fit. The final section includes wooden steps, sections where climbers need to hold onto a rope with both hands and a path through a boulder field. Wear waterproof gloves to protect your hands from rope burn (and keep them warm). It's tough, but worth it. The view from the summit is incredible – jungle on one side, South China Sea on the other. After witnessing the epic sunrise, return to Laban Rata for a well-earned breakfast, then descend the mountain to enjoy a rewarding lunch at the bottom. You will travel to Poring Hot Springs by bus. Tonight you’ll stay at a hostel within the springs complex itself, ready for an optional day of pampering tomorrow.

Poring Hot Springs is an ideal place to kick back for a day and recuperate after the tiring mountain climb. Maybe soothe your peak-weary limbs in the area’s warm sulphur water pools, believed to have healing properties for the skin. Otherwise there are graded paths leading through rich lowland forest to mountain rivers, waterfalls and bat caves, with birds and other wildlife often seen along the trail. A walkway in the tree canopy provides magnificent views – or there's a tropical garden to visit. Depending on the time of year it might be possible to see the Raffelsia flower nearby. Rafflesias are the world’s largest flower and can grow up to 1 metre in size! Spend another night here in the hot springs complex.

Drag yourself away from the springs and make the drive back to Kota Kinabalu. The afternoon's free for you to check out some optional activities – perhaps take an interactive and educational visit to Mari Mari Cultural Village to see how Indigenous ethnic groups of Borneo used to live. If you are after something even more active, like a scuba diving or snorkeling trip to nearby islands, then you could stay on a couple of days longer in KK. This evening is an opportunity to go out with your new mates and mark the end of your adventure – maybe start with a delicious optional dinner. Your group leader will have some great recommendations for where to go on the waterfront, so you could spend your last night as a group bar-hopping and soaking up the city’s nightlife.

Time to swap numbers and connect on socials before saying goodbye to your new-found friends. With no activities planned, your Sabah adventure comes to an end today and you can depart at any time. If you would like to spend more time in Borneo, let us know in advance – we’d be happy to book additional accommodation (subject to availability).