Day 1: Sepilok

We arrive in Sandakan and transfer through to Sepilok. The area hosts one of the finest canopy walkways in the world at the Rainforest Discovery Centre, a 347m-long (1140ft), 25m-high (85ft) steel structure. There are two well placed observation towers on this too, allowing great chances to find canopy birds at eye level, such as Black and Bushy-crested Hornbills, green-pigeons, Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrot, and raptors like Wallace’s Hawk-Eagle and Oriental Honey-Buzzard. There are also easy trails at ground level to explore too, and between birding the forest trails, spending time watching from the observation towers on the walkway and birding the secondary habitats just outside of the forest, a long list of wildlife awaits. A healthy list of woodpeckers occurs, with Asia’s largest, Great Slaty, as well as Orange-backed, Rufous, Gray-and-buff, Buff-necked, and Banded Woodpeckers. The flowering shrubs at the forest, when in bloom, attract spiderhunters and sunbirds, including Coppery-throated and Crimson Sunbirds, and Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker. Black-crowned Pitta, Rufous-collared and Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfishers, Rufous-winged Philentoma, are all found along the forest trails. On this night, we’ll undertake a night walk within the reserve to look for mammals like flying squirrels, civets, or if we are lucky a Philippine Loris or Western Tarsier. A single night will be spent in Sepilok.

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Day 2: Sepilok to Deramakot

This morning we have time for a little light walk and adventure before breakfast. Then we transfer the 4 hours to Deramakot Forest Reserve. This is a wild and incredibly exciting new wildlife watching zone, and it includes some of the best chances for encountering the most enigmatic of Borneo’s wildlife. It has become particularly renowned for delivering superb encounters with some of the best nocturnal wildlife in Asia. Of course, it goes without saying, that many of these creatures are rare, but our itinerary spends more time at this incredible location than any of our competitors, and we will be spending most of our nights up late into the night to give us the best chance of seeing these scarce and skulking rainforest denizens. Deramakot produces Bornean Clouded Leopard, and the arboreal Marbled Cat more frequently than anywhere else. Neither are anywhere close to guaranteed, but there is nowhere else on Earth that produces these gems more regularly! But other super-scarce mammals (also low chances but seen on at least one previous tour) that get the juices going include: Sunda Pangolin, Otter Civet, and Sun Bear. More regular species include Banded Palm-Civet, Island and Striped Palm-civets, Malay Civet, Philippine Slow Loris, Bornean Colugo, Binturong, Red Giant Flying-Squirrel, Thomas’ Giant Flying-Squirrel, Hose’s Flying-Squirrel, and stunning herps such as Green Vine Snake, some pit-vipers, Wallace’s Flying-Frog, and many other amphibians. Night trips can also reveal Sunda and Large Frogmouths, Brown Wood Owl and other nightbirds. Nine nights will be spent in Deramakot to give us maximum chances at finding a selection of some of the rarer species.

 

Days 3-10: Deramakot Forest Reserve

We have nine magical nights to explore this amazing place. Each day’s activities will differ, depending on what has happened the day/night before and how we are doing with the various enigmas we seek. The basic modus operandi is to eat dinner at around 7 pm, and then we begin our nocturnal forays at around 8 pm. We generally return to the lodge sometime between 1 am and 3 am, depending on the conditions and success we have with the wildlife. We then sleep till 10 or 11 am, do some local birding and activities around the lodge during the afternoon, where we can find Black-crowned Pitta, White-fronted Falconet and some small day-time mammals like treeshrews and squirrels. It promises to be a mammal-and-bird fest of epic proportions! We will spend every waking hour looking for beasts: hairy, feathery, scaly and slimy. If we have good success with the nocturnal mammals, we can spend more time doing diurnal activities, and stake out fruiting trees looking for hornbills, Bornean Orangutans and Bornean Gibbon, all of which are common here, or go birding. There are a few trails here that we can explore for lowland forest birds, including Blue-headed and Bornean Banded Pitta, stunning Black-and-red, Black-and-yellow, and Banded Broadbills, Diard’s, Scarlet-rumped, and Red-naped Trogons, and the forest dwelling Banded Kingfisher. No matter what we do on any given day we can expect it to be phenomenal.

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Day 11: Deramakot to Kinabatangan River

Although we will be sad to say goodbye to this incredible forest, we can look forward to sailing down the tranquil waters of the amazing Kinabatangan. The mighty Kinabatangan River, part of which is an important wildlife sanctuary, and is notable for its diversity of primates. We will thoroughly enjoy the next three nights at this great spot.

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Day 12-13: Deramakot to Kinabatangan River

While here, we might see Proboscis Monkeys frolicking on the banks, groups of abundant Long-tailed Macaques in the mangroves, or Silvered Langurs foraging on forest leaves. We’ll also keep an eye for White-bellied Sea-Eagles or Brahminy Kites as we make our way up the river. There is usually time for a short late afternoon private boat cruise, by canoe fitted with an electric motor that allows close approach to mammals and birds. If there is news of any herds of Bornean Pygmy Elephants in the area at the time (they are not always present as they roam widely), we’ll be sure to head straight there. At night, we will take a night cruise, where we might find sleeping birds like Stork-billed or Blue-eared Kingfishers, although our focus will be to track down a Buffy Fish-Owl hunting from the riverside trees. Mammals include palm-civets, and although rare, sightings of Bornean Clouded Leopard and other felids are possible. The most likely of which is still Leopard Cat, but if the water levels are conducive (we need lower water and exposed banks, which are hard to predict), we have a real shot at the impressive swamp-specialist Flat-headed Cat. By day we may also encounter Bornean Gibbon, and Bornean Orangutan. On the bird front, there is also plenty to look for as this is the richest area in Borneo for hornbills, so we’ll be on the lookout for White-crowned, Rhinoceros, Oriental Pied, Bushy-crested, Wreathed, Wrinkled, and Black Hornbills during our river cruises. The forests lining the banks of the rivers also provide the best chance for the rare and endangered Storm’s Stork, and the giant Lesser Adjutant also frequently features too. While we check the treetops for standing storks, we will also be on the lookout for raptors; Lesser and Gray-headed Fish-Eagles, Jerdon’s Baza, Rufous-bellied, Changeable and Wallace’s Hawk-Eagles, and Crested Serpent-Eagle all occur. Black-and-red Broadbills nest overhanging the rivers, Malaysian Blue-Flycatchers forage along the banks, while electrically colored Western Hooded Pittas stalk the forest floor, as does the very rare Bornean Ground-Cuckoo, for which this is one of the best sites available. On one afternoon, we’ll visit Gomantong Caves, which will give us a chance to stretch our legs off the water, and visit this strange location, where the nests of the swiftlets are sustainably harvested for bird’s nest soup. Edible-nest, Black-nest, Mossy-nest, and Glossy Swiftlets breed in the caves alongside thousands of Wrinkle-lipped Bats. As the first three swiftlet species can only be safely identified by their nests (e.g. Edible-nest Swiftlet has an all-white nest made entirely of its saliva), this will be vital to adding them to our list! While at the caves we’ll linger until dusk to watch the funnel of bats emerge, and their most infamous attendant predator, the Bat Hawk.

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Day 14: Deramakot to Sandakan

After breakfast we return to Sandakan where the tour draws to a close.

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Pheasants of Borneo Extension

Introduction:

This extension has been put together to go after some of the rarest endemic birds in Borneo, namely birds from the pheasant family, like Bornean Peacock-Pheasant, Bulwer’s Pheasant, and Crimson-headed and Red-breasted Partridges, as well as the elusive Bornean Banded Pitta too. There will also be the chance for other endemic birds of Borneo, like Mountain Blackeye, Chestnut-crested Yuhina, and Bornean Treepie, in addition to some other species of interest, like Indigo Flycatcher and Great Argus.

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Day 1: Arrival in Kota Kinabalu (Sabah, Borneo)

After arrival in the capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah, in northern Borneo, you will be transferred to a city hotel in Kota Kinabalu for the night.

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Day 2: Crocker Range to Bulwer’s Pheasant site

In the morning, we will visit the Crocker Range, near Tambunan for a series of endemic birds of Borneo. This will include a visit to a forest feeding station for two endemic partridges, Crimson-headed and Red-breasted. Other possible birds in this area include Golden-naped and Bornean Barbets, and Bornean Green Magpie. In the mid-morning, we will drive to Trus Madi Jungle Camp, where we will overnight. In the afternoon, we will have our first try for the exquisite white-tailed Bulwer’s Pheasant. At night we can also search for Barred Eagle Owl around the camp.

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Day 3: Bulwer’s Pheasant & Bornean Banded Pitta sites

In the morning, we shall return to the Bulwer’s Pheasant site, where we will also have the chance for another dramatic pheasant, the Great Argus. In the late morning we will visit another forest feeding station in the hope of finding the spectacular Bornean Banded Pitta. In the afternoon, we will transfer to the town of Ranau for the night.

 

Day 4: Bornean Peacock-Pheasant site

In the early morning we will transfer to the Bornean Peacock-Pheasant site, spending considerable time at the station in both the morning and afternoon in the hope of seeing this dramatic and rare endemic at the only reliable site for the species on Earth. The night will be spent in Telupid.

 

Day 5: Bornean Peacock-Pheasant site; transfer to Sandakan

We will have another morning attempt for the Bornean Peacock-Pheasant, before transferring to Telupid, then Sandakan during the afternoon, in readiness to join the main tour, which starts the following day.

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Trip Considerations

PACE: Moderate. Spending 5-7 hours a night on bumpy roads in a vehicle with bench seats can be tiring itself, even though not much physical exertion is required. A typical “day” starts with a 7 pm dinner, and then heading out at 8 pm on the vehicle. We generally return between 1-3 am depending on what’s happening. We tend to sleep through the early morning and have breakfast at 10 am, and then make a plan for the afternoon’s activities, which is either a short drive and / or a forest walk for 2-3 hours before we return to the accommodation and prepare for the evening session. The middle of the day is hot and humid, and we generally do not do much during the heat of the day. While at Deramakot, all meals will be taken at the field station. The drive from Sepilok to Deramakot is around 4-5 hours on rough, unpaved roads (days 2 and 15).

 

PHYSICAL DIFFICULTY: Easy to moderate. Most of the night we will be sitting on the back of the trucks specially modified for night drives. There will be a few short, moderate 1 mile or so walks in the forest during the day. Most of the trails are not difficult, but the trails can often be slippery and muddy (a walking stick helps a lot). 

 

CLIMATE: Hot and very humid in Sepilok, Deramakot and Kinabatangan, with temperatures typically ranging from about 75°F(24°C) at night to about 90°F(32°C) in the middle of the day. Borneo has a wet tropical climate, with rainfall possible at all sites. Typically, this falls in short, heavy downpours in the afternoons. It is worth noting that once we leave the field station on the truck we will be at the mercy of the elements, and if we get stuck in a downpour, we essentially have to ‘sit it out’, and by that we mean, ‘sit in the rain till it stops’, so come prepared with excellent rain gear for both you and any camera gear you want to carry with you.

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ACCOMMODATION: Somewhat basic, but clean and comfortable; despite the rustic nature, all rooms do have private, en-suite bathrooms, full-time hot water, and 24-hour electricity. Wi-Fi is now available at Deramakot, but it is unstable and not reliable. You can buy a prepaid sim card at Sandakan, but even that has limited signal at Deramakot. This place is truly wild!

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WHEN TO GO: The best time of year is generally considered to be June-December.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: Photography is very tough on the main tour in general. Night photography from a moving vehicle is not easy. In addition, we discourage the use of flash with certain sensitive species on this trip, and therefore chances of getting lots of good photos are slim. If you are happy with record shots of incredibly rare things, then bring a camera. There will also be chances to indulge in macro photography of reptiles and amphibians that we find at night. On the extension, where some specific feeding stations are visited for a small number of rare species, the photography is easier. However, these stations are still in deep, dark forest situations.

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Other Information

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS: A passport is required; the passport must be valid for at least six months past your intended stay. Visas are not currently required for citizens of the US, Canada, UK, EU, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Visas are currently required only of a few nationalities, mainly in Africa and the Middle East. Travel requirements are subject to change; it’s always a good idea to double check a few weeks before the tour or ask our office for help.

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WHAT’S INCLUDED?: Tips to drivers, local guides, and lodge staff; accommodation from night of day 1 through to night of day 14; meals from dinner on day 1 to breakfast on day 15; lodges will include at least safe drinking water and some include tea/coffee; when eating at restaurants that include no drinks, reasonable non-alcoholic drinks will be provided for that meal; safe drinking water only between meals (usually available at a designated spot in the lodge – if not it will be provided for you); Tropical Birding tour leader with thermal scope and audio gear from the evening of day 1 to the morning of day 14; local dedicated professional spot-lighting guide at Deramakot; one arrival and one departure airport transfer on the specified arrival and departure days respectively, per person (transfers may be shared with other participants of the same tour if they are on the same flight); ground transport for the group to all sites in the itinerary in a suitable vehicle; multiple 5-7 hour night drives at Deramakot for our own dedicated private group; entrance fees to all sites mentioned in the itinerary; a printed and bound checklist to keep track of your sightings (given to you at the start of the tour – only electronic copies can be provided in advance).

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WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED?: Optional tips to the Tropical Birding tour leader; tips for luggage porters in city hotels or Deramakot (if you require their services); flights; snacks; additional drinks apart from those included; alcoholic beverages; travel insurance; excursions not included in the tour itinerary; extras in hotels such as laundry service, minibar, room service, telephone calls, and personal items; medical fees; other items or services not specifically mentioned above.