“If you feel shaking in the middle of the night, don’t worry, it’ll just be a pygmy elephant rubbing up against your hut.”
So were the immortal words of my guide as I checked into the jungle lodge that was to be my home for the next two nights. Welcome to the Kinabatangan River!
Situated in northern Borneo’s Sabah state, this enormous river – the second longest in Malaysia – is a haven for wildlife.
Orangutans, monkeys, pygmy elephants, hornbills, crocodiles, clouded leopards, kingfishers and more all call the area home.
Sadly I didn’t see any pygmy elephants during my stay, but I did see plenty of other incredible creatures.
We arrived at our riverside lodge at lunchtime, and after a bite to eat, we spent some time relaxing before setting off on a two-and-a-half hour boat ride along the Kinabatangan.
It wasn’t long before we spotted our first signs of wildlife – a baby crocodile (above), close to the riverbank.
It was barely visible as its head bobbed in the water, its body camouflaged by the cloudy river.
As we followed the path of the Kinabatangan, we spied an orangutan high in the trees (above), as well as an egret standing by the riverbank.
The area surrounding the river was filled with different monkey species – proboscis monkeys (above), as well as long-tailed (below) and pig-tailed macaques.
We spent some time watching two macaques fighting on a rope bridge high above a small river leading off from the Kinabatangan.
The bridge was built to help orangutans cross the river as the great apes can’t swim.
It was fascinating watching the macaques fighting each other on the ropes, and at times, it seemed as though they were trying to push each other off into the river’s murky depths below.
Towards the end of our cruise, we stopped to watch a pack of macaques as they went about their business, jumping through the trees, grooming each other and eating leaves, tree bark and grass.
While we were there one of the pack decided to put on a bit of a show for us (above), which did make me smile.
I enjoyed the boat ride. It was interesting to see so many different types of old world monkey up close and to watch how they interacted with one another.
That evening after dinner, we set off on a night walk through the jungle surrounding our riverside lodge, accompanied by a guide and two rangers.
Guided by our torches, we trekked through the jungle, stepping as quietly as possible over the many twigs and logs, and moving branches out of our way as we went.
Knowing I was keen to see a tarsier, the rangers were keeping a particular eye out for them.
It wasn’t long before we spotted a small malay badger moving across the jungle floor (above).
Effectively a type of skunk, the malay badger has black fur with a large white stripe down its middle, and a snout that’s perfect for sniffing out and eating insects.
The badger was soon joined by a civet (below), a small, long, black and white speckled mammal that’s similar in size to the badger.
It was incredible to be so close to these unusual mammals and we watched for ages as they wandered around looking for insects.
As we continued through the forest, we also saw cicadas, a puddle frog and an elusive, and very cute, mouse deer.
Sadly, we didn’t find any tarsiers on our walk, but I didn’t mind as we’d seen so many creatures I’d never seen before.
I enjoyed our night walk, but I did get a little jittery when we were suddenly asked to stop and be silent while the rangers investigated a mammal in the distance.
It turned out someone had spotted a clouded leopard in the area the week before, and the rangers were just making sure it hadn’t reappeared.
Thankfully, it was a false alarm. As much as there’s part of me that would have loved to have seen a clouded leopard in the wild, I was relieved it hadn’t joined us.
The next day, we were up at 5.35am for a dawn boat ride along the river and we soon spotted a small crocodile in the water.
But we didn’t get much further before the heavens opened – and I mean opened. I’ve never experienced rain like it.
We were being pelted with so much rain, I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
It was impossible to see a thing and all the wildlife, bar a large, fully grown crocodile, had scarpered.
So we turned around and made our way back to the lodge, some two and a half hours after we’d set out.
By the time we got back to the lodge, my poncho, which had done a fabulous job keeping me dry for so long, failed.
The area around the zip and the seams had become so saturated, the water was pouring through leaving my clothes sopping wet.
Our planned morning activity – a walk through the jungle – was called off because of the weather, so we headed back to our rooms to relax and read.
In the afternoon, sporting my still-sodden poncho, I headed to the rangers’ hut where I rented some wellies, and set off through the wet and muddy rainforest with a couple of guides to plant some orangutan and tarsier-friendly trees.
The area’s a flood plain, so only a few of the trees we planted will have survived.
But it was something fun to do amid the downpour and it was nice to think we were doing our (albeit minuscule) bit to support the local orangutans and tarsiers.
The next morning, we had another very early start as we set off at 6am for our final boat ride along the Kinabatangan.
The sun was shining brightly as we sailed down the river, spotting some silvered-leaf langurs, along with a rare red langur, in the trees.
We also spied a line of bubbles on the water, suggesting a crocodile was swimming beneath the surface.
The riverbank was packed with birds and we seemed to come upon a different species every five metres or so.
We saw egrets, five types of hornbill (below), two types of kingfisher (above), as well as a stork and a few other birds I couldn’t identify.
The colours in the birds’ plumage and beaks were incredible and it was great to see so many beautiful birds in such quick succession.
It was a lovely way to end our time exploring the Kinabatangan River.
The Kinabatangan is a superb place for wildlife spotting and I was delighted by how much we saw during our two days, especially considering one of those days was a total washout.
It’s a spectacular part of the world and I absolutely adored it (rain included!).
