Thorn Tree travel forum

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It depends where in Leuser you want to go.
If to Gurah, BL is out of the way, and a waste of time, I think.
If to Tangkahan, it could be a stopover on the way there.

My info & thoughts:
on East-Indonesia.info: Indonesia, West Papua, Maluku, Ternate, Ambon, Saparua, Banda, Kei
on VirtualTourist.com: Papua New Guinea, Philippines, New Caledonia, Eritrea, Djibouti
on Thorn Tree: Seeing Orangutans, Kalimantan, SE Asia Islands FAQ thread & Samoa Warnings

61

Sabah update April 23-May 6 2007

this site was so helpful w/ our planning that here's an update for y'all! special thanks to Lazlo, Jerry, Dave/Eva!

We flew in and out w/ Royal Brunei to BSB (1045NZD from Auckland to London, no limits on stopover):
R.H. Soon Rest house—upstairs across from Brunei Hotel entrance; 25BD taxi from airport, or 1BD public bus (3 blocks from central bus station); 45BD for double plus single bed w/ toilet and hot shower in room—run down but clean and safe; 24hr reception and security. BSB airport has a rest. outside that has excellent food and fresh juices, coffee shop has free wireless.

Royal Brunei to KK (153BD rtn) flights are at random times. Our connection for the noon flight (from KK) was canceled, next flight was 7pm next day. Great customer service tho: their delayed flight made us miss our sandakan connection, they put us up at Le Meridien (the poshest hotel in KK) and gave us dinner, brekkie and transport.
KK- good prices on most brands SLR lenses at Canon Suppliers 2 blocks from Meridien.
Casaurina Hotel—close by airport w/ free shuttle (Fly Air Asia Express put us up their when they canceled our connecting flight Back to KK)

Ferry from BSB to Labuan is 20MR for first class several trips a day. FAX flies from Labuan to KK don’t know the price as we were comped by FAX for canceling our connection

Flying between KK and Sandakan:
Air Asia-75MR but only once/day
Malaysia Air-115MR 4 times if you book online w/ plenty advance can be 50MR
Mini bus between is only about 30-45MR

NO ATM AT SANDAKAN AIRPORT!!! We weren’t the only ones whose plans were affected by this. Make sure you stock up in KK or have time to run into town for ATM before your river plans.

KINABATANGAN RIVER:
Uncle Tans:
-3D2N 320MR (about 5 hrs boat (including to/from) 4 hrs walks, extra hour boat on 3rd am if space). extra days 60RM. You reach river bout 4pm for transfer leave river bout 11am for bus, so does feel more like 2D2N, but still good value, esp. if you do extra days. Lunch provided 1st and 3rd day at ops base. There is a basic B&B there for 25RM.
--they have several other options that didn’t seem to be advertised: you can do a jungle sleep/survival course for extra 2 days or they can take you down to Bilit for a homestay for extra days as well.
--if you want to go further down river they can arrange a fisher to take you for 60RM plus fuel
-accomodation Very Basic: mattress on floor w/ mozzie screen, single sheet, hole toilet, brown river water bucket shower. Handy that it rained most days at 2pm for washing! Capacity for 40ppl. I imagine would feel cramped when full. Very muddy, they have free wellies. Food surprisingly good, and lots of it—watch out for Macaques stealing your pancakes and beer!
-guides: enthusiastic, well rounded, relaxed and cheerful. If Orangs around will lead missions to see them again during down time.
--on our boat trip into the camp we saw: long and pig-tailed Macaques, oriental pied hornbills, 2 types kingfishers, and wild pigs. In camp were 3 orangutangs, civet cat, loads of frogs (including Jade and Harlequin Tree Frogs), Blue tarantula, chance to hold scorpion, and troop of Long tailed Macaques w/ endless antics. On river trips we saw 4mt croc, 8 otters, Rhinosaurus Hornbill, buffy fish owl, civet cat, silver leaf monkey, Proboscis monkeys, several types of butterfly.

We also went to Kinabatangan Jungle Camp, run by Robert thru the Labuk B&B in Sepilock # 089-533-190
-580MR for 3D2N (avg 11hrs boat including transfer, no guided walks) 200MR for extra day, 330MR for 2D1N. arrive at river and leave about mid-day, so longer than UTs. first glance expensive, but more than twice as upscale as UTs and not twice the price. We were in a raised cabin w/ 2 double beds and private toilet and hot shower. They made the bed w/ fresh linens every day. Food was beautiful, w/ a bit more Chinese and western influence than Malaysian. Laundry available 15MR/load. Filtered water always available, beers less expensive than UTs. If you request his driver can sometimes take you by Gomantong caves on the way there or back. Downriver from Bilit so less evidence of Plantations than at UTs=more wildlife. (but closer to traffic at Sukau)
--as mentioned in previous entry, Robert is an excellent guide for BIRDS, Elephants and mammals in that order. For reptiles and insects no interest at all, but if that’s your focus, he can recommend excellent private guides. If you have simply general interest, you will be happy w/ Robert, but just as happy w/ UTs guides. He excels if you have Specific Interests. He took us on 5 hour trip past Sukau in pouring rain to search for elephants. The Next day we wanted to try again and he only charged us 2.5MR for extra 50 litres fuel to take us almost to last town on river where we finally saw a herd of elephants, and were only boat with them for the hour and a half. On our last day we still hadn’t seen gibbons, so he extended the morning boat trip by 45mins until we finally found them.
In the visitor book are mentions of private hikes to find specific rare birds. He understands the lighting needs for photographers, and chooses routes based on the lighting as well as the wildlife. His boatmen are better trained than UTs, and can get much closer to the wildlife. For the night trip tho, we had to badger him to set up a guide to take us out on the river, and the couple that was there before us didn’t get a night trip. They went too fast and at first only looked for croc eyes, since that’s so easy. Had to cajole them a bit to go slower and look up into the grass and trees, but did find a leopard cat very close, so worth the hassles.
--elephants are much better here than at UTs. When the elephants passed by UTs in march, only one guide heard them, and raced after their trail but never caught up. At KJC they seem to hang around there for a bit longer, actually damaging the boathouse by trying to play football w/ the empty barrels. Robert knows where they cross the river and will make extra efforts to watch the crossing. As seen by him making 2 huge trips to see them when they were a long way away, if they are anywhere w/in 2 hours you’re almost guaranteed to see them if that’s your focus, as he’d easily make several trips to find them.
Keep in mind they move FAST, up to 10km/day.
-there was a storm stork wandering around the camp when we first arrived, and we twice saw white-crested/crowned hornbills.

SUKAU- previous entries mention the state of the road there, currently under construction so was even harder to get to, we were quoted about 300RM, tho we didn't make much effort. Hopefully by next year should be easy road, and cheap transport.
A couple we met went w/ SI and stayed at Abai and Sukau w/ them, loved it. They arranged in KK for 9 nights including turtle island, 3 nights KRiver, Gomantong Caves, 2 nights BRL in Danum, and Sepidan diving, including all transport to/from KK for 4444MR each. More expensive than independent, but limited time and no hassles, they were very happy and felt it was worth it.
Another couple arranged thru Borneo Eco Tours and loved it. They were the only lodge that had ventured down river looking for the elephants. They also had a guide for trekking through Sepilock sanctuary down to river, and then ferry and taxi back.

SEPILOCK Sanctuary: 30MR + 10 camera, multiple entry one day. Feeding time feels like a zoo, but my husband stayed there all day, wandering aroung the trails and Loved it, also got amazing photos of Silver Leaf and Macaque moms w/ babies suckling.
--Sepilock Jungle Resort: 45MR double w/ shared outside cold shower and toilet, 55RM double w/ private hot shower and toilet, 95/130 RM double w/ ensuite and AC. Brekkie “included” but only 2 pieces toast w/ excellent jam. Eggs 3RM extra and above. Poorly maintained, and only rude staff we’ve encountered in Borneo. Rest. Expensive for average quality: 10RM minimum for main dish PLUS 6RM for rice or noodles. Grounds are Large and Peaceful, w/ walking trails but little wildlife, rest. area good for hanging out as well.
--Labuk B&B is new and beautiful, reportedly w/ excellent food. Affiliated w/ Robert and KJC # above. 60RM double, w/ fan, I believe ensuite. Has AC rooms as well.
--rest house next to sanctuary 50RM double w/ fan, pretty small, but seems clean and friendly
We’d heard unpleasant things from girls staying in Sandakan, that’s why we stayed at Sepilock, also to get full day at Sanctuary.

DANUM VALLEY
--minibus 20 RM from the river junction, an hour to Lahad Datu.

DVField Center: a friend after calling 4 numbers was finally given Maria at 089-880-207 who was very helpful, booked him in, and confirmed that he didn’t really need a guide, as mentioned above. I found out that she is actually the booking agent for Borneo Rainforest Lodge, but her team was still quite helpful, calling the FC to check on availability for us. The prices they quoted us for the FC are:
Double room in hostel: 87MR/night
3meals:78/day
Park entry: 30 one time
RTN Transfer: 120 one time (9:30am there, 1:30 back) 180RM rtn for private times or airport
They claimed camping no longer option.
Seems the major difference w/ booking w/ BRL is transfer cost, above entries quote 40RM each way, but it seems the ease of booking and definite seat on bus may be worth the extra.

Unfortunately, there was a large gov’t group there for most of the dates we wanted, we’d been previously advised that if only 2 nights, better off at BRL w/ guides, as FC needs more time to find wildlife w/o help. Which is why we stayed extra time at Robert’s on Kinabatangan River, since still less expensive than BRL.

Borneo Rainforest Lodge: 555MR/pp/pernight. I asked for discount, received 10%, plus 30MR entry and 120MR rtn transfer.
--beautiful cabin on river, hot shower and toilet, deck w/ clotheslines, very friendly chatty staff come in evenings to close your blinds, turn on lights and mozzie repellant, food buffets decent, but better at KJC. The lodge has several comfy places to relax and several types of butterfly, the grounds are large and peaceful.
--If you have specific interests, Definitely pay the 150MR more for private guide: Wong if for birds (several Wongs, so clarify) and Donny/Danny? (head guide) for general all around and photography. Our guide was huge disappointment; his knowledge and experience was Excellent, but his people skills poor and enthusiasm non-existant. The Night walk was less than 40mins! After venting our frustration, we went on our own, thanking the boys at UTs for giving us some skills for searching and eventually found a flying lemur! Due to our dismal guide (the whole reason we went there!) Unless you pay extra for a private guide, I’d say you’re better off going to Uncle Tans for extra days to get a good foundation of hikes, and then stay at least 4 nights at FC doing independent walks.
--the previous night drive to ours saw 2 slow loris, and elephants. There was a large troop of Red Leaf Monkeys (Maroon Languers) just across the road from our cabin, and a fruiting fig up the road a bit w/ a family of gibbons, helmeted and black hornbills, and orangutang close by. Across the river we saw a great argus pheasant who apparently is pretty regular. Clouded leopard is rare, but territorial and seen about once a month sometimes bout 10am! Western Tarsiers seen average every 2 weeks. There’s a frog pond nearby that we watched a red-sided water snake eating a file-fared frog (?), found 5 different species, including Harlequin Tree Frog, and watched a Jade Tree Frog lay an egg sac.

LAHAD DATU
Tabin Lodge: 30MR for double w/ fan and cold shower, shared toilet. Basic but clean, quite loud.

Fly Asia Express Lahad Datu to KK : 20NZD online, several flights. Warning w/ FAX: 1st flight almost always gets canceled! Seems like this may be true on most routes. Industry has complained about their service so much that after only a year, the Malaysian gov’t has arranged to pay Malaysia Air a 60 Million Ringitt subsidy to take back the Borneo routes under their Firefly brand by next year. Until then, plan accordingly.

SEASONS:
July/August is fruiting season, so supposedly best for wildlife, but also extremely crowded. We arrived late April and were told several stories of things for the 2 weeks previous; either they always say that or early April really is a good time to visit. Several times we and others were the only guests at our respective lodges. Even so, around Sukau were almost 10 boats at a time, in peak can be more than 20 waiting to look at one tree of monkeys. Mt. Kinabalu was booked out for 2 other couples, so make advance arrangements. Feb has a tendency for flooding apparently. June is flowering time.
ENJOY!!!
happy to answer any other questions at moonschein1@yahoo.com. don't check the TT message center often, so may be slow in responding.

62

Hi Laszlo,

first thank you for your article.

Is it possible that you can give more information about reaching Batang Ai Park in Sarawak?

Is it not possible to eat together with the Iban who live in the longhouses?

Thanks
Gunnar

63

Laszlo,
You seem to be the best informed person when in comes to Kalimantan. I plan to visit this summer with my son. We want to go to Kutai and the islands. I cannot decide which one is the best to stay: Derawan, Sangalaki, or Nabucco? We don't dive, but I want both of us to snorkle. My son can't wait to see the sea turtles. I don't want to be surrounded by crowds of tourists. My son would enjoy a piece of beach and easy snorkling ( close, but with plenty of fish, corals and other colorful creatures :) - he is just 5 years old. Which of the 3 islands would you recommend? Also is it better to plan staying a night in Kutai if we really want to see the orangutans or maybe a day : Samarinda - Kutai - Samarinda is enough? Do we have to hike a lot in Kutai ?- I don't mind, but 5 yeras old has his limits. And finally the last question. Flights from Balikpapan to Berau seem to be pretty full every time. Are there planes from Samarinda to Berau and if so, are they easier to get tickets for? Thanks for replay :)

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The longhouses at Batang Ai only had a few old Iban left staying in them, hence the need to take food.
You could cook it there for sure.
If you get there, post updates - I was there years ago!

Derawan is the cheapest island to stay on, do Sangalaki as a day-trip.
I really don`t think Kutai can be done as a day-trip. Stay a night at least, maybe more. No need to hike far there.

My info & thoughts:
on East-Indonesia.info: Indonesia, West Papua, Maluku, Ternate, Ambon, Saparua, Banda, Kei
on VirtualTourist.com: Papua New Guinea, Philippines, New Caledonia, Eritrea, Djibouti
on Thorn Tree: Seeing Orangutans, Kalimantan, SE Asia Islands FAQ thread & Samoa Warnings

65

Thanks :) Anything about Nabucco? Ok, I 'll plan a night in Kutai. I wish we could stay longer, but probably impossible :(

66

Just thought I should stick my oar in...

Stayed at Danum Valley Field Centre and Batu Putih last week.

With regards to transport from Lahad Datu to the field centre, I turned up on a Monday morning to be told that the bus was full and that I had to pay RM300 to charter a car. Susan at reception, seemed to imply that the bus was always full on a monday because of staff going back there after the weekend off. So if you are going to turn up unannounced, you might want to try it on a Wednesday or Friday morning instead. My ass was saved however, by two French guys with a hire car (to whom I am forever grateful), who walked in while I was at the field centre office :-). Bed in hostel dorm RM66/night. Full board 60/day. Guide 20/hour. Thanks to all on this forum who have shared their experiences on this, this was a great experience, and I'm forever thankful that you helped me get there. But I didn't see any orangs...

So onto Batu Putih. If you are getting the bus from Lahad Datu, tell the driver you want to go to Sungei Kinabatangan, as he didn't know where Batu Putih was, and ended up dropping me at the Sukau road junction. In any case, get off at the river (north bank) and go down to the yellow lodge under the bridge, this is the hq for Miso Walai, who have an apparent monopoly on homestays in Batu Putih. They will place you in a local home for RM56 per night accomodation and 3 meals. A boat tour on the river cost RM80 and a guide for jungle trekking RM25 for a half day. If you are alone it is probably no longer the cheapest option, as it does not seem to be as popular as Sukau - there were no other tourists there, so there was nobody for me to share boats/guides with. But saying that, I did get a feeling of actually staying in the village community - within 2 hours of arriving, I was playing volleyball with the locals. And I saw a solitary orangutan lounging about in the trees...

One last thing, there is now an ATM at Sandakan airport. Hope this helps somebody!

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I just came back from Indonesia 2 weeks ago. I didn't see ape's and didn't go to Kutai - had no time. But I stayed 5 days on Nabucco island, and as I was asking about it and couldn't find much info, just a few words about the area.
I loved Nabucco. I was worried if my son (5) would enjoy there, as I heard the tiny island has no beach. It really doesn't , but my son loved the island. Nabucco is small but full of animalsboth under and overwater. I did some diving (just started there), and my son snorkeled around the dive boat with somebody from the dive center. The reefs are superb, corals in great shape, tons of fish small, big , any kind you might want. People on the island are great - willing to assist you in whatever you want to do, doing their best to help you enjoy the stay. Food is delicious. Bungalows are nice, simple , but very convinient with beautiful views. You never have time to get bored - there is always something to do. Our 5 days were full of activities, and I believe we could stay much much longer and still wouldn't have enough. We visited also Kakaban (jellyfishlake - wow) and Sangalaki (hired local boat for that). Sangalaki was amazig. The postcard -perfect-island, great reef around, sand, palms - all you want on an island - and to all of it turtles!!! we saw so many coming ashore to lay eggs. There are 8 people from Turtle Foundation living on the island. Tourist are not allowed to stay there now. The resort that used to be there doesn't operate anymore. People from foundation are very, very nice. we learnt a lot about turtles, saw Green turtles, and Hawksbills - both huge ones and babies, just hatched runnig to see.... we saw turtles nesting -an incredible thing to see. My son totaly absorb by what was happening around, stayed up till 3 in the morning, and even now , 2 weeks after, can't talk about anything else, but Nabucco and Sangalaki. I recommend the place to everyone. It is hard to get there, takes time and money, but is worht every minute and every penny and I am sure we will go again.

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Hi Laszlo,

Greenpeace (I don't know if only in Germany or worldwide) is campaigning to help orang utans in Borneo. They write that while I'm reading their letter (only 2 pages), an area equal to 3 soccer fields is being deforested in Borneo. They ask for a donation to help planting food trees for the orang utans, to send out patrols against illegal loggers and poachers, and to declare a "network" (Patchwork?) of more than 22 million hectares of rain forest on Borneo* a protected area, the "heart of Borneo". Have you heard of any such plans?

* in Germany, the term "Borneo" is still mostly used for the whole island, so we'r talking not only about Malaysian Borneo, but also the much bigger Indonesian part, Kalimantan.

I haven't been to Borneo or Kalimantan, but I have seen orang utans in Bukit Lawang 7 years ago. It was great to see these animals in their natural habitat. But from talking to rangers and locals I left with the impression that this habitat will be destroyed by logging. As we all know, there's some proof for this in the fact that a flood caused by illegal logging upriver from Bukit Lawang has washed away most of the village only a few years later. I have also been to other "protected areas" in Indonesia and more or less always left with the feeling that nothing really helps against the logging industry in this corrupt country. So I wonder what sense it makes to declare another area as "protected" if already the existing national parks offer no protection from illegal logging and poaching.

What is your opinion about this? How likely do you see it that actions such as those suggested by Greenpeace will have any positive impact?

leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but memories

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Correction: It's not Greenpeace, it's the WWF doing the campaign. Looks like I confused the 2 because their little brochure looks so similar to those Greenpeace often sends ....

And, of course I didn't only want to read Laszlo's opinion. Everybody on the board is most welcome to answer.

leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but memories

70

Having encountered lots of WWF projects in Indonesia that look great on paper (they produce LOTS of paper = reports) and employ lots of staff from both Indonesia and overseas yet are virtually non-existant when you actually visit the place where they are supposed to have their impact, I am rather sceptical about any of their new projects.
Ambitious new projects must be a great way to attract new funding though! ;-)

Actually Indonesian Borneo already has a rather extentive network of sizeable protected areas, certainly when compared to the mostly pityfully small parks in Sarawak. I think even if only the actual protection of these existing reserves could be strengthened, that would already be enough to conserve much the island's biodiversity.
As many of these reserves now form islands in largely deforested regions, I don't think linking them up meaningfully would be viable anyway. And as far as orangutans are concerned, "the Heart of Borneo" romantic as it sounds, is largely irrelevant. In much of the deep interior, the Dayak inhabitants (whose rights to "traditional" hunting, slash-and-burn agriculture, etc. WWF seems to wish to protect as much as wildlife these days) have long hunted orangutans to near extiction (with guns, not blowpipes, of course!). The huge Kayan-Mentarang NP is a good example of this.

Anyway, I bet this will be another paper-project, if anything.
If they wanted to make a real impact, they should work on guarding existing parks, aided by already existing Indonesian legislation.
But of course that's so much harder, earthier and less novel than drawing up proposals and lobbying overseas...

Also, I wonder if they are even proposing extending the network into Malaysian Borneo, where the small parks are separated by sprawling logging concessions and oil-palm plantations, and the government is much less tolerant of foreign interference than in Indonesia...

My info & thoughts:
on East-Indonesia.info: Indonesia, West Papua, Maluku, Ternate, Ambon, Saparua, Banda, Kei
on VirtualTourist.com: Papua New Guinea, Philippines, New Caledonia, Eritrea, Djibouti
on Thorn Tree: Seeing Orangutans, Kalimantan, SE Asia Islands FAQ thread & Samoa Warnings

71

Tanjung Puting Update!

While I've always considered this park Kalimantan's major (and only) tourist trap, things seem to have gotten much worse now.
An English guy who visited the place recently told me that prices for visiting this park have increased enormously.
He had to pay 100.000/DAY for his entry permit, 150.000/night for simple homestay accomodation in Tanjung Harapan village, and sg. like 400.000/day for boat hire.
All that just to see some ex-captives, which could be seen much more cheaply in Sumatra or Sabah.

My info & thoughts:
on East-Indonesia.info: Indonesia, West Papua, Maluku, Ternate, Ambon, Saparua, Banda, Kei
on VirtualTourist.com: Papua New Guinea, Philippines, New Caledonia, Eritrea, Djibouti
on Thorn Tree: Seeing Orangutans, Kalimantan, SE Asia Islands FAQ thread & Samoa Warnings

72

Laszlo,
Been a while since I've been lurking around here. Thanks for your continued service to the community. I'm thinking of spend sometime in Sumatra in a few months. What would you recommend as the best nature spots on that island.
Unrelated, I'd like to discuss some stuff about Central Asia with you. Can you PM me?

Cheers,
djavaman

"The decision to travel is the sole responsibility of the traveller." Canadian Dept of Foreign Affairs

73

Laszlo,
Terima kasih for your PM! I think we've settled on Central Asia, but will take your advice if we pergi ke Sumatra!

"The decision to travel is the sole responsibility of the traveller." Canadian Dept of Foreign Affairs

74

Its taken me a few hours to get through this thread but its been very educational.

Has no one been to Batang Ai National Park yet? Also no info on Kubah National Park, im currently doing a goggle search on both.

It has been very interesting reading the updates on here, especially as the thread has been going for years. Im not going out there till September, and although i will not be able to report my trip as well as others have, i will do my best.

Laszlo, thanx for all your input. Although the way im goingout to Borneo may not be ideal, i do hope to make the most out of my trip and to educate myself as much as possable.