Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia

After leaving Semporna behind, we checked into the lovely Bike and Tours Bed and Breakfast in Lahad Datu, which we reached by taking a Grab car for the two hour drive. We were treated to a refreshing welcome drink and a tiny homemade vegan cupcake that was baked without eggs just for us. We ventured into town and had lunch at the Unicorn Vegetarian Restaurant, which is probably the only vegetarian restaurant in town. They had a buffet where you just help yourself to the dishes you select and that worked out well for us since the menu on the wall was all in Malay. 

Our B & B hosts offered the option to prepare a local meal in their kitchen so we decided to give that a try for our dinner. They said it was no problem to prepare vegan-friendly food which was so nice. They served us some amazing homemade rice noodles and a platter with fresh tomatoes, roasted mushrooms, cilantro, carrot, chili peppers, greens, tofu stuffed with mushrooms, and a delicious sauce made from shiitake mushrooms. They also served some really nice baked vegan corn fritters on the side. Everything was so fresh and completely homemade. For dessert they prepared a dish of sago pearls with sweet corn and salted caramel topped with coconut ice cream. All the food they prepared for us during our stay was divine. 

In the morning we had a great breakfast at our B & B and then a shuttle van picked us up to take us to Kawag Danum Rainforest Lodge in Danum Valley where we had booked a two night package. The lodge location is remote and surrounded by rainforest in the Sabah region of Borneo. It was quite hot and humid in Danum Valley and a few hours after arriving we asked if we could upgrade from our non-air conditioned room to one with air conditioning. Luckily they had one available for us and that made our stay much more pleasant. 

We were paired with a fantastic guide for our entire time at the lodge. We also met two young men from nearby Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia who were staying at the lodge and joined us for all the treks during the first two days of our stay. This ended up being rather enjoyable as the nice guys in our group shared some interesting information with us about their family history, culture, and traditions. The lodge provides all meals for guests and after a nice lunch we all headed out for our first trek in the forest with our guide. 

The rainforest surrounding the lodge contains a network of trails created by the lodge. Our guide told us the lodge was opened in 2016 by the Sabah Forest Service. We followed a trail that led through the forest and along the Kawag River. It was a peaceful walk and along the way we saw some lizards, a turtle, numerous beautiful birds, and also leeches, which are all over the forest. We purchased leech socks before coming here as the leeches are infamous inhabitants of the rainforests in Borneo. You can see a photo of Rob modeling the green leech socks below.

Unfortunately the leech socks did not completely prevent us from coming into contact with leeches and we did get some on our skin a number of times. The leeches are supposed to be completely harmless but we still found them to be pretty creepy honestly. I have no love for the leeches. There are also many insects in the rainforest, so wearing insect repellent was essential.  

After our afternoon trek we had dinner in the dining area at the lodge and then headed out on a night walk in the forest with our guide at around 8:00 pm. Our guide led us through the forest with a torch and pointed out several sleeping birds, a mousedeer, millipedes, and a big lizard. This area is very popular for birding and we saw many beautiful birds that are only found in Borneo. I am not knowledgeable at all about birding so the specialness of some of the sightings was probably a bit lost on me. There was a group of serious birders staying at the lodge with some of the largest camera lenses I have ever seen. 

In the morning we rose at 5:00 am for a sunrise trek in the rainforest. We walked through the forest with our torches until we reached a viewpoint in time to watch the sunrise. The view of the sunrise was not overly special but it was a nice view and really pleasant to be out in nature and hear the sounds of the forest waking up.

After our sunrise trek we enjoyed breakfast at the lodge and then set out on a 2.5 hour trek through the forest to Alibaba Waterfall, which also serves as the source for all the drinking water at the lodge. Along the way we spotted some beautiful birds and also saw lots of elephant poop on the ground. None of it was fresh though. Apparently a large herd of wild pygmy elephants were seen in the area about a week before our arrival. 

When we reached the waterfall, which is pictured at the top of this page, we took off our shoes and the tiny fish in the water nibbled on our feet providing a natural foot spa treatment. It felt wonderful to put our feet in the cool water. The weather was quite hot and humid and we were sweating buckets. The Malaysian guys with us also went for a swim in the water but I was too scared to expose that much of my skin due to the leeches. After walking back to the lodge we enjoyed a nice lunch and then took a nap in our air conditioned room. 

At 4:00 pm we set off for an afternoon forest trek with our guide. We walked for about an hour and a half and tried to spot some of the rare birds our guide could hear along the way. At one point we heard the sound of branches cracking and our guide let us know that it could be the sound of a wild orangutan building a nest. Every night orangutans build a new nest to sleep in by breaking tree branches and piling them up high in a tree. We followed the sounds and sure enough we spotted a young male orangutan swaying in the branches just above us. We could see him quite clearly with his long arms and distinctive face. He saw us as well and did not seem overly happy about our presence. We observed him for about ten minutes and then went along our way to let him continue building his nest in peace. It was such a wonderful surprise and quite thrilling to see an orangutan for the first time in the wild.  

After our afternoon trek we enjoyed dinner at the lodge and then headed out yet again at 8:00 pm for a night game drive. Our guide shone a large spotlight into the forest as we drove about 10 kilometers up and down the road to the lodge in an open air game drive vehicle. We spotted a civet, a giant black flying squirrel, a giant red flying squirrel, an owl, and some sleeping birds. After the night drive we went to sleep exhausted from our long and full day. Sadly that night I found a pretty big mark on my skin that was from a leech. One must have managed to get on me and stay there long enough to leave a mark at some point in the day (probably at the waterfall where I took my shoes and socks off).

On our third day at the lodge we slept in and enjoyed breakfast at around 7:00 am. Then we went on a walk with our guide to look for gibbons. Our guide knew of a spot near the lodge that gibbons sometimes pass through. Bornean gibbons are small tailless apes with grey fur, a black face, and white facial fur that looks like a beard. After sitting and watching and waiting for about an hour two gibbons with a baby appeared swinging around wildly in some trees near us. They dropped from branch to branch falling quite a distance before catching themselves on a lower branch. They were gone almost as quickly as they appeared. They moved so fast I wasn’t even able to capture a photo of them. It was exciting to see them in their natural habitat even though it was brief. Lucky for us the lodge offered laundry service and washed and dried all our sweaty and dirty clothes for a small fee. We enjoyed our last lunch at the lodge before heading back to Lahad Datu where we would spend one more night at Bike and Tours Bed and Breakfast. On the way we saw a group of wild bearded pigs on the road leading away from the lodge.    

Kawag Danum Rainforest Lodge is a great place to visit if you want an authentic Borneo nature experience. You can see wildlife on its own terms and what animals you will spot will be unpredictable. The accommodations are simple but comfortable. The staff was always kind and helpful and made sure we had plenty of food to eat. They offer free water refills and sell refillable water bottles. There is a boardwalk that travels all around the property and a tall observation tower. We spotted long tail macaque monkeys around the property several times. The location is peaceful and all you hear are the sounds of the rainforest day and night. There is no cell service and the only place WIFI is available is at the main dropoff point by the main road. It is a wonderful place to unplug and immerse yourself in nature.