Our first proper destination in Borneo was Danum Valley, a rainforest in Sabah (Malaysia, North-East Borneo). We had hikes organised for us in the jungle, which we wore special ‘gaiters’ (leech socks) for.
A leech did get me once, but it didn’t hurt, just left a big mark after I wrenched it off. It was very hot, but bearable because the huge trees provided shade. In the evenings the eerie sound of cicadas throbbed round our ears, echoing far around the forest.
Fish under water, Danum Valley. We had climbed high up a steep hill in the rainforest to an ancestral place of burial for the local people, panting and sweating all the way. We were rewarded on the journey down by stopping to swim in a pool beneath a waterfall inhabited by these fish.
As soon as you stuck any part of your body in the water, the fish were upon you nibbling away with rather sharp teeth. They were a lot bigger than the fish used for foot massages in spas!
On the final day we left the rainforest, we were excited to spot a small herd of pygmy elephants. As we watched from the car this mother and calf quickly headed into the dense trees.
Our next destination was the village of Bilit, along the Kinabatangan river. Our hotel ran a morning and evening boat trip to see the wildlife along the river – here we saw orang-utans, long-tailed macaque monkeys, pig tailed macaques, proboscis monkeys and silver languor monkeys.
Lots of birds too – rhinoceros hornbill, pied hornbill, oriental garter, blue-eared kingfisher, fish eagle, crested serpent eagle, storm stork and purple heron.
The monkeys in particular were hard to photograph as they were shy and high up in the trees. I like this photo of a sleeping monitor lizard – it looks so comfy, doesn’t it?
Hotels in Borneo tend to have open air restaurants, so that you can eat and watch the wildlife around you. The night time revealed huge beetles, moths and butterflies drawn to the lights. In turn predators were attracted to the flapping insects – bats whooshed past, lizards darted and this huge spider cast a wide net.
Very successfully, judging by the size of it! Although its underside is white, its front had dramatic yellow and black markings.
Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Beasts of Borneo
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