Expert birder Richard takes on Sabah
Dear Karl,
The trip was a success, though my wife found the focus on birding too intense at times. Sabah has an enormous range of places to see: Mt Kinabalu was one of the most beautiful places we have seen anywhere (we have been to 55 countries), and the lodges on Lankayan Island and at Borneo Rainforest Lodge the most beautiful, luxurious and magical we have encountered. All the rather complicated arrangements, such as transfers, worked like clockwork, and everybody was tremendously friendly and helpful, often going that extra mile. Overall the food was the best we have met anywhere.
Chris in KK said you had once had clients who were so dismayed at the newness and modernity of the areas around KK that they demanded an immediate return. Clearly clients should not expect the roads to be lined with half-naked natives aiming blowpipes at them. Even if Sabah is the poor relation of mainland Malaysia, a heap of money has obviously been going in. Things have changed hugely: in the Liwagu Restaurant on Mt K there is an enlarged print of a postage stamp from the 1950s/early1960s, showing The Queen's head, and a view of Mt K with a wooden longboat being paddled across a broad river by two dozen men in loincloths. How evocative! Now of course it's Yamaha engines speeding boats carrying a couple of men in baseball caps and tee shirts.
Rasa Ria was excellent, full of sober Brits and no drunken Russians or Japanese or Koreans ( who currently have the worst reputation in Sabah), which makes a change. There is a guide at the reserve named Bedley who has compiled their bird list. I added a few more and corrected a mistake on the list. He is self-taught, very eager to learn and very helpful. I would give him 6/10.
Hill Lodge on Mt K (which I suggested booking because I had read of it on the internet) was a tad basic: I understand that it is in the third out of four classes of accommodation there. If we go back (and we are tempted) we would stay in a higher class or just outside the park - I believe new hotels are going up. The restaurant just outside was cheap and very good. The Liwagu Restaurant was largely deserted and had a rather limited menu, though it was half the price of Rasa Ria (and twice the price of the restaurant just outside the park). The locals reckon that Sutera Harbour Resorts do a bad job with their franchise.
Alim was a very experienced guide of the old school, having no call/song playback equipment. Whilst we missed most of the headline bird species - and Mt K is notorious for this - he did find a lot of good species. I would give him 7/10. Incidentally we bumped into the "already booked" Andrew Sani, sitting in a car with his wife photographing some bulbuls, at Poring. He does have playback equipment and is reckoned by Alim to be a good guide.
We did a drive to Poring in a successful effort to escape bad weather on Mt K. Poring was jammed with people but nonetheless very pleasant with some wonderful butterflies and some nice birds. In general, though there were times of cloud and rain, they did not interfere much with our plans.
Sepilok had one young Orang Utan; the video is fun. Sepilok Forest Edge Resort was pleasant. The food was reasonable, and the dining area commanded a wide view of a large forest clearing. It looks as though there was once a lake there too, though tropical water plants have invaded it. There is a small, circular pool which was really nice. Annie Chong runs the place which seems in part to cater for adult backpackers. The Rainforest Discovery Centre's canopy walkway is a marvel of engineering, but had hardly any visitors to pay for it . Sadly this was the place where I found fewest birds of note: it's largely a matter of luck, though it might have helped if there had been a guide.
Lankayan Island was superb, and it's not even mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide. The sea view from the room and the food were about the best imaginable.The snorkelling was some of the best we have known.
Then to the Kinabatangan River. Having told our driver at Sandakan that we rather fancied an en route visit to Gomantong caves, we found that, on hearing this, Robert Chong had organised an impromptu tour there for us and some other freshly-arriving guests. Robert Chong is highly impressive. Lean and tall he sounds and looks a bit like Morgan Freeman. He has a tremendous sense of humour. He is an outstandingly knowledgeable and able guide (10/10). He runs KJC with charismatic verve. I do not know what the other lodges/camps on the river are like, but KJC is fairly simple, reasonable food and surrounded by forest trees. The one drawback for us was that the chemical toilet in our bathroom initially leaked (it was then fixed) and did smell rather unpleasantly throughout.
Perhaps the main advantage of KJC and Robert Chong is the length and quality of his boat trips.On one morning we spent nearly 6 hours in the boat on one trip, admittedly interrupted for an hour whilst we sheltered from torrential rain. With several birders in our boats, we were concentrating on birds, but we saw many, many animals as well. His night trip was a delight - owls illuminated by spotlights, a large snake hanging in the canopy overhead. For guests who were not keen birders, he would use different routes to focus more on the animals. Finally, he is active in local efforts to restore the thin strip of riverside forest upon which all the wildlife there depends.
Next to BRL. Fabulous and unbelievable. Many birders have a hugely frustrating time in the Danum Valley, but we did extremely well here. Sylvester was our guide and was invaluable. He had playback equipment on an MP3 which he used successfully several times. The vast majority of his identifications were correct: I had doubts about a very few. I would give him 9/10. There was lots else; the white gecko camouflaged against the white bark of a tree, the large jumping spider, a group of Red Leaf Monkeys with a blonde one amongst them. Do blonde monkeys have more fun?
And so back to Rasa Ria.
So we liked Sabah, and might be tempted to return. Next year we are thinking of going to Japan (which I believe you do not cover). But if we were to return to Sabah/Sarawak, what other lodges/places/hideaways do you know of that might appeal to us? What is there on Sipadan?
Many thanks again for your impeccable efficiency and calmness in the face of demanding, last-minute clients!
Best wishes,