Around the World: Borneo

 For wildlife enthusiasts, Borneo should absolutely be on their travel wish list. It is an exciting destination for the adventurous who enjoy the outdoors, eco lodges and seeing animals in their natural habitats. Many tourists come for the sun bears, hornbills, kingfishers, monitor lizards, proboscis monkeys, elephants and of course, the orangutans. Orangutans can only be found in the wild in Borneo and Sumatra, which is the main reason for many of the visitors who travel here. Orangutan is translated as “person of the forest” and it is truly special to watch them up close and see the many similarities that they have with us humans.

We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to visit this fascinating country, which is still relatively off the radar for many American tourists even though it is the world’s third largest Island. It really is somewhere unique and special.

We began our Borneo itinerary in Sandakan where we spent one night at the Four Points Sheraton before heading out on a 2.5 hour boat journey to Sukau Rainforest Lodge the following day. Sandakan would not necessarily be a destination that I would recommend. For many, it simply provides an entry point into the country and also an opportunity to visit Sepilok, the Orangutan rehabilitation center and Sun Bear conservatory there. These centers felt much more like a zoo to us and did not compare to seeing the animals in the wild at our eco lodge. You can definitely see orangutans at the rehabilitation center, which is worth something if you are also interested in learning more about the rehab efforts. They are not contained in the same way they would be in the States, which does make it more unique as well. To us, it just had the feel of a large touristic site or zoo with the many buses rolling in and the overall set up.

We traveled by bus on a small group tour to the rehabilitation center and to the rainforest lodge. Our guide was very kind and knowledgeable but the set up was not suited for families with young children. There were many wildlife enthusiasts who wanted to hear about the animals and watch in silence. Our kids at 2 and 4 years old are neither silent nor patient, much as we may wish them to be. Families with toddlers or very young children are better off either skipping this or going with a private guide on their own.

The Sukau Rainforest Lodge is part of National Geographic’s Unique Lodges of the world. Their newly renovated rooms are nice and it was an entirely different experience for our family. It was comfortable but not luxurious compared to the usual hotels and resorts we deal with. It was great for the location and for the experience. We loved seeing the wildlife and had been looking forward to a new experience of staying in an eco lodge.

A stay at the Rainforest Lodge includes a morning and evening river boat cruise to spot wildlife. We took turns going and on my outing we saw Orangutan, elephant, monkeys and more.

We stayed at the rainforest lodge for two nights, which was enough for us. They had a pool but given that most guests wanted to relax, read, and listen to lectures in between the morning and evening two-hour river cruises, I would not recommend it for kids under at least 6 years. We took James one morning on one of the river cruises which he enjoyed for most of the time but by the end of two hours, he was certainly ready to get off.  Honestly, it was stressful for us to have two energetic kids in such a quiet environment that was rather restrictive on space. The staff was of course kind and accommodating, but we certainly didn’t fit in well. I guess it should be no surprise that given our long journey, we would encounter this type of experience at least once. If you do go, make sure to bring lots of bug spray as we were constantly being bit by mosquitos! After a bit of research, we learned that mosquitoes tend to favor a certain blood type, which means I must have this type along with James and Julia.

It was a 2.5 hour boat ride back to Sandakan in time for our very short flight to Kota Kinabalu. We were met upon arrival and could see immediately that Kota Kinabalu was a much larger, more developed and overall nicer city. We had a private car with snacks and water bring us to the jetty where we could check in for our stay at Bungaraya. We had little to no wait time before we boarded the boat to the resort. It was nice to be on the water and the short ride was welcomed by all of us. It certainly felt luxurious after our past three nights.

We were greeted at Bungaraya with smiles and taken by buggy to our villa. We booked the two-bedroom villa and were thrilled to have so much space, especially after three nights in cramped quarters! James slept in his own room next to ours and we put Julia in a crib in our room, which had plenty of space. The rooms were modern, spacious and very comfortable. It started to pour rain but we didn’t mind, as it felt good to spread out in the room and actually spend a bit of time indoors. Having traveled over 50 days at this point, it felt really great to have space and an open agenda.

We spent the next few days hanging out in our room, playing in the pool, kayaking, walking the beach and exploring the resort, which had been described appropriately as where the rainforest meets the sea. I was able to get in a few work out sessions at the gym which felt amazing! I haven’t been able to work out as often as I like during our travels and I miss it. It is really important to take care of the mind, body and soul which can be a real struggle when traveling with the family!

The resort holds a wine spectator award, which was impressive, as we have hardly come across much wine in our travels across Indonesia and Malaysia. We were given a tour of the wine cellar and the fabulous General Manager filled us in on how it came to be.

James and John experienced the canopy walk and zip line one day and had a great time. It was fun to see how brave James was to go with one of the guides so easily.

The resort is home to a variety of wildlife such as bearded wild boars, monitor lizards, hornbills and monkeys. Most mornings and evenings we would have fun watching the bearded wild boars and monkeys search for food.

On our last day we took a boat ride to the sister resort called Gayana to visit their Marine Ecology Resource Center. We watched a 15-minute video explaining the center and spent some time with one of the marine biologists learning about the starfish, sea cucumbers, and other creatures in the touch tank. She also spent a bit of time explaining their efforts to conserve the giant clams. We were able to have the kids help to restore a piece of coral which provided a bit of hands on learning.

From Bungaraya we were taken by boat back to the mainland to spend the night at the Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu. The staff was incredibly friendly and accommodating. We have truly enjoyed the people we met in Borneo and are grateful for their kindness.

In the afternoon we went to a nearby mall to pick up new shoes for the kids and some other supplies. It was very western in feel and we found the kids their new shoes at a New Balance store. We fed the kids some lunch at KFC, which we normally do not do, but after months away, it really was nice to experience a bit of what we would find at home. There was a play area in the mall and our kids happily spent time on the slides while we giggled at how grateful we were to be in a mall of all places. We did not see any other westerners while we were there and our blonde kids were given a lot of attention. They are a bit used to it by now but again they were asked for photographs and high fives.

Luckily for us the hotel that evening was having a large buffet dinner for hundreds of people celebrating the breaking of fast for Ramadan. The management at the hotel squeezed us in and we were able to experience something truly special.

We are grateful to have had the opportunity to visit this island and we have many tips to share should any of our clients wish to journey this way! It is one of those destinations in which we would highly advise you have an expert to help in your planning.

The fantastic pool at Bungaraya Island Resort

Helpful Tips:

1. Use an expert to book your stay as you will need the inside advice!

2. We recommend visiting Borneo's Eco Lodges once kids are at least 6 years old.

3. Bring lots of mosquito spray and long clothing!