NightingTales: Exploring Borneo

Exploring Borneo - Blog by Matt

In 2025, I was lucky enough to be invited to a wedding in Australia and suddenly realised the opportunity to visit somewhere en route which has long been on my bucket list - the island of Borneo. Known primarily for its healthy and sustainable Orangutan population, Borneo is a must see wildlife destination which houses some of the world’s oldest rainforests, vast rivers, amazing people, and sublime fauna and flora.

After a quick night in a convenient Kuala Lumpur Airport hotel (which surprisingly had some of the best satay we had on the whole trip!), we hopped over to Sandakan, the gateway to many of Borneo’s wilderness areas. Albeit our itinerary in Borneo was quite a “classic route”, I absolutely adored my time in the rainforests of the island. From the moment we arrived at MY Nature Resort, close to the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary, I was awed by the amount of bird life, beautiful forests, and the warm welcome from everyone we encountered.

The Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary is an interesting experience - while I wouldn’t say it is a “must-do”, I enjoyed the visit there, made all the more worthwhile by our incredible private guide, Leo. It was a busy experience, with lots of people watching the orphaned and rehabilitated orangutans feed from behind glass or on platforms, but it was still amazing to see a new species of great ape and walk through some primary rainforests around the sanctuary. Given Sepilok is a convenient stop over to break up the journey “into the wild”, I wouldn’t count it out. A true highlight of the entire trip came for me at MY Nature Resort, standing on one of the raised viewing platforms viewing the Giant Flying Squirrels gliding through the canopy above.

Cruising the Kinabatangan River

Borneo is known as quite a rustic place for travellers, as there just isn’t the inventory of luxury rainforest lodges which other wildlife destinations enjoy. That being said, for those truly keen wildlife enthusiasts, families, or birders, it is still truly incredible and I wouldn’t let the more basic accommodation put you off. There is one, more well known property, in the Danum Valley area called Borneo Rainforest Lodge which is definitely more on the 5* end of the scale, and a lot of our itineraries are based around trying to get space here!

On this trip however, I set off from Sepilok into the vast Kinabatangan River, a stunning rainforest area just a 90 minute boat ride from Sandakan. Local communities still inhabit the river which gives a really interesting perspective of human-wildlife interaction and what it is like to live in remote areas such as this. We split our stay between Abai Jungle Lodge and Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge - both deep in the heart of the forest, but offering different wildlife experiences and places to explore.

At Abai, we cruised through mangrove forests, went on night walks in the forests, and enjoyed a really unique wildlife experience. The birding here was some of the best I have come across anywhere in the world, and we were treated with views of interesting animals such as a Palm Civet, Slow Loris, Proboscis monkeys, crocodiles, and multiple other primate species. The highlight, of course, after two days of searching was a mother and baby orangutan feeding next to the river on a quiet oxbow lake - to date, this is still one of my most special wildlife experiences.

My first wild Orangutan sighting

Further up the Kinabatangan, we explored tributaries of the main river which offered spectacular monkey sightings and birding. We were looking for the renowned Asian Pygmy Elephants, but they had apparently retreated deep into the forest and we missed them on this occasion (an excuse to return!).

I cannot express enough how important our guide, Leo, was to the whole experience. Having a private boat and guide absolutely made the entire trip - his local knowledge, his keen eyes and his encyclopedic knowledge of the wildlife surpassed my expectations of a safari in Borneo. Leo regaled us of tales of seeing the truly rare species of Borneo like Clouded Leopards and Marbled Cats, and went above and beyond to help me (an avid birder) tick off key species - often accompanying us on very late night forest walks to try and achieve this (a huge thank you for his spotting of a Buffy Fish Owl and Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher on the same walk!!).

The Dream Team - our skipper Kimmy, our guide Leo, and Immy my fearless travel companion and better half

The great thing about Borneo is that it allows for a bit of adventure and authentic wildlife viewing in the wilderness areas, and then you can head over to more luxurious properties in the rest of Malaysia/Asia for some culture, great food, or relaxing beach time. For example, the

is one of South East Asia’s premier beach resorts and one of our all time favourites - it's an excellent combination with the wilder areas of Borneo. 

Malaysia has something for every type of traveller and in my opinion should be on everyone’s bucket list. Rustic is not necessarily bad, and it is 100% worth it to experience the wildlife and some of the world's oldest and most beautiful rainforests.

Sunset on the Kinabatangan