Borneo: Sabah, Kinabalu Park and the Kinabatangan River

1. Day 1: Arrive in Kota Kinabalu

   Kota Kinabalu International Airport to your hotel in the city

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Kota Kinabalu
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Kota Kinabalu International Airport (BKI), about 8 km from the centre, where a driver meets you for the short ride to your hotel. Kota Kinabalu, known to everyone as KK, is the capital of Sabah, a compact city between the South China Sea and the Crocker Range. Most of it was rebuilt after the Second World War; the white Atkinson Clock Tower of 1905 is one of the few older buildings that survived. If you land early, walk the waterfront and watch the fishing boats come in. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the days ahead: what the river lodge is like, what to wear on forest walks, and how we plan around the best hours for wildlife. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of Sabahan dishes, with grilled fish and local greens, as the sun goes down behind the islands offshore.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (BKI)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

   Activity: Plan to land by about 4 pm to join the briefing; later arrivals are met and briefed the next morning.

2. Day 2: Islands in the morning, the city at dusk

   Kota Kinabalu to Tunku Abdul Rahman Park by boat and back

   • By boat
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Kota Kinabalu
   Day 2 details

   We walk to Jesselton Point after breakfast and take one of the first boats of the day out to Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, a marine park of five islands a short ride off the city. Going early means calmer water and quieter beaches before the midday boats arrive. On Manukan or Sapi, depending on the sea, you can swim, snorkel over the reef with the gear we bring, or walk the short forest path across the island. We are back in the city by early afternoon, when the heat is strongest, and the rest of the afternoon is yours: rest at the hotel or walk Gaya Street and the Filipino handicraft market. Late in the day your guide takes the group up to the Signal Hill viewpoint, past the Atkinson Clock Tower, for the view over the harbour and the islands, then down to the waterfront night market, where you choose your own dinner from the grills.

   Included

   • Return boat to Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, with the park conservation fee
   • Snorkel gear and time on Manukan or Sapi island
   • Late-afternoon walk with your guide: the Atkinson Clock Tower and the Signal Hill viewpoint
   • The waterfront night market with your guide

   Optional experiences

   • Mari Mari Cultural Village (afternoon, booked locally)

   Easier option: Stay on the beach in the shade instead of snorkelling.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Kota Kinabalu; dinner on your own

   Activity: Snorkelling is from the beach in shallow water and depends on the sea; life jackets are available.

3. Day 3: Up into Kinabalu Park

   Kota Kinabalu to Kinabalu Park headquarters, then Kundasang

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kundasang
   Day 3 details

   We leave after breakfast and drive about two hours north-east, climbing out of the coastal plain over the foothills of the Crocker Range. On a clear morning the granite crown of Mount Kinabalu, 4,095 m and the highest peak in Malaysia, shows ahead long before we arrive, so we stop at the roadside stalls of Nabalu for the view and a coffee. Kinabalu Park was listed by UNESCO in 2000 for its plant life, one of the richest in the world, from orchids to pitcher plants. The headquarters sit at about 1,560 m, where the air is cool and often misty. With a park guide we walk the short trails near headquarters, through moss forest and along a stream, looking at plants rather than chasing animals. Lunch is at the park. In the afternoon we drive a few minutes on to Kundasang, a farming town on the mountain's flank, where the evening is free and the night is cool.

   Included

   • Drive from Kota Kinabalu with a stop at the Nabalu viewpoint
   • Kinabalu Park entry and a guided walk on the short trails near headquarters with a park guide
   • Lunch at Kinabalu Park

   Easier option: Stay on the level paths near headquarters and the park garden, with time in the cafe.

   More active option: A longer, steeper forest trail of 3 to 4 hours with the park guide, in place of the short loop.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Kundasang

   Activity: No summit climb: Mount Kinabalu needs a permit and a mountain hut night booked well ahead. Nights at this height are cool, about 13 to 18 C, so bring a warm layer.

4. Day 4: Kinabalu at first light, then east to Sepilok

   Kundasang to Ranau and Telupid, then Sepilok

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Sepilok
   Day 4 details

   Get up for first light: the mountain is clearest early, before cloud gathers around the summit by mid-morning. After breakfast we visit the Kundasang War Memorial, gardens built in 1962 in memory of the Australian and British prisoners who died on the Sandakan death marches of 1945, the story we pick up again in Sandakan. Then comes the longest drive of the trip, about 220 km and four and a half hours of driving east via Ranau and Telupid. There is no shorter way: flying would mean driving two hours back to Kota Kinabalu first, and the total day would be no shorter. We break it with a sit-down lunch near Telupid, about halfway, and short stops as the hills give way to lowland forest and oil palm plantations, which your guide explains honestly. We reach Sepilok by mid-afternoon, with the rest of the day free at the lodge.

   Included

   • Mount Kinabalu at first light from Kundasang
   • Kundasang War Memorial
   • Drive to Sepilok with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch near Telupid

   Optional experiences

   • Guided night walk at the Rainforest Discovery Centre, run by the centre's own guides and booked locally

   Easier option: Stay in the van at the short stops and rest at the lodge on arrival.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Sepilok

   Activity: The one long road day: about four and a half hours of driving, broken by a sit-down lunch and short stops. Drive time is approximate and confirmed with our ground team before departure.

   

5. Day 5: Orangutans, sun bears and the canopy

   Sepilok: the rehabilitation centre, the Sun Bear Centre and the Rainforest Discovery Centre

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Sepilok
   Day 5 details

   The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre was founded in 1964 to return orphaned and rescued orangutans to the forest. The animals here are semi-wild and range freely in the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve, so whether they come to the morning feeding platform depends on them; in fruiting season fewer appear. We are on the boardwalk before the 10 am feeding, then watch the young orangutans in the outdoor nursery from the viewing gallery. Next door, the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre cares for sun bears, the smallest bears in the world, most rescued from captivity; you watch them from walkways above their forest enclosures. Lunch is on your own near the centres, and the hot middle of the day is free. In the last open hours of the afternoon, when birds grow active again, we walk the canopy walkway at the Rainforest Discovery Centre with your guide, looking for hornbills before it closes at 5 pm.

   Included

   • Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre at the morning feeding, with the nursery viewing gallery
   • Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
   • Rainforest Discovery Centre canopy walkway in the last open hours of the afternoon
   • All entry and camera fees

   Optional experiences

   • Return to Sepilok for the afternoon feeding

   Easier option: Skip the canopy walk and rest at your hotel.

   More active option: Go back for the afternoon feeding at Sepilok before the canopy walk.

   Free time: Middle of the day free; lunch on your own

   Activity: Easy walking on boardwalks. Keep quiet at the platforms, use no flash and never approach or feed an orangutan.

6. Day 6: Sandakan, then down to the river

   Sepilok to Sandakan, then the lower Kinabatangan River

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Kinabatangan River
   Day 6 details

   We start at the Sandakan Memorial Park, on the site of the prisoner of war camp from which the death marches to Ranau began in 1945; of about 2,400 prisoners held here, only six survived, all of them escapees. Then into Sandakan, a port that was once the capital of British North Borneo. We visit Agnes Keith House, where the author of Land Below the Wind lived in Sandakan before and after the war, with its view over the bay, then take a short stretch of the heritage trail with tastings of local coffee and snacks, looking out over the stilt houses of Kampung Buli Simsim. After a sit-down lunch we drive about two and a half hours to the lower Kinabatangan, Sabah's longest river, and settle into our riverside lodge for two nights. In the late afternoon we board the boat for the first safari, as proboscis monkeys gather in the riverside trees to sleep; your guide confirms the time on the day, depending on the drive and the light.

   Included

   • Sandakan Memorial Park
   • Agnes Keith House
   • A short stretch of the Sandakan heritage walk with local tastings
   • Sit-down lunch in Sandakan
   • Dusk boat safari on the Kinabatangan River
   • Binoculars on loan for the river days

   Activity: Boats have shade and life jackets. Wildlife is never certain; your guide and boat crew will look for what the river offers that evening.

   

7. Day 7: Dawn and dusk on the Kinabatangan

   A full day at the lodge and on the river

   • By boat
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Kinabatangan River
   Day 7 details

   The boat leaves at about 6 am, when mist still lies on the water and the forest is loudest: gibbons calling, hornbills crossing the river, macaques feeding on the banks. We are back for breakfast as the heat builds. The Lower Kinabatangan is a protected wildlife sanctuary of forest strips and oxbow lakes, squeezed by plantations, so animals concentrate along the river; that is why it is a good place to look, and why we watch from a distance. Late morning there is a short guided walk near the lodge to look at insects, plants and tracks. The middle of the day is free to rest. At about 4 pm we go out again, this time into a narrow side stream where the boat can drift close to the banks. Pygmy elephants move along the river in herds and are seen some weeks and not others. After dinner a lodge guide leads a night walk.

   Included

   • Dawn boat safari
   • Guided walk near the lodge
   • Afternoon boat safari into a side stream
   • Guided night walk with a lodge guide

   Optional experiences

   • Night boat cruise, run by the lodge when the river allows

   Easier option: Skip the late-morning walk and the night walk and rest at the lodge between the two boat trips.

   More active option: Add the night boat cruise after dinner.

   Free time: Middle of the day free at the lodge

   Activity: Leech socks are useful on forest walks after rain. Boat crews keep their distance and cut the engine near animals. From November to February the river can run high or flood; then the lodge keeps to the safest stretches and side streams, and forest walks may be shortened or swapped for extra boat time.

8. Day 8: A last dawn, Gomantong and the flight west

   Kinabatangan River to Gomantong Cave, then Sandakan Airport and a flight to Kota Kinabalu

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Kota Kinabalu
   Day 8 details

   An optional last dawn boat safari for anyone who wants it, then breakfast and a 9 am start. Half an hour from the river is Gomantong, the largest cave system on the lower Kinabatangan. A short boardwalk leads through forest to the Black Cave, a cavern of limestone where swiftlets build the nests that local collectors harvest under licence, and where bats roost high in the roof. It is dark, humid and smells strongly of guano, and the boardwalk can be slippery, so good shoes matter. In the licensed nest-harvest seasons, roughly February to April and July to September, access to the cave can be limited; then we walk the forest boardwalk and visit the visitor centre instead. From there it is about two hours to Sandakan for a sit-down lunch, then a flight of under an hour back to Kota Kinabalu, instead of six or seven hours on the road back west. We book a flight that leaves no earlier than about 4 pm, so the morning is not rushed. The evening ends with a farewell dinner by the sea.

   Included

   • Dawn boat safari (optional to join)
   • Gomantong Cave with a local guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Sandakan
   • Flight from Sandakan (SDK) to Kota Kinabalu (BKI)
   • Farewell dinner

   Easier option: Sleep in instead of the optional dawn boat and join the group at breakfast; wait at the Gomantong visitor area instead of walking into the cave.

   Activity: Inside the cave the boardwalk is wet and the smell is strong; wear closed shoes you do not mind getting dirty. Cave access can be limited during nest harvests; the forest boardwalk and visitor centre are the fallback.

   

9. Day 9: Kota Kinabalu and home

   Kota Kinabalu to Kota Kinabalu International Airport

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 9 details

   The last morning is yours. Have a slow breakfast, then walk the waterfront or, if it is a Sunday, the Gaya Street market, where stalls sell fruit, plants, handicrafts and snacks from early morning until about noon. The Kota Kinabalu City Mosque on its lagoon and the craft stalls near the waterfront are short taxi rides away if you have the time. Your guide will have helped with any last questions the evening before and checked your flight. A driver takes you back to Kota Kinabalu International Airport, about 8 km and 20 minutes from the city, at the time that suits your flight. There are direct flights from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and other regional hubs throughout the day, so any departure time works; if you want more time in Malaysia, ask us about extra nights in Kota Kinabalu or a connection to our Kuala Lumpur and Penang trip.

   Included

   • Drop-off at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (BKI)

   Free time: Free until your airport transfer

   Activity: Any flight time works; the airport is about 20 minutes from the city.

Wildlife and weather: Sabah is hot and humid all year, with showers most afternoons. March to October is drier; from November to February the monsoon brings heavier rain to the east coast and the Kinabatangan can flood. Wildlife sightings are never certain: when forest fruit is plentiful, fewer orangutans come to the Sepilok platform.

• Kota Kinabalu2 nights
• Kundasang1 night
• Sepilok2 nights
• Kinabatangan River2 nights
• Kota Kinabalu1 night