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Danum Valley - Where Gibbons Dare
While
stepping out of the car, I heard the familiar sound of branches breaking
above me. It was an orang utan making its bed for the evening.
Bornean gibbon (Hylobates muelleri) - jungle acrobat up close
A full grown samba deer had jumped across my path on the way in and I had already encountered two animals of the rainforest. Was this an indication of the wildlife I was going to encounter? In short yes, and all this at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge in the heart of Danum Valley conservation area, Sabah.
After over two hours driving off road in torrential rains, we finally pulled up to a dimly lighted track caused by the heavy foliage overhead. It opened to a clearing where the main reception building of the Borneo Rainforest Lodge was. It was past four in the afternoon but the thick heavy clouds and the easterly position of the Danum Valley saw that it was almost dusk.
When researchers first entered Danum Valley about twenty five years ago they labelled this area the ‘lost world’ as exotic flora and fauna was found here. It is a contained area being surrounded by a mountain range that acts as a natural divider from the surrounding areas. Scientists, special interest groups, universities, and schools have been conducting research and studies and many NGOs have been carried out activities in this forest that is untouched since time began.
Being a bit of a nature freak, I had wanted to hit the many trails to discover the surroundings of the lodge. But I found the immaculate chalet a bit hard to resist. The well laid out bathroom, a tub in the front veranda looking towards a river and the rainforest, and a nice big comfortable bed was inviting to sit and relax a while.
The Borneo Rainforest Lodge nestled in the heart of nature
There was no power hungry air-conditioning in the room, the ceiling and the extractor fan was more than sufficient to cool, and more important take the humidity out from the room. Hot water was provided by solar power, from the previous day’s sunshine. I had a hard time adjusting to luxury right here in the lap of nature.
I went out for an evening walk with Calixsus the lodge’s operations manager whom I met some 400km before, and we were already friends at this point mixing casual chat with factual observations and interpretation of the environment. We often stopped on our trek to peek into the rainforest with our ‘binos’.
Binoculars are a must to take a closer look at everything in the forest. A magnifying ratio of 8X, with 8.2 degree wide angle would be sufficient. Waterproof binos are better to combat the rains and fog. Many can be found in duty free shop at the airport. Cheap ones can also be found at the China import stores such as 20Sen.
Another important item to have are leech proof socks. You could get those at the gift store at the lodge or wear pantyhose. Leeches are indicative of the wildlife in the area and Danum certainly has an above average wildlife population. The Borneo Rainforest Lodge have a ‘blood donors’ certificate for all who have given blood either voluntarily or involuntarily to these inhabitants of the rainforest. I more than qualified for the cert as I had four leech bites.
After
dinner, a night safari drive was organised and it was relaxing to sit in the
back of an open truck in the cool night air. The guide had a strong handheld
lamp to scan and peek into the darkness of the forest. A mouse deer, the
smallest of the Bornean deer species was first spotted. Then up in the tree was
a flying lemur licking tree sap for minerals, a little later a civet cat on the
prowl for the nigh feed. There was a badger that had a flat furry tail with an
inquisitive face and we saw two different species of owls, and both had heads
that could rotate for a 360 view around its body.
There were a few birds that were asleep in the foliage and were prime targets for carnivores like the civet cat and snakes. Eighty percent of the fauna found in the rainforest are nocturnal and going on a night drive is a must for all visitors. The spotter plays a big part on this night drive as they have the trained eyes to seek out things that lurk in the dark.
There were a few famous inhabitants at
Danum that I had not met. First is the Bornean pygmy elephant. I only
saw their faeces on the roads. Scientists have proven that they are a
sub species and are not the ones left by pioneer loggers. The Sumatran
rhino lurks around this area but they can only be caught by camera
traps. These are some of the largest mammals found in Borneo.
The canopy walkway perfect for studying the forest at eye level
The following morning, we went on a pre breakfast nature walk that included going past a few streams and up and on the 550 meters canopy walkway. Since it had been raining the day before, there was not much happening in the cold, foggy and damp morning. Our bino sessions on the canopy walk was more focused on tress and plants in the canopy- the domain of birds and a host of orchids and also on animal foot prints below.
After a sumptuous five star breakfast, I sat back and relaxed to drink my third cup of coffee and then I saw movements in the tree tops. There was a bunch of maroon macaque feeding less than 50 meters away. A tailless monkey caught my eye- a Bornean gibbon! It was my first sighting of a wild Gibbon. Gibbons are very shy and are not often seen this close to humans. We were informed that through the years these gibbons have become more used to humans presence and were no longer shy.
Our next trek was up to Coffin Cliff. This is adeptly named as the Dusun natives who used to live here buried their dead in iron wood coffins and placed them in the limestone crevices on the rock face. We saw a coffin belonging to a past chief with a blowpipe in it. Calix told us that the Dusuns lived here some three hundred years ago and has moved on downriver to populate current towns.
Above the Coffin Cliff was a look out point where a green pigeon was still asleep and waiting for the day to heat up. As the day got progressively warmer, we could hear the forest waking up with gibbon, hornbill and other animal calls. The look out point is also a fantastic place to watch birds fly by.
If
you afraid of leeches, then get a pair of the these socks from the gift
shop at Borneo Rainforest Lodge.
It was a family of rhinoceros hornbills with their young which was learning to fly around the jungle. There was mother bird who was feeding baby that had just left the nest with the father bird close by, flying ahead and calling out to the others to follow
Just
when the excitement of overlooking an untouched rainforest subsided, we heard
loud swishing noise above followed by an even louder throaty nasal bird call.
Whiskered Tree Swift, male (Hemiprocne comata) unlike other swift, it can perch on a branch.
We spent an hour up at the look out point and headed back down for lunch, followed by an afternoon rest. More trails and treks that evening, and after dinner we went animal spotting on foot armed with weaker torch lights. On this trek we encountered many insects and frogs. In all I counted about thirty species of mammals and birds and uncountable insects at Danum.
People travelling into Danum may encounter a contradiction when they meet fully loaded timber trucks. We need to remember that the Danum conservation area is within a timber concession and the extraction of timber is very carefully carried out under strict guidelines. I was told that the concession was issued in 1992 and will expire next year.
Harlequin Tree Frog (Rhacophorus pardalis) a gliding frog in the trees at Danum
Danum also enjoys a lot of international support. The FACE Foundation programme is implemented in a good number of areas. It’s a programme where large corporations sponsor the conservation of ‘Forest Absorbing Carbon dioxide Emission’. We were told that IKEA was among the many companies that have done its bit for oxygen production.
The popularity of Danum is also increased by the many research carried out here. I had the chance of meeting some researchers from the University of Surrey who were carrying out a study on jungle cats and were planting camera traps.
When a video trap caught a clip of the rare juvenile Sumatran rhino, it became a news flash and was carried all round the world. This made NGOs like WWF and other groups propagate the news and helped put Sabah on the world’s conservation map.
The university network is another way that has enhance tourism as the ‘word gets out’ that certain wildlife exist in this area and students and enthusiasts alike would come over to visit the destination.
Sabah has been very successful at conservation because it makes financial sense among many other things. Danum is only one of the many areas and success stories. The title of ‘lost world’ now belongs to Maliau where a good number of endemic species of flora and fauna are found. Besides that Sabah has Kinabantangan, Deramacot and the famed Mt. Kinabalu- a world heritage site. Then there’s Sepilok Orang Utan sanctuary and there are also marine conservation areas like Tunku Abdul Rahman and Simpadan Marine Parks.
Thinking of a visit to Sabah? By all means, it’s a destination that has everything from the mountains to the seas, from a relaxed sit on the beach to active and perhaps extreme activities like white water and mountain running. Make a date with Sabah and you can begin at www.sabahtourism.com.
Trips to Borneo Rainforest Lodge at Danum Valley costs about RM 1,500 for a 3D/2N stay all inclusive but not inclusive of flights tickets. Please inquire with us by sending an email.
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pictures copyrighted©2007 Outdoor Treks
(756321-X). Updated
Aug 2007