Malaysia 's Borneo , one of the most exciting destinations on earth for the natural history enthusiast, conjures up an image of dense jungles and a wide array of strange and little-known creatures. We can assure you that, with its combination of superb forests, incredible flora and fauna, and friendly people, you will not be disappointed. It is truly exciting!

Quest President Barry Griffiths and Geoff Carpentier visited Borneo in October, 2007 to review the itinerary initially proposed to us by our Malaysian operator. As a result, they made some changes in the hotels and sequencing of the tour, all of which will improve the overall quality of the program. Both were extremely impressed with the tourist infrastructure that exists in Borneo and the marvelous wildlife encounters that occurred. They highly recommend it as an incredibly unique and memorable natural history experience.

Itinerary

(B – Breakfast, L – Lunch, D – Dinner)

Day 1 Wed. Sept 24
Depart North America
Today we will leave North America for our overnight flights to Hong Kong.  Please note that the flights will be finalized shortly with the possibility of some changes taking place in the timing of the connecting flight.
(Airline Meals)

 Day 2 Thurs. Sept 25
Hong Kong / Kota Kinabalu
On arrival at the Hong Kong airport, we’ll connect with our flight to Kota Kinabalu. We’ll then continue on to the capital of Sabah, Malaysia where we’ll be met and driven to our resort hotel.
o/n Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru Resort (D)

Days 3 – 4 Fri. Sept 26 – Sat. Sept 27
Kinabalu National Park (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
After being picked up from the hotel, we’ll drive 2 hours overland through paddy fields and Dusun villages, over the ridges of the Crocker Range, to the foothills of Mt. Kinabalu. This mountain, at an elevation of 4,095 m, is a magnificent granite massif which is the highest peak between the Himalayas and the Snow Mountains of New Guinea. It dominates the landscape of lowland rainforest and cultivated areas.
When we reach the Kinabalu Park World Heritage Site, we’ll visit the Education Centre and Mountain Garden, home to various species of the flowering rhododendrons, ferns, oak trees and birds. Orchids are very plentiful, as are carnivorous pitcher plants whose pitcher is filled with sweet nectar that both attracts and digests insects. In addition, there are many endemic montane bird species found here including Mountain Serpent-Eagle, Hair-crested Drongos and Bornean Whistler.  Although not easily seen, the park harbors a number of interesting mammals including the Malay Weasel and Whitehead’s Pygmy-Squirrel.  The temperature at the park is expected to be around 14 - 25° C but, as in all mountainous areas, can chill off quickly.

During our time here, we will have a number of nature-oriented activities where we can walk on the jungle trails and enjoy the cool fresh mountain air.
o/n  Celyn Resort or similar  (B, L, D)

Day 5 Sun. Sept 28
Kinabalu Park / Poring Hot Spring
After breakfast, we’ll continue our overland journey east to Poring Hot Springs, 500m above sea level. Here, near the foot of the mountain, the vegetation is tropical lowland rainforest and harbours a good range of birds including Maroon Woodpecker and Moustached Babbler. We’ll explore the jungle trail leading up to the treetop canopy walkways, suspended 41 meters above the forest floor and also visit the Kipungit Waterfall and perhaps soak in the hot sulphur pools. There will also be a visit to Kundasang War Memorial and Gardens. This memorial commemorates the 2,428 Australian and British prisoners of war who died during WW II at the Sandakan POW Camp and on the infamous death marches from Sandakan to Renau. Only six Australian POW's survived the atrocities inflicted on them by their Japanese captors. In the afternoon, we will return to our hotel in Kota Kinabalu.
o/n Shangri-la’s Tanjung Aru Resort (B, L, D)

Day 6 Mon. Sept 29
Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre
After breakfast, we will be driven to the airport for our 40 minute Malaysian Airlines flight to Sandakan.
We will be met at the airport and driven to Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre for a video show that highlights Sepilok’s important role as one of the centres dedicated to rehabilitating orphaned Orang Utans. There is a quarantine centre and a 'kindergarten' where young Orang Utans are 'shown the ropes' by human trainers. When they graduate, they are released to an area of forest where they are fed twice a day. This feeding area is open to the public.

After the video, we'll then take a ten minute walk, through the rainforest, to witness the feeding of the Orang Utans from an open viewing deck.  When the keepers bring food to the feeding platform, set up about 7m above the ground, the Orang Utans come to the platform by swinging along a number of ropes that are attached to neighbouring trees. This feeding time usually lasts for about 1 hour and is certain to be one of the highlights of our trip to Borneo.

We’ll then go to the Sandakan jetty for a boat journey, along Sabah's longest river, Kinabatangan, to Sukau Rainforest Lodge. This is an exciting opportunity to view birds and wildlife in virgin mangrove, wetland and rainforest habitats. During our recent scouting trip, we observed egrets, bitterns, kingsishers, langurs, macaques, Proboscis Monkeys and Orang Utans as we went upriver.

In the late afternoon, after checking into our rooms, we’ll take another river cruise, using a very quiet electric motor, in search of some of the 10 primate species found here, including Proboscis Monkeys as they settle down for the night on treetops along the Kinabatangan River. We’ll return to the lodge for a solar heated hot shower, a candle light dinner and slide show conducted by a naturalist guide.
o/n Sukau Rainforest Lodge ( or similar) (B, L, D)

Day 7 Tues. Sept 30
Menanggol River / Ox-bow Lake
We’ll wake up to the raucous calls of gibbons and hornbills and then take an early morning river cruise on the Menanggol River, which fringes the Kinabatangan River, to view more birds and wildlife. The evenings and early mornings can be a magical time for viewing wildlife.  If the weather cooperates, we’ll carry on to an Ox-bow Lake that literally teems with bird life.  We hope to see Stork-billed Kingfisher, Storm’s Stork, Oriental Darter and Gray-headed Fish-Eagles around the lake and the huge Great Slaty Woodpecker and several barbets and blue flycatchers as we walk along rainforest trails to experience more of Borneo’s wilderness.

We will also have the option of participating in the Kinabatangan Wildlife Corridor Regeneration Programme (KWICORP) and planting trees in this 64 acre tract of land. In the afternoon, we will again have another wildlife river cruise and, after dinner, there will be a night safari cruise to try and spot nocturnal mammals, crocodiles and birds.
o/n Sukau Rainforest Lodge (or similar) (B, L, D)

Day 8 Wed. Oct 1
Gomantong Caves / Darun Valley
Today we will leave the Kinabatangan River area and drive overland to the well-known Gomantong Caves. We'll walk a beautiful rainforest trail to the cave entrance and then observe how this huge cave system, in a limestone outcrop, supports enormous numbers of bats and swiftlets.

After leaving the cave reserve, we’ll drive to Lahad Datu for lunch. In the afternoon, we’ll make our way, through selectively logged forest, cocoa and softwood plantations on our way to the Borneo Rainforest Lodge.
The main lodge, surrounded by one of the last remaining reserves of lowland rainforest with immense trees and vines of every shade of green imaginable, is located beside the Danum River. It is said to have the world's most complex ecosystem.

The open-air dining room provides a wonderful place to watch the forest, much like one would watch ocean waves, or a crackling fire. Every so often, we will see the tree branches swaying wildly as a band of Red-leaf Monkeys, Long-tailed Macaques or Bornean Gibbons move through the canopy.
So far over 300 species of birds have been recorded in the area. On arrival at the lodge, we'll walk along the road at the edge of the rainforest. On our scouting trip, we were lucky to see both the endemic Garnet Pitta and the Blue-headed Pitta on this walk. In the evening there will be an introductory a slide show and, if weather permits, we may go spotlighting to view some of the nocturnal animals.
o/n Borneo Rainforest Lodge (B, L, D)

Days 9 – 11 Thurs. Oct 2 – Sat. Oct 4
Danum Valley Conservation Area
During our three full days in the Danum Valley Conservation Area, we will be able to explore this untouched lowland rainforest through its fine network of trails and canopy walks. The rainforest is rich in mammals and, during our day and evening trail walks, we will be on the lookout for Red-leaf Monkey, Pygmy Elephant, Prevost Squirrel, Lesser Mouse Deer and possibly Orang Utan.

 There is an amazing variety of birds to be seen here including the world’s largest pheasant the Great Argus Pheasant, and a host of woodpeckers, hornbills, trogons, cuckoos, fantails and endemics such as the bizarre Bornean Bristlehead and the Bornean Ground-Cuckoo.                
o/n Borneo Rainforest Lodge (B, L, D)

Day 12 Sun Oct 5
Danum Valley / Semporna / Mabul Island
After leaving the lush rainforest of Danum Valley, we will drive to the coastal town of Semporna, on the east coast of Sabah. We will board a boat for the one hour boat ride to the beautiful coral island of Mabul.  This will be a relaxing time for us as we swim and snorkel in the warm waters of this delightful island.
o/n MabulIsland (B, L, D)

Day 13 Mon Oct 6
Sipadan Island / Kota Kinabalu
We hope to make an early morning visit to the delightful island of Sipidan. We will be looking for some birds that we are unlikely to encounter anywhere else and also, for those who wish, the opportunity to swim and snorkel on one of the most spectacular reefs in the world.

*Note:  Our visit to Sipidan will be subject to us getting the appropriate visit permit – this cannot be arranged until two days prior to the our arrival on MabulIsland.  If we cannot obtain the appropriate permit, alternate activities on Mabul will be arranged.

We'll have lunch at Mabul Island before taking our boat back to Semporna, and our flights to Kota Kinabalu.  We’ll stay at the same resort hotel as before.
o/n Shangri-La's Tanjung Resort (B, L, D)

Day 14 Tues Oct 7
Kota Kinabalu / Hong Kong / Home
Our tour will conclude today as we are transferred to the Kota Kinabalu International Airport for our flight to Hong Kong. (B)

Please Note:
Although every effort will be made to adhere to the itinerary within the limits of weather, safety and time constraints, it is possible that some changes to the itinerary and certain planned shore excursions may occasionally occur.