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Four days in eastern Sabah, flying into Sandakan and following the Kinabatangan, Malaysia’s second-longest river, into the forest. Orangutans at Sepilok, sun bears next door, and proboscis monkeys settling into the riverbank trees at dusk.
Trip Experience Guide
A rainforest journey on foot and by small boat, shaped around the animals’ hours. Cruises run at dawn and dusk, and the middle of the day is for rest.
Day 1
Sepilok: Arrival & the Canopy Walk
Fly from Kuala Lumpur or Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan and drive about twenty-five minutes to Sepilok. In the late afternoon climb onto the canopy walkway at the Rainforest Discovery Centre, watching for hornbills as the forest cools.
Day 2
Sepilok & the Kinabatangan: Orangutans & the River
Be on the platform for the 10am feeding at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, then cross to the sun bears next door. Drive on to the Kinabatangan, about two and a half hours, for a first cruise as proboscis monkeys gather at dusk.
Day 3
The Kinabatangan: Dawn Cruise & Oxbow Lake
Leave the jetty at first light, when hornbills cross the river and mist lies low on the water. A second outing reaches a quiet oxbow lake, and after dinner a guided night walk looks for sleeping kingfishers and tree frogs.
Day 4
Gomantong: The Caves & Return
Stop at Gomantong on the road back to Sandakan, a limestone cave where swiftlets nest high on the walls and collectors climb rattan ladders in season. Continue to the airport, about two hours on, for your onward flight.
Wildlife keeps its own hours, and we set the cruises and walks around them and around your energy. Add a day and Turtle Islands Park, about an hour by boat from Sandakan, allows a night watching green turtles nest.
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This trip is a starting point, not a script. Tell us how you like your days to feel, and we will adjust the rest.
Similar Experiences
More Malaysian journeys that keep the afternoons slow, in Penang’s old lanes, among Langkawi’s mangroves and up in the cool tea hills.
Cameron Highlands: Tea Hills & Mossy Forest
Langkawi: Mangrove Creeks & the Andaman Sea
