In the event you select to journey to Malaysia, you may need to put a ‘see orangutans in Borneo’ notice on the highest of your itinerary. And in case you are a traveller who counts every penny and also you count on it’s going to be an affordable deal in Borneo, as in lots of different Southeast Asia international locations, then you definately is perhaps shocked by the costs you’ll discover right here to pay for actions that embody seeing orangutans.
To get a greater image, a fundamental 2-day, 1-night package deal booked by means of a journey company will often embody a go to to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Middle, the drive to Sukau (the place you keep in a single day, the beginning of a river cruise or a jungle trek), a 3-hour boat journey on the Kinabatangan River within the early afternoon and one later within the night.
The subsequent day you go for an additional 2.5-hour boat journey on the way in which again to Sandakan. Add some meals in the course of the journey and also you’ll pay MYR 1092/$343 per individual (excluding the doorway charge (MYR 30/$9) and a digicam charge (MYR 10/$3) at Sepilok).
Now if there are two of you and also you’d pay double, i.e. $686, that will be one flight ticket from Asia to Europe, or three months hire in Chiang Mai in Thailand. And that’s just one full day of actions, in case you think about that you simply want solely about 6 hours for the switch to and from every place.
See orangutans in Borneo independently and get monetary savings
However what if we instructed you that you could possibly spend lower than one third per individual if you do all of these actions independently? Completely! You may see wild orangutans by your self and go for a river cruise in Kinabatangan with out reserving overpriced excursions.
How are you going to do it? The brief reply: use native transportation, purchase your personal meals and privately contact a lodge the place you need to keep in a single day.
So, how a lot are you going to spend in whole in case you determine to see orangutans in Borneo and wildlife alongside the Kinabatangan River independently?
Be a part of a number of the excursions in Borneo:
That is what we spent:
Transport Sandakan-Sepilok-Sandakan: MYR 10/$3
Entrance to Sepilok: MYR 30/$9
Digicam charge: MYR 10/$3
Transport Sandakan-Sukau-Sandakan: MYR 80/$25
One river cruise: MYR 50 /$16
Morning Jungle Trekking: MYR 15/$4.70
Twin mattress room: MYR 75/$23
Our personal meals: MYR 26/$8
Complete: MYR 296/$93/per individual
Saved: MYR 796/$184/per individual
We went just for one river cruise since we had been already on a day cruise in Kota Kinabalu, the place we additionally did a brief night time cruise to see fireflies. Actually, when you do a two-hour river cruise in the course of the day, you’ll see sufficient to be glad together with your journey to the Kinabatangan River. And even in case you like to watch wildlife close to the river and also you determine to pay for an additional cruise, you’ll solely add MYR 50/$11 for a day cruise and MYR 60/$14 for an evening one.
In case you aren’t excited about visiting Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary close to Sandakan, which we advocate visiting anyway, you are able to do a 2-day, 1-night journey to Sukau, go for 2 river cruises (day and night time) or one river cruise and one jungle trek. In the event you do it independently, you’ll pay MYR 246/$77.
In the event you nonetheless want extra consolation when organizing a day within the wild for your self, an alternative choice that’s cheaper than a tour operator, however nonetheless dearer in case you go your personal manner is to rearrange a tour at your guesthouse in Sandakan.
The one we stayed in provided a 2D1N journey to Sukau (with out Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary) for MYR 360/$113/pax.
Some journey businesses go actually excessive with the costs and you’ll pay for a one-day journey to Sepilok Middle and an hour-long boat journey on Kinabatangan in common MYR 792/$248.
In case you want to ebook a 3-day, 2-night journey, get able to put MYR 1,522/ $ 478 on the desk.
Be a part of one of many native excursions in Malaysia:
The right way to get to Sepilok from Kota Kinabalu
Though tour operators encourage their shoppers to take a flight from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan the place they decide you up, to journey by bus is an effective choice, too. It’s very snug with A/C, and less expensive. Plus, planet Earth will say an enormous “thanks!” for travelling overland. You’ll need to take a bus from Kota Kinabalu (bus station on Jalan Padang road close to lodge Shangri-la) to the long-distance bus terminal in Inanam.
A one-way ticket prices MYR 1.50/$0.47 and it takes about quarter-hour to get to Inanam. Native buses in Asia depart when they’re full, so be prepared to attend 20 minutes for a bus.
From Inanam bus terminal you’ll take a bus to Sandakan. The route prices MYR 43/$13.50 and takes about six hours. In case you’re vulnerable to movement illness, get your tablet prepared. You’ll want it.
From Sandakan, you’ll take the bus #14 from the principle Bus Terminal in entrance of Nak Lodge. The ticket prices MYR 5/$1.16 and it takes about an hour to reach on the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilition Middle. The final bus from the sanctuary again to Sandakan leaves at 4pm, so ensure you catch it.
The middle is open day by day from 9am-12pm & 2pm-4pm. On Friday it’s open from 9am-11am & 2pm-4pm.
Plan your journey to Asia:
The right way to get to Sukau from Sandakan
Take a neighborhood bus from Genting Mas Grocery store on the Jalan Pryer road. A one-way ticket prices MYR 30/$7, the drive takes about 2.5-3 hours and buses to Sukau go away between 10 am and midday. In case you are fortunate sufficient as we had been, you may ask at your guesthouse that organizes a tour to Sukau in case you will pay just for the raise. .
What to anticipate from Sepilok Orangutan Middle
In Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Middle they rehabilitate and practice about 60-80 orphaned orangutans to outlive within the wild, nature they usually releasinge them as soon as they’re impartial sufficient.
The sanctuary is situated inside a rainforest of 10,610 acres and you’ll discover a part of it by having a stroll on nature trails throughout the reserve. Other than semi-wild orangutans, you can even see nocturnal animals right here in case you go for a night-guided stroll. Walks and trails differ from 250 m as much as 5 km. The one draw back is that they shut at 2 pm, so in case you need to come for the afternoon feeding and do a little bit of trekking within the forest or cover strolling, arrive far sufficient prematurely.
To ensure you see the orangutans right here in Sepilok, we advocate coming for the feeding time that’s twice per day, at 10 am and three pm, with out counting on seeing them within the jungle. We selected the afternoon feeding session and it was a great choice, as a result of there have been just a few folks round.
The entire process of feeding is kind of thrilling, if you see orangutans arriving shortly earlier than the clock strikes three. Rangers include baskets filled with bananas and sugar cane and the feast begins. The orangutans eat and hold round on the mangrove timber for about 20 minutes, after which they begin to disappear slowly within the forest.
You may ask if it’s all the time assured to see these ‘males of the forest’ at feeding time and we will solely point out a comment of a ranger who works there and who mentioned there he had been working there for 20 years, and it by no means occurred that they (the orangutans) hadn’t come for at the very least 5 minutes to take some meals.
Throughout our go to to Sepilok, we noticed 5 adults and one child orangutan plus a couple of macaques that arrived to choose some leftovers.
We had been additionally extraordinarily fortunate to satisfy a ranger with two younger ‘woman orangutans’ that he was strolling with on the trail within the forest. We principally noticed them face-to-face, that’s, after they weren’t hiding behind the ranger.
While you determine to take a river cruise on the Kinabatangan River, you’ll see the proboscis monkeys, red-leaf monkeys, numerous hornbills and a crocodile or two. For these of you who’ve by no means seen a crocodile in reallife , we advise sitting in the course of the boat, not on the sting, so that you don’t panic in case you spot him simply 2 m away from you.
Happiness is all the time a coincidence
After we went to Sukau, our massive want was to see a wild elephant close to the river. The workers at our guesthouse instructed us it’s not the season to identify them and we believed them, though a pal of our pals noticed them in decrease Kinabatangan a couple of days earlier than us.
Anyway, the alarming state of affairs with deforestation in Borneo additionally performs its function and we really want it doesn’t find yourself in a complete catastrophe for the animals and their habitat. So, the truth that you encounter an elephant on the Kinabatangan sooner or later will probably be an indication the state of affairs is steady or enhancing.
We didn’t see wild elephants in Sukau, however we went for an early morning guided trek and got here again with an enormous smile on our faces and an thrilling feeling in our hearts, which had been beating quick. We had simply seen a wild male orangutan just a few meters from the trail we had been strolling on. Apparently we weren’t very welcome in his territory as he began to throw an enormous 2 m-long log from above the tree on us, however we learnt lots about their conduct and habitat that day.
Muse, our information, confirmed we had been extraordinarily fortunate to see a wild orangutan so near the street and we could possibly be solely grateful for that treasured second.
What to convey with you for a river cruise:
• sun shades
• sunscreen
• mosquito repellent (particularly for the late afternoon and night time cruise)
• a hat
For jungle trekking:
• leech repellent or particular socks
• outfit in pure colors. Depart your vivid pink pants or shiny, blue t-shirt at dwelling. You don’t need to make an enemy within the wild jungle, proper?
• snug, sturdy footwear (though it’s potential to run up and down the hill with flip-flops, as our information did).
For each journeys, take a bottle of water with you and a binocular, in case you journey with one. In any other case the guides on river cruises present a few them for the vacationers, too.
Pack & journey:
The place to remain in Borneo
Earlier than your arrival to Borneo, take a look at and ebook lodging in Kota Kinabalu.
In Sandakan, we advocate to remain on the Rose Guesthouse and in Sukau you may wish to verify Sukau Backpackers B&B.
Secure travels and good luck with seeing orangutans in Borneo within the wild!
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