Bushtracks Expeditions

Day 2

Iban Longhouse

This morning travel inland, and visit a local market to pick up supplies for a visit to a traditional Iban longhouse. Journey through rice fields and pepper plantations to the Lemanak River, close to the border with Kalimantan. From here board dug-out canoes for a beautiful cruise upriver. The Iban are one of the many distinct tribes living in Borneo, and their longhouses are villages under one roof. Each family lives in its own room with sleeping and cooking areas, but all members of the longhouse share in the farming, fishing, and communal work for the community. On arrival meet the chief of the longhouse and the other inhabitants, and explore the longhouse and its surroundings. Dine in the chief's room, sample rice wine, and enjoy some traditional dances.

Lodging: Longhouse (B, L, D)

Day 4

Gunung Mulu National Park

This morning fly north to Gunung Mulu National Park, a spectacular massif comprising both sandstone and limestone peaks, and only accessible by air or dug-out canoe. Proclaimed a World Heritage Site in 2000, Mulu is a "lost world," with towering rainforest trees, jagged limestone pinnacles, and sheer cliffs topped by swirling mist. This afternoon explore two of the caves, Lang Cave, with beautiful stalactites and stalagmites, and Deer Cave, the largest cave passage on Earth and home to several million free-tailed bats. Wait at dusk to watch them emerge en masse from their roost, forming swirling patterns across the sky.

Lodging: Royal Mulu Resort (B, L, D)

Day 6

Mount Kinabalu National Park

This morning head to Mount Kinabalu National Park headquarters to explore the trails, looking for some of the more than 1,000 orchid species that make the mountain their home, as well as some of the many squirrel species that are found here, including the strikingly patterned Prevost's squirrel. Birds are also abundant at this altitude, including laughing-thrushes, trogons, and short-tailed magpies. After lunch drive downhill into the humid lowlands to explore the lower part of the park at Poring where you'll discover a different suite of animals and plants, and then take to the tree tops on a 100-foot high canopy walkway.

Lodging: Perkasa Hotel (B, L, D)

Day 8

Sepilok Forest Reserve and Kinabatangan River

Return to the Rehabilitation Centre to watch the morning feeding. Different individual orangutans are often seen at the different feedings, and it is always a privilege to watch these incredible creatures at close quarters. After lunch transfer by speed boat along the Kinabatangan River to your home for the next three nights. Your comfortable lodge is set on the bank of the river, and its gardens play host to silvered langurs and long-tailed macaques.

Lodging: Sukau Rainforest Lodge (B, L, D)

Day 11

Danum Valley Conservation Area

Transfer to Sukau village and board a bus to the coastal town of Lahad Datu and from there on to Danum Valley Conservation Area, a protected area of rainforest set in the heart of the largest contiguous piece of rainforest left in Southeast Asia. Your lodge is set on the banks of the Danum River, surrounded by forest and with a towering cliff to one side. After settling into your bungalow, relax on the veranda and watch out for rhinoceros hornbills coming in to roost or walk one of the many forest trails in search of Bornean gibbon or maroon langur.

Lodging: Borneo Rainforest Lodge (B, L, D)

Day 14

Kota Kinabalu

Depart Danum Valley and drive back to Lahad Datu to catch a flight to Kota Kinabalu. Your hotel is set on a beautiful beach, with views of the islands of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park.

Lodging: Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Hotel (B, L, D)

Day 16

International Flights Home

Transfer to the airport for international flights home.