We flew Malaysian Airlines from Kota Kinabalu to Lahad Datu and were picked up in Lahad Datu by Borneo Nature Tours to be driven 2.5 hours on mostly dirt roads to the Borneo Rainforest Lodge deep in the heart of the Danum Valley Rainforest.
We had booked the last 3 rooms at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge and the booking included all of our meals, guides for any hikes we wanted to go on while we were there, and transportation to and from Lahad Datu. It was pretty expensive by Malaysian standards, but quite reasonable considering what we got out of the deal. It was about $1,500 for 2 nights (all inclusive including treks and guides) per room.
When we arrived, they gave us refreshing cold towels that had a fresh, fruity smell. They would give us these towels at the end of all of our hikes thru the rainforest as well.
We stayed at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge, which is the only place to stay in the Danum Valley Rainforest. We booked through Borneo Nature Tours, which is the only booking agent for the lodge.
After lunch, our guides, Mike and Jenny took us on a walk on the nature trail to familiarize us with our surroundings and show us some of the bugs and other wildlife around the lodge (and alleviate some of the girls' fears about spiders and snakes...didn't work). The kids loved it. We found giant "rollie pollies" and saw some wild monkeys on the bank of the river. Later that afternoon, we saw a wild orangutan just outside the lodge and found a few monkeys in the treetops.
Ryder showing off the giant "rolly polly" that he found along the trail near the lodge.
Our first orangutan sighting.
View from our balcony outside the room which had its own hot tub.
At night, Mike and Jenny took us on our "jungle safari," driving us in the back of a truck on some dirt roads around the lodge. We saw a flying squirrel fly from one tree to another about 200 yards away, which was amazing. We also saw (and caught) a rare frog (saw his red eyes glowing as we passed it in the truck). We were able to see some night birds as well.
Grandma Toni with the frog on her shoulder.
The next morning, a small group of us (Cody, Eliza, Sawyer, Ryder, Nash, Zander, Toni, and Scott) left before breakfast for the canopy walk, so we could go on a big trek to the waterfalls and burial ground after breakfast. We walked on the rope bridges high up in the trees, right in the mist and listened to all the jungle sounds. We saw a monkey climbing around in the treetops and were able to see some of the birds as well. We headed back to have breakfast with the rest of the group before our big hike, which was the highlight of our trip.
Our crew on the canopy walk above the rainforest.
Checking out the wildlife on the canopy walk in the early morning.
Ryder, Sawyer, and Nash with their binoculars on the canopy walk.
Daddy, with Zander on his back on the canopy walk.
The food at the lodge was great…probably the best food we had on our trip. The fruit was amazingly flavorful, especially the pineapple and mango. They had western selections as well as Asian food. It was restaurant quality food and very filling.
After breakfast we begun our long trek from the lodge to the Aboriginal burial ground and lookout at the top of the mountain, then on to Fairy falls and then to Serpentine falls, and ultimately to the Jacuzzi pool. This was the highlight of the trip, but it was (by far) the most difficult, exhausting thing we did. Cody had to carry Zander on his back the entire way in an infant pack, which was much more than he anticipated and left him totally wiped out after the journey. Also, the leeches were relentless on the trek. At one point, we felt that there was a full-on leech attack. Nash had a complete meltdown as he had multiple leeches on his body and every time we pulled one off it seemed another one attached. It was never ending. Just as Nash was screaming for his life, every person in the party was trying to deal with their own leech problems. We didn't spend much time at Serpentine falls because we had to high-tail it out of there to get away from the leeches.
Nash was a trooper the whole way. The hike wasn't easy by any means. A lot of the way, Nash was having to climb straight up the mountain and some of the steps were shoulder high for him. He never complained and toughed it out. We even passed a large group of people on the way up the steep part of the hike. Ryder and Sawer were also brave and tough, not complaining about the difficulty of the path and just taking it one step at a time. We learned that Nash is our little strong man on this hike.
2nd orangutan sighting at the beginning of our long trek.
The trees were enormous. There were so many cool things to see along the way.
Nash, hiking up one of the steep parts of the trail.
Walking through the jungle.
Fairy Falls at the top end of the hike.
Ryder and Nash, enjoying the hike.
Zander, looking through the binoculars.
The girls, Eliza, Sawyer, and grandma Toni in front of the Fairy Falls.
We saw a lot of wildlife on our hike (2 sets of orangutans, a bunch of monkeys, birds, spiders, leeches, etc.)
Fairy falls was beautiful and was a good break from the hiking.
The Aboriginal burial ground was interesting…bones sitting on ledges on the edge of a cliff.
Serpentine falls was pretty, but too many leeches, so we had to get out of there.
We met the other group (who did the canopy walk and a shorter hike to the jacuzzi pool after breakfast) at the jacuzzi pool. The jacuzzi pool was AMAZING! It was full of fish 6-8 inches long that would nibble on your dead skin on your legs and feet once you entered the water. It was a lot like the fish spas that you see throughout southeast Asia, but the fish were 10 times the size and it didn't actually tickle like the fish spas, it felt like prickly needles since the fish were gently biting you. Cody and Scott spent a lot of time in the pool letting the fish nibble on them. Ryder got brave and let the fish nibble him for a minute, then couldn't take it any more.
Uncle Ian, enjoying the jacuzzi pool.
Cody and Ryder, getting ready to let the fish nibble their feet in the jacuzzi pool.
We got rained out of our tubing expedition down the river…a serious downpour. Cody, Ian, Scott, and Kyle went walking down the river and Kyle and Scott ran back to the lodge when it started to rain. Cody and Ian crossed the river and saw a huge monitor lizard (about 8 feet in length) and another, smaller monitor lizard (at very close range as it jumped out in front of us when we walked past the bushes). We ended up going on the tubing expedition the next morning. Everybody hiked about 20 minutes up the river with tubes and we floated down the river to the lodge. It was a very mild river, but was a lot of fun, especially for the little kids.
Ryder, not loving the fish nibbling at his feet.
Everyone tubing down the river back towards the lodge.
Three boys stuck in their tubes.
Cody, Ryder, Kyle, Whitney, Ryder, Ian, and Scott did the night walk and found owls, spiders, a lot of frogs, a couple large rainforest deer, and a lizard before getting back to the lodge late.
A giant spider that we saw on the night walk.
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