klock03

Three families traveled to the island of Borneo in July 2012 for an incredible 2 week wildlife adventure. The three families with total of 7 children (ages 14-18) traveled from U.S., staying at Borneo Rainforest Lodge, Bilit Rainforest Lodge, Tabin Wildlife Reserve and Mataking Resort ( Sipadan). We self booked everything and just had an amazing time. Here is link with more details

http://pgkborneo2012.tumblr.com/

Cattail

Wow; amazing. What an education for these kids.

amln

Nice trip which I guess it must have cost quite a lot. Was it easy to see wildlife in Tabin?

klock03

Actually trip was not horribly expensive whan compared to Africa. However, airfare was expensive but lodges were not awful -but BRL is very expensive. But worth it. Just an incredible place. Tabin proved to be one of the best places to see wildlife. Of course the river is great as well but Tabin was a nice surprise. For whatever reason the wildlife was just more accessible-and the night drives are very productive. You benefit (unfortuantely) from the nearby Palm Oil groves that force wildlife into certain areas. Each lodge and surrounding area was unique. But our primary goal was to see and photograph a variety of wildlife and Tabin was excellent.

amln

BRL may be expensive, but Tabin is not cheap either. They have this 4D/3N package for RM 2500:
http://www.tabinwildlife.com.my/pack...iew.cfm?Show=7

To which as a single traveller you have to add 50%, for a total of RM 3750.

Note that what they call "4D/3N" in reality is a 2 1/2 days package, because you arrive at noon, but leave by 10am.

Supposedly there is also a tent camp in Tabin. Is there any way to get there?

amln

Perhaps a couple more question: is the road to Tabin paved and how long does it take to drive there from Lahad Datu?

janeq

We are planning to next year, with a primary interest in hoping to see orangs. in the wild----we plan on staying in the Kinabatangan area in a lodge, then are debating Borneo Rainforest Lodge vs Tabin(we would not have time or money for both)--- how did they compare in terms of wildlife sightings during your trip? I noticed in your trip journal that you did not list seeing orangs in Tabin (though I realize it is th wild and one trip can differ from another).

By the way, beautiful pictures, looks like a wonderful trip!

klock03

If goal is to see Orangutans in wild, then I think Borneo Rainforest Lodge is best bet. We saw 7 different ones there. We did not see any at Tabin. But Tabin was overall better (at least on our trip) for wildlife viewing. We were told it depends on when tree's fruit. Guides at BRL and elsewhere told us that in their opinion global climate changes have messed up the timing for trees to fruit and made it less predictable. I will say that our best viewing of an Orangutan was along the river. We stayed at Bilit, in part, because we were told the boats were quiter. And that seemed to be true.

Please let me know if you have any other questions. Happy to help.

janeq

Thank you! Bilit and BRL were two we were thinking to include.Hope we are as fortunate with sightings.