How to book Borneo Rainforest Lodge?
 

We are trying to book a stay at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge. We sent several emails directly to the lodge and several to Borneo Nature Tours but we are not getting any response. We see from the posts here that numerous people have been there. How did you book and confirm your visit? Thanks!

I went to their office in KK and booked there, see my travelogue:
http://www.molon.de/travelogues/Mala...art4.html#2212

If you continue reading my travelogue you will see that I was very disappointed with my stay there and in fact left a day early. Non-stop rain, mud and leeches everywhere, no wildlife.

The problem was that I came from the Kinabatangan river where I saw a lot of wildlife (even the rare Borneo pigmy elephants) and was expecting to see even more in the Danum valley.
In practice I saw almost no wildlife in the Danum valley:
http://www.molon.de/galleries/Malaysia/Sabah/Danum/

Compare this to what I saw along the Kinabatangan river:
http://www.molon.de/galleries/Malays...ngan/Wildlife/

The thing is that deep in a forest it's always more difficult to spot wildlife than along a river.

A problem was also that they have no A/C in the BRL. After a rainy day in the forest your clothes and shoes will be wet. Without A/C they do not dry until the next day (but with A/C they do).

Then I don't know why the weather was good along the Knabatangan river and in Lahad Datu, but was rainy in the Danum valley. I guess it's the altitude. The BRL is at a certain altitude and catches more rain.

We booked directly with the BRL, but that was some years ago and I understand you need to book differently now. Do a search here, as I know there are Fodorites who have stayed there in the last couple of years.

amin, sorry you didn't see wildlife at the BRL. As you know, it can be luck of the draw. We saw lots of wildlife, including orangutans, including a mother and adolescent, and a very photogenic troop of red leaf monkeys including a number of babies.

We met people at the BRl who had come from the Kinabatangan. They were concerned about the environmental degradation in that area, and much preferred the well=protected Danum Valley.

Actually after my visit I discussed the matter with other travellers. All reported seeing more wildlife along the Kinabatangan river. While along the Kinabatangan river area you are virtually guaranteed to see lots of wildlife, in the Danum valley you must be very lucky to see any wildlife. It's because along the Kinabatangan the wildlife is all concentrated along the river, while in the Danum valley it's spread across a large area and hidden deep inside the forest.

You are the only person I've heard from, amin, that didn't see wildlife at BRL.

While it is easier to see wildlife at Kinabatangan (though you are much less likely to see orangutans), the protected area consists of very narrow strips of land on either side of the river. There has been concern for some time that there is not enough protected land to sustain the wildlife there. Naturalists report there are increasing numbers emaciated animals.

For us, the Danum Valley was wonderful for seeing wildlife, but just the experience of staying in the primary rainforest is magical.