There are two rainforest that I really wanted to go in Sabah.
Danum Valley and Maliau Basin.
Thanks God I have a friend who had been doing research in Danum Valley for quite some times, that finally one day she offers to bring me there. Yayyy! Dream comes true!
So finally on January last year, I packed my bag and brace myself to face the tiger leech of Borneo. Little that I know, that other than tiger leech, there's more creatures waiting for me there.
I take a flight from Kota Kinabalu to Lahad Datu, which take less than an hour with return flight ticket costing me roughly RM200. You can opt for bus going to Lahad Datu, but it may takes more than 8 hours of travelling, which during certain period, the bus fare cost the same as taking a flight there.
I arrived in Lahad Datu airport shortly before noon on a sunny friday, take a walk to the Danum Valley Field Centre (DVFC) office which is only around 10 minutes walk. After meeting up with the rest of the group and buying some food supplies for our 4 day 3 nights stay, we come back to the DVFC office and take the minibus leaving to Danum Valley at 3 pm. It takes approximately 2 hours to reach Danum Valley.
My dream of seeing a lush, green virgin rainforest were crushed into million of pieces when I realized that along the way, sadly it wasn't as beautiful as I think it is. The once majestic rainforest is now covered with palm oil plantation, acres and acres of them. There's a gate that separate the reserved rainforest and the palm oil plantation, probably thousands of animals look up at that gate and worship it.
My dream of seeing a lush, green virgin rainforest were crushed into million of pieces when I realized that along the way, sadly it wasn't as beautiful as I think it is. The once majestic rainforest is now covered with palm oil plantation, acres and acres of them. There's a gate that separate the reserved rainforest and the palm oil plantation, probably thousands of animals look up at that gate and worship it.
Danum Valley, on the other hand is a paradise to thousands of animals and creatures seeking refuge from the monsters that destroys their home.
We reached Danum Valley around 5pm and proceed to registration office.
We stay in a single sex dorm room which can accomodate 48 person, but there's only 4 of us girls there together with a Germany lady who arrived later that day. The dorm room are basic dorm with fan, cold shower and toilet.
The field centre use generator to power the whole place, and around midnight, they turn off the generator.
There's a wild boar that walk around the dorm looking for foods.
I remember, every evening, I will sit at the stair and watch at one of the tallest tree near the dorm. I can hear loudly the macaque fighting over a branch to sleep over throughout the night. Each macaque will sit on one branch, where they will spend the rest of their night there sleeping.
We take a night walk trying to spot wild animals, but we couldn't see much.
I wake up at very early in the morning, make myself a cup of coffee and sit there in the silence, watching the fogs silently dissapear as the dawn turn to day. I spotted a family of deers grazing near the dorm.
We spend the half day collecting data in the thick rainforest of Borneo as part of my friend's research, and another half day trekking to Rhino's Pool and swimming in the river. We spend the evening watching birds at the hanging bridge, and night time hanging out at the dining hall.
On sunday, we went to a waterfall I couldn't remember the name. Was it Tembaling waterfall?
It takes about 1 to 2 hours of walking, up and down the hilly forest of Danum Valley, occasionally I found myself jumping around trying to avoid leeches before they jump on me.
We couldn't spot any orangutan though, which according to my friend, they move around a lot from one place to another.
We went back to Lahad Datu on monday morning as early as 8 am, say goodbye to everyone, till we meet again.
ARE YOU PLANNING TO VISIT DANUM VALLEY?
There are three options I can think of, First one is to book a package with Borneo Rainforest Lodge. They are very expensive though.
Second is by booking your trip with a local travel agent, last time we met with a friendly tour guide from Sticky Rice Travel who bring his group there and left us some biscuits before he left.
Third is the cheapest, independent way of visiting Danum Valley. This is how I reached Danum Valley last time.
HOW TO GO DANUM VALLEY INDEPENDENTLY ON TIGHT BUDGET
The field centre only provide bus to Danum Valley on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Your travel day has to be within these days. Its a mini bus that fit about 7-8 person, so you really need to confirm with their office in Lahad Datu to make sure there's space for you on the bus. The bus depart from Danum Valley at 8.30 am and returns from Lahad Datu office at 3 pm.
Contact the staff at Danum Valley Field Centre in Lahad Datu via email to confirm your stays. I got 2 emails from another website, you can try these contact persons.
Rosnita Razalie (roserlie2507@gmail.com)
Suzan Kilin (sck_72@yahoo.com.my)
Field Center Office,
Lahad Datu is Block 3,
MDLD 3286,
Ground floor, Fajar Centre, Lahad Datu.
COST
Bus transfer - RM65 per pax for one way
Dorm room - RM91 per pax per night (single sex dorm which accomodate 48 pax)
Rest house - RM286 per room (12 rooms for 2 pax )
Conservation fee - RM50 per person
Camera fee - RM10 per person
Full board meal - RM111 per pax per day (Dinner RM46 / Lunch RM36/ Breakfast RM29)
There are kitchen available for rent next to the dorm room if you prefer to cook your own foods.
For more information, you can check these site;
4. Danum Valley
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