Holiday to Borneo

This trip includes several special opportunities to view endangered wildlife and learn about the programmes in place for their conservation, in particular Orangutans and giant sea turtles. Though benefiting financially from tourism, the first priority for these centres is for conservation and they have strictly enforced rules for managing our visitation. We visit two World Heritage Sites in Mt Kinabalu National Park and Mulu National Park, both places have spectacular natural beauty and many unique plant species. In both parks we have fantastic local guides who'll share stories and legends of the area from their experiences and their ancestors. They also have a great depth of knowledge of the flora, fauna and geology.

For many travellers the greatest highlights of their Borneo experience is the time spent with the local people. In Sabah we stay with Dusun folk in their village in the foothills of Mt Kinabalu. This gives us the opportunity to learn of the Dusun lifestyle and hear stories aboutthe early exploration of the mountain. Our hosts are also our guides for the mountain. Intrepid support for the community has alsoincluded teaching English and helping equip the local school. English language offers more employment opportunities in tourism and empowers the people in fighting inappropriate development within the National Park.

In the Kinabatangan River area we support the MESCOT project - a project implementing sustainable rural development with the local communities. MESCOT manage various aspects of our 2 day stay in the area. This includes a night where the group is divided between several host family homes where we can experience local Muslim culture, a boat trip to see the famous Proboscis Monkey (along with other wildlife); and a night at their "forest camp" with it's facilities to maximise the interpretation of the surrounding forest for an extra special experience for the visitor. These management programs will provide a unique key to sustainable forest management in the reserve.

In Sarawak we stay for 2 nights with 14 families at an Iban longhouse. As the only travel company to stay here we feel very privileged to experience their hospitality in a way that is not contrived for mass tourism. Both communities have been great friends of Intrepid since 1991. We do not use tourism operators or other intermediaries so the financial benefits of our visits go directly to the people.