Borneo wildlife highlights honeymoon

Planet

On this tour, you will visit the famous Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre in Sabah, founded in 1964, to rehabilitate orphan Orangutans. The site is 43 square kilometres of protected land at the edge of Kabili Sepilok Forest Reserve. Today around 60 to 80 Orangutans are living free in the reserve. The facility provides medical care for orphaned and confiscated Orangutans as well as dozens of other wildlife species. Some of the other animals which end up being treated at the centre include Sun Bears, gibbons, Sumatran Rhinos and the occasional injured Bornean Pygmy Elephants.

During the tour you also have the opportunity to visit The Borneo Sun Bear Centre, a conservation centre with the aim to raise awareness and encourage research on the world’s smallest bear. Found throughout mainland Asia, Sumatra in Indonesia and Borneo, the exact number of Sun Bears in the wild is unknown, making it even more pressing to reduce pressure on a species that is classified as “vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List and at risk of becoming endangered unless circumstances threatening their survival improve. The BSBCC, the first and only facility of its kind in the world, is a non-governmental organisation set up in 2008 through collaboration of the Sabah Forestry Department, Sabah Wildlife Department and LEAP.

There is a chance to plant a tree at Abai Jungle Lodge and to dine with the local community. This is a great project which was set up to ensure that the local community are receiving benefits from tourism. We will donate RM25 for every person who visits the project.

People

Our local ground operator owns and operates a number of eco-lodges some which are included in this itinerary. Accommodation has all been locally built and is run and operated by local people. The main purpose of these trips is to interact and contribute to local communities and projects and understand the need to minimise any negative impact on the local environment. Our ground agents only employ local guides to accompany our clients. All food in the lodges is sourced locally, helping the local rural communities wherever possible.

The Abai Jungle Lodge operates a tree planting and lunch programme with the local Abai villagers as part of your time there. This programme has been introduced by the Lodge as a way to directly contribute money to the local village community, plus it helps guests learn a little about the way this traditional community lives. The Lodge owners pay a small fee to plant a tree in the village with the proceeds going to the villager whose land it is planted on – the choice of villager plot rotates around the village to keep it as fair as possible.