Wild Borneo holiday, private departure. Helping Dreamers Do

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€3780

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18 Days including UK flights

Countries:Borneo, Malaysia

Tailor made

“A two week, tailor made trip to Malaysian Borneo, and the states of Sarawak and Sabah. With wildlife watching in magnificent national parks and remote rainforests. With beach time at the end. And a variety of accommodation from hotels to homestays. ”

Highlights

Description of Wild Borneo holiday, private departure

This Borneo holiday is a two week, tailor made trip that is perfect for wildlife enthusiasts who want to explore the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo. Travelling independently but with the help of driver guides and naturalist experts, your journey starts in Sarawak where you can relax in the historical city of Kuching before heading off to explore some of the state’s national park wonders.

The first of these national parks in Sarawak is Bako, a coastal gem that is home not only to pendulum-faced proboscis monkeys, monitor lizards and bearded pigs, but also stupendous beaches along the Santubong Peninsula. A boat trip here is a perfect way to explore it. In fact it is the only way to access it.

Tanjung Datu National Park, on the Datu Peninsula, is the smallest of Sarawak’s gems but proffering a wonderful mix of dipterocarp forest coming all the way down to the water’s edge, as well as coral reef and white sandy beaches.

From here you take a domestic flight into Sabah State, with time to relax in the state capital of Kota Kinabalu. A city that blends both Asian and European culture, the state museum is a great spot to visit here. Most importantly, take time to chill out before heading off on a three day trekking expedition in the Maliau Basin.

This really is the best way to explore wild Sabah and, with the help of expert guides, you will walk from camp to camp. Maliau is a pristine forest ecosystem bordered by a 1,600m high escarpment with superb walking trails to the seven tiered epic Maliau Waterfalls; flora that includes the world famous rafflesia flowers (in season); and wildlife such as pygmy elephants, gibbons and the elusive orangutan.

At the end of the trip, we include three nights at the lovely Gaya Island Resort, an island just off Kota Kinabalu and part of Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park.

Travel Team

If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.

01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.com

Departure information

This trip can be tailor made throughout the year to suit your requirements

Vouchers

Accepted

Responsible tourism

Responsible tourism: Wild Borneo holiday, private departure

Environment

On this trip you will explore fragile environments and ecosystems such as in the Bako National Park. Local guides will brief you on the most responsible way to travel through the landscape. Transport via boats and on foot (both low-carbon ways to go) are our travel modes of choice for a significant part of the trip, helping to minimise disruption to the land and damage to the environment.

Plastic water bottles – used by locals and visitors alike – are a massive problem to dispose of, especially in these rural areas, so we recommend that our clients purchase a water bottle with in-built water filter, and are working with a company called Pure Hydration to offer a 10% discount on their products as an incentive for our clients to support the reduction of plastic water bottle usage.

We encourage all our clients to take carbon reduction seriously and endorse Friends of Conservation’s 'Carbon Reduction Map' system, whereby you can easily calculate how much you should contribute for your flight.

The suggested donation for a return flight to Vietnam is £15 per person. *

*The suggested amounts are in line with DEFRA’s current guidelines for the cost per tonne of carbon and are based on the approximate levels of CO2 emitted on an average flight. We are very grateful to TICOS, the Travel Industry Carbon Offsetting Service, for kindly providing this information.

Community

Staying with a local Malay family is the best way to support the local community directly – cut off from the mainland Kampong Melano Homestay is a superb initiative that invites tourists into local homes, living and learning about about life in their village. Each home involved in the programme takes it in turn, and though it is still in its infancy it is a hugely rewarding experience.

Throughout your trip you employ local guides and drivers – in the Maliau Basin this also extends to a Park Ranger and Radioman that are needed as it is such a remote environment.

Our locally owned agent in Malaysia, aside from employing a large number of the local community , is also heavily involved in a number of charitable endeavours.

This includes Persatuan Yee Ran Jing Sheh (PYRJS), an independent, nonreligious, nongovernmental and non-profitable association. PYRJS is dedicated to caring for the physically and mentally handicapped adults and children by providing them with a home and an opportunity to lead a meaningful life.