Borneo family holiday for all ages

Planet

In Borneo we favour working with locally-owned and operated hotels and lodges for the most part, encouraging guests not to over-use the air conditioning and to re-use their towels to reduce energy use.

Many of these accommodations offer water refill points to minimise the use of plastic water bottles, with at least one of the hotels giving the guests their own refillable aluminium water bottles which they can use during their stay and take home at the end of the trip, to avoid single-use plastic.

In our pre-trip information, we recommend people bring along their own individual filter water bottles, which can be refilled from any tap and which safely filter the water as you drink it, in order to avoid buying single-use plastic.

When crossing the island we will often suggest to travellers that this journey is done by road, to avoiding adding a flight into the itinerary. We try to keep motorised travel to a minimum where possible.

Many of our itineraries include a night or two in a village homestay, which is not only good for the local economy but also means you are eating locally grown and sourced food from the village itself (or neighbouring villages) - a real ‘farm to table’ model. This also allows visitors to directly learn about pineapple growing, rubber-tapping and durian farming, amongst other crops.

While in Borneo, our travellers all visit the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, which famously rehabilitates orphaned orangutans, as well as many other species including sun bears and gibbons. Situated on protected land bordering the Forest Reserve, there is anywhere between 60 and 80 orangutans living there, many of them free to come and go (when they are in good enough shape). Visits here benefit the orangutans as the entrance fees and donations all contribute directly towards training and paying rehabilitation staff and specialist guides and buying in food.

You will also normally visit the Sun Bear Centre, which is next door to the orangutan sanctuary and is a conservation centre aiming to raise awareness and encourage research. Sun bears are the world’s smallest bear and are found in Borneo, Sumatra (Indonesia) and mainland Asia. Their exact numbers are unknown, but they are classified as “vulnerable” and are at risk of becoming endangered. Travellers have the option to donate towards their conservation efforts, as well as enjoy some wonderful views of the bears themselves, housed in large natural enclosures with plenty of enrichment.

Borneo is home to a sensitive ecosystem including jungle and coral reef, so protecting the environment is a priority. Whether that is the Danum Valley Conservation Area (one of the largest and best-protected forests in South East Asia), the caves at Mulu, the riverside along the Kinabatangan or the many beaches and marine national parks, we encourage all our guests to consider the impact of their visit and to respect the environment of the places they are exploring. For example, walking only on well-established trails, listening and learning from guides, educating children on the importance of the wilderness and respecting the local wildlife.

Many families visit Selingan 'Turtle' Island as part of their holiday. On several occasions, members of our own team have visited this island to experience the turtle nesting, so that we can be confident that this is tightly regulated and responsibly run. For instance, no-one is allowed on the beach after a certain time in the evening (except the rangers), small groups are carefully instructed on how to behave around the turtles and if turtle hatchlings are found in the wild, we do not encourage our guests to interfere with them, so they can make their natural journey into the sea.

The jungle lodges we use have preserved their little patches of forest habitats and maintain walking trails, as well as offering employment to the local community. Many of them also grow some of their own fruit and veg, for zero ‘food miles’, and promote historical knowledge of the medicinal plants found here, to help keep those traditions going.

The people who work in the lodges and are involved in guiding are all trained to uphold conservational principles and encourage our guests to visit responsibly. We would urge our customers to heed advice about not feeding local wildlife, sticking to allocated trails only, taking out everything you take in (leaving nothing behind) and keeping themselves and the animals safe as they explore.

The coral reef around Borneo is incredibly special, and we work with our local partners to ensure that all excursions into the reef are done with certified operators. National Park fees and permits help direct revenue into where it is needed to promote conservation.

People

All our tours in Borneo are run in conjunction with local partners that have been chosen partly because they provide a fantastic service but also because they share our environmental and social goals.

Where guests enjoy the services of local guides throughout their visit, we ensure that these guides are from the same regional area and will be pleased to answer questions and give an excellent insight into the way of life in the region. Examples include homestay hosts in the Kinabalu region, rider guides along the Kinabatangan, trekking guides on Mt Kinabalu and turtle conservation experts at Selingan.

As much as possible, we work with locally owned hotels and lodges, promoting relationships with hoteliers who offer refillable toiletries rather than single-use sachets or minis. We recommend that our clients eat in independent establishments and visit independently owned shops and markets and are constantly adding to our list of recommendations which is sent to travellers before they go.

Our programmes are run together with partners that are owned and run by local people and who share our belief in the importance of operating in a socially responsible way, paying staff fairly and offering appropriate working hours and conditions.

We also understand that tipping is culturally appropriate and makes up a portion of income in certain job types, therefore we also provide detailed guidelines for our travellers as to suitable amounts.

By booking with us, you will be supporting various local guides, drivers, and service providers (e.g., hotel staff, market stallholders, ticket sellers, boat drivers etc), promoting employment from local communities, and good job opportunities for people coming up through training. This includes members of smaller communities such as the village homestay network near Mt Kinabalu, depending on your tour’s exact route.

This trip is LGBTQ+ friendly and we welcome families of all types on our trips.