Prices From Availability Land & Cruise Tour
$ 950 USD Available
Birding at Punggualas of Sebangau
Tour Overview
The island of Borneo, once a land of the mythical and mystical, has rapidly become one of the most exciting and richest destinations for wildlife. There are still vast tracts of forest remaining, despite widespread logging and clearings, supporting a wonderful and truly exotic array of animals and plants. Broadbills and barbets, hornbills and trogons, bee-eaters and bristleheads, as well as flying foxes, colugos, slow loris, elephants, gibbons and monkeys including the bizarre Proboscis Monkey and the marvellous Orangutan.
Rising out of the lowland rainforests is the superb and spectacular Mount Kinabalu, over 4000 metres to its bare granite summit, the highest peak between the Himalayas and New Guinea, and an area of a high degree of endemism – birds with names like wren-babblers, stubtails, blackeyes, Mountain Serpent-Eagle, the rather unfriendly Kinabalu Friendly Warbler, and the Whitehead’s trio – trogon, broadbill and spiderhunter.
We start our Borneo birding tour in the modern city of Kota Kinabalu, where we encounter lowland coastal species, and then travel to the superb Danum Valley and the Borneo Rainforest Lodge, one of the most diverse and richest wildlife areas on the planet.
We then move to a rainforest lodge for boat rides along the Kinabatangan River for kingfishers, darters, storks and Proboscis Monkeys – we will see an impressive number of species! A trip to Sepilok for Orangutans and a surprisingly rich avifauna is followed by several days at Mount Kinabalu, with its unique and exciting fauna and flora. A visit to Borneo is a marvelous and unforgettable experience.
What's Included
Tour Price Includes
One internal flight included
Ground transportation
All meals and accommodation
Boatrides along Kinabatangan River
EET guide plus a local guide with 4 - 8 participants
All park, conservation and entrance fees
Gratuities to local guides and drivers
Tour Price Does Not Include
Flights to and from start/end location
Travel Insurance
Items of a personal nature
Alcoholic beverages
ITINERARY
DAY 1. ORANGUTAN ISLAND – KASONGAN
On arrival in Palangka Raya, we pick you up from the airport in our air-conditioned car. From here we travel to Sei Gohong village and board a simple local canoe to see the beautiful orangutan island, home to rehabilitated orangutans before their release into the wild. The island is managed by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation or BOSF. We travel by road to board the Spirit of Kalimantan for a welcome drink and lunch as the boat heads downstream to find a quiet mooring for the night near the Sebangau National Park entrance.
The Spirit of Kalimantan cruises to the mouth of the Punnggualas Canal, where canoes are waiting to make the transfer into the National Park. Make sure you wear your walking shoes and bring mosquito repellent. We take a 40 minutes canoe ride along the canal into the dense forest.
Alighting, if conditions permit, we then make a short trek deeper into the forest with an experienced guide to spot some of the wildlife that makes this forest home. Observations of orangutans, various monkey species and proboscis are possible but cannot be guaranteed.
After the exertion of trekking through the Sebangau Forest, we make the short return canoe trip to the Spirit of Kalimantan for a cool drink. As a delicious lunch is served, the boat cruises downstream 3 hours along the wide muddy river with forested riversides and passing tiny, subsistence villages, to our southernmost destination – the Klaru River. At the river mouth, we are joined by some local canoes to explore this beautiful black water lake system. We pass RMU’s Katingan Mentaya Project forest rehabilitation area, and learn more about their REDD+ project as we quietly cruise upstream to a site to watch birds, proboscis monkeys and a variety of other wildlife. Marvel at the reflections here, especially during the rainy season.
Return to the boat, which will find a quiet mooring place for the night.
DAY 2. SEBANGAU NATIONAL PARK - KLARU
On arrival, receive a warm welcome from the villagers. Walk around the village and meet the people. Visit the school and then stop at the village garden to pick some vegetables. We then walk back to the jetty for a cooking class and delicious lunch with the villagers. After resting onboard, at 3pm we join canoes for a magical ride to the nearby Nusa River for a special bird-watching experience. Return at dusk for dinner onboard.
DAY 3. KLARU - TAMPELAS
DAY 4. TAMPELAS - PAKAHI
Optional canoe very early morning (5am and on the way back the boat man will check his fishtraps for our lunch). Today we travel upstream to the Punggualas River for another visit to the Sebangau National Park – this time to experience an amazing nighttime canoe expedition.
