Proposed Itinerary - subject to flight availability
Day 1. 16th August 2012
Fly from London Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur, and onto Kota Kinabalu. We do not book flights but we can suggest the travel agents Bookotel who work with us. See Borneo FAQ
Day 2. 17th August
We arrive in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah. We'll have a relaxed tour around the city as part of our acclimatisation and dinner will be in the fabulous Filipino Market on the harbour where fresh food is cooked in front of you.
Day 3/4/5. 18th-20th August
We transfer by bus to a new Eco camp close to Poring Hot Springs for our three day jungle training. As well as equipping us for our project work, this will be a lot of fun and we'll learn how to light fires, build shelters and find food that is naturally available in the jungle. This a great time for all of us to get to know each other, and to live in an environment a far cry from back home.
Day 5. 20th August.
We transfer to Sepilok, which is the home of the orangutans but we shall be working in the new sanctuary for the sunbears who are equally under threat from loss of habitat.
Day 6/7/8/9. 21st - 24th August
We shall spend three or four days in the forest here, working on the project with the sunbears. Their habitat has been lost through the deforestation but they are also sold as pets until they become to big to care for, which is when they are abandoned or handed in to this sanctuary. Funding is in short supply and our work will make a difference. We will still have time to pop in and see the orangutans just to make sure they are ok.
Day 9. 24th August
We head back to KK and the airport and take a flight to Miri, which is in the other Malaysian state, Sarawak. Stay the night in a hostel in Miri.
Day 10/11/12/13/14. 25th-29th August
This will be an experience of a lifetime. We take a light aircraft into the highlands and then a short trek to a remote village. We'll spend the night in a longhouse with dinner cooked by local people and experience their culture and music.
The next day, we'll head off in to the forest with our local Kelabit guides who will teach us how to collect water from bamboo, gather food and identify medicinal plants. We could talk all day about the magic of being in the rainforest; here you will experience it for yourself, and with people who are connected to it.
Our role in visiting and walking in this area, demonstrates that eco-tourism can be profitable to local people as opposed to selling land for logging. We shall also visit work that as been going on for the last two years of identifying Kelabit Tribe Cultural Sites. These consist of stone megaliths, dragon burial jars and grave sites, which once identified cannot be logged.
Day 15. 30th August
We shall finish our visit with a trek to the summit of Prayer Mountain giving an outstanding view of the entire area before catching our Twin Otter flight back to Miri. Here there will be time for some souvenir shopping, and our celebratory dinner.
Day 16. 31st August
We leave Miri and then our international flight to the UK via Kuala Lumpur.
Interested? We are now taking bookings.
You will need to complete a booking form and pay a deposit of £400, which becomes non-refundable once the trip has been confirmed. The balance of £1430 is then payable in advance of ten weeks before departure. If you've any questions then just drop us an email and we'll get straight back to you. Contact Us Here.
STOP PRESS
Kevin has just come back from making the final arrangements in Borneo. To read an account of his trip with photos, have a look at this page.