Sandakan: River Adventure

There are some remote places in the world we have the opportunity to visit maybe once or twice in our lives (if we’re lucky). These places are special because they they are ‘untamed’ or ‘untouched’ by human influence. Being able to experience a natural habitat to simply observe is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. Borneo, Malaysia is such a place. Sure there’s lots of culture and city development, but give it a good hour or two drive, and you’re out experiencing the wild. A wild where animals aren’t afraid of you. A wild where you could literally get lost and not be able to make it back (it’s probably a good thing we had a guide eh?)

We took our first river adventure cruise when we were up north in Kota Kinabalu. When we told our guide we had plans to go down to Sandakan, he immediately exclaimed, “Then why on earth are you on this cruise and not on one down there? That’s where you see the legit stuff.” We thought the cruise in Kota Kinabalu was so great, we knew we had to try the one in Sandakan as well. Cruises are affordable and include transportation, equipment, tea, and a meal, we thought why not?

Let me tell you, we weren’t disappointed. Not only were we able to see more of the rare and native proboscis monkeys, but we saw rhinoceros hornbills, cranes, a monitor lizard, and a few other various species of monkey.  It was a great day trip, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone heading down that way!

Unlike us, make sure you be smart and actually bring your rain coat. You’re hanging out in a rainforest after all.