Wild Planet Adventures’ 12-Day Borneo Exploration
OutdoorHub 01.22.13
Exploration Showcases Weird and Wonderful Wildlife Sighting Opportunities
Wildlife viewing specialist Wild Planet Adventures (WPA) http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/ spent five years creating the best possible opportunities to see rare and exotic wildlife in a destination facing some of the fastest deforestation in the world. The result is the 12-day Borneo – Weird and Wonderful Wildlife with eight departures beginning in March 2013.
The per person rate (four persons minimum) is $5,898; for just two people it is an additional $399 per person. See: http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/content/view/427/1426/
“This trip crystallizes our style of meaningful encounters with rare, exotic and often endangered animals.’’ says Josh Cohen, company director. “The journey combines remote eco-systems with exclusive wildlife activities that are Wild Planet’s signature, including special excursions to see Borneo’s famous flying and gliding mammals and reptiles, and an exciting nocturnal excursion to see tarsiers and slow loris, two of the world’s smallest and cutest primates.”
This wildlife-focused experience with local naturalist guides includes comprehensive environmental education to offer what Cohen says is “the absolute best possible wildlife experience currently available in Borneo.”
Wildlife guests may see are orangutans, proboscis monkeys and pygmy elephants, creating, along with a hundreds of bird species and Borneo’s rarest and most endangered species such as marble cat, clouded leopard, Bornean rhinoceros, sun bear and others Cohen calls “weird and wonderful” such as tarsiers, paradise gliding tree snakes and lung-less frogs. The trip climaxes with a snorkeling or diving adventure on the Ligitan Reef in the Celebes Sea, rated one of the top five dive spots in the world.
How creatures are found is also a Wild Planet Adventures strength: night safaris for nocturnal animals, hikes and silent river cruises by electric-powered boats to spot, among others, orangutans in the wild. Guests lodge where wildlife is known to proliferate. An example is Sukau Rainforest Lodge, a “Top 50 Jungle Lodges in the World” according to National Geographic Adventure and a 2010 World Travel Awards Winner for Asia’s Leading Green Hotel. Guests can participate in tree planting, and they can mingle with indigenous people such as the Orang-Sungai (“River People”) at Sukau who at day’s end are the true stewards of their landscape.
The trip begins in Kota Kinabalu with transfer to Shangrila Tanjung Aru Resort. After a briefing at the Rainforest Discovery Center, guests travel to the Sepilok Nature Resort for a “WPA exclusive”: a nocturnal tracking for tarsier and slow loris. On a boat journey to Sukau Rainforest Lodge along Sabah’s longest river, Kinabatangan, guests view birds and wildlife in virgin mangrove, wetland and rainforest habitats. The cruise continues in late afternoon seeking some of 10 primate species.
Day four seeks prime habitat for Borneo’s 33 species of unique flying and gliding animals, including flying lemurs, rare Wallace’s flying frog, flying squirrels, paradise tree snakes, draco lizards and more. On a day five river cruise the goal is to see the Bornean pygmy elephant in the floodplain, tributaries and the upper catchment of the Kinabatangan River. Guests trek on day six in one of the oldest rainforests in the world with one of the highest concentrations of wildlife in South East Asia:
The next three days are at the Rainforest Lodge in Danum Valley amidst 438 sqare kilometers of rainforest so thick it has never been populated by humans. Known for its extreme biodiversity, the valley is home to the full range of Sabah’s lowland fauna. Here, too, are the rare Sumatran rhinoceros, pygmy elephants, clouded leopards and orangutans. Some 275 species of birds have been recorded here. Guests explore nature trails, river safaris, waterfalls and swimming in natural pools, as well as wildlife viewing from a 560-foot hanging bridge walkway. Following an evening naturalist presentation, there’s a night safari to see tarsiers, slow loris and marble cats. The last two nights are spent relaxing and snorkeling or diving on Kapalai Island at an aqua lodge built atop sturdy stilts in the picture-perfect turquoise water of Ligitan Reef.
