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December 18, 2024

Unique Wildlife Adventures in Borneo

Pacific Traveler Stories Wildlife & Natural History

One of our groups returned from their journey to Borneo, where they experienced wonderful wildlife encounters as they explored different landscapes. Here is a look at some of their photos and videos.

In September 2024, we joined Wilderness Travel’s Wildlife Adventures in Borneo trip, which brought us to four different locations in northern Borneo’s rainforest: Sepilok Forest Reserve, Tabin Wildlife Reserve, the stunning Danum Valley, and along the Kinabatangan River.

  • An orangutan with reddish-brown hair gazes ahead, its arms raised against a green blurred background, embodying the essence of Borneo's unique wildlife adventures.
  • Amid the lush greenery of Borneo, a red monkey with a dark face peers down from leafy branches, adding a touch of excitement to your wildlife adventures.

Thanks to the guides, we saw a fantastic selection of wildlife: five different primates, two cats, skunk, deer, four types of hornbills, three birds of prey, three kingfishers, other birds, snakes, frogs, fireflies etc. Several of these were a real surprise, even to an avid David Attenborough fan.

A small bird with a black head, white stripe, and blue beak perches at the entrance of a tree hole in Borneo. The background is filled with lush foliage, capturing the essence of Wildlife Adventures.

The evening outings to search for nocturnal wildlife was particularly fun.

Blue scorpion glowing under ultraviolet light on a black background, a mesmerizing sight for Wildlife Adventures enthusiasts seeking unique wildlife encounters.

I began to appreciate how the diversity in this part of the world led William Wallace to his understanding of evolution at the same time as Darwin. Here is a video of some of the mammals we saw:

In the rainforest, most of the critters live high in the canopy, so binoculars and telephoto lenses are essential.

  • In the heart of Borneo, a rhinoceros hornbill with a striking red and yellow casque perches on a tree branch, surrounded by lush green leaves—a true gem for wildlife adventures.
  • A black and white hornbill perched on a tree branch surrounded by green foliage offers a glimpse into Borneo's unique wildlife.

This also meant that they kept on disappearing behind branches and leaves after catching a glimpse. Without the guides we would have just seen trees galore. Here is a video of some of the birds, reptiles, and insects we saw on our trip:

The WT Trip Leaders were excellent, knowledgeable locals, and the guides at each resort were also first rate

To see all this wildlife, we lived in the rainforest environment, which was very hot and humid. Luckily it was less “buggy” than I expected, but the humidity added a challenging factor. As with all WT trips we have taken, we were kept on the go, with flexibility to take a break if you wanted. The accommodations were in comfortable forest resorts.

Here is a video of our entire trip:

—Text and photos by 5-time WT adventurer Michael Watts, Wildlife Adventures of Borneo.

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