Yeoh Siew Hoon fulfills a promise she made more than a decade ago and finally visits the Sukau rainforest of Sabah.
The reason I came to Sukau: The stork-billed kingfisher
Several years ago, after facilitating an ecotourism conference in Sabah, organiser Albert Teo of Borneo Eco Tours gave me a gift. It was a framed photograph of a stork-billed kingfisher, one he had taken himself.
Ever since then, I had vowed I would visit his lodge in Sukau to see that kingfisher for myself.
Well, last month, I finally fulfilled that dream.
To get to Sukau, you have to fly to Sandakan. Most people know Sandakan as Little Hong Kong, even though the predominant dialect spoken is Hakka, not Cantonese. I am told the nickname is because most of the early settlers came from Guangdong via Hong Kong and there was a lot of timber trade between the two cities.
Whatever the case, the dim sum’s good here. Pop into any of the local Chinese coffee shops and you’ll not be disappointed so as far as I am concerned, it deserves the “Little Hong Kong” tag.
At Sandakan, we are taken to the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary. I first visited this centre which rehabilitates the orang utan for eventual release into the wilds more than a decade ago, and while I am impressed by the progress it’s made in its work, I am dismayed by how commercial the whole business of watching the apes feed has become.
Let’s just say there are more people than apes and the whole exercise has become a spectacle with everyone fighting each other for space to take photographs of the two that do eventually show up for their feed.
I couldn’t wait to get away.
The Sukau Rainforest Lodge
From the jetty at Sandakan, we board a boat that would take us out into the ocean and onto the Kinabatangan River, the second longest river in Malaysia (560km). It’s a three-and-a-half hour ride to the Sukau Rainforest Lodge but you know what, time flies when you’re out on the waters, feeling the wind in your hair and feasting your eyes on nature’s bounties.
Sometime into the ride, the boat stops at what we were told was a police checkpoint. Every vessel that enters the Kinabatangan area needs a permit. “It’s to keep illegal immigrants away,” says our guide. Just out there are islands belonging to the Philippines, Sabah’s closest neighbour.
Once you enter the river, a sense of anticipation sets in. Our guide, Hamit, starts looking out for wildlife. And sure enough, we spot our first herd of the Asian pygmy elephants. They are called pygmy not because they are small but because they are the smallest of the Asian elephants.
A herd of pygmy elephants
The herd is quite close to the river bank and we hop off the boat to take a closer look. They are gathered right next to a road that’s being built and every now and then, lorries would trundle past. I wonder where the elephants will go when the road is completed and opened to traffic.
I am told by my friends in Sabah that one reason why wildlife sighting is so good in the Sukau area is because of encroachment of territory. The animals have been squeezed into such a narrow corridor that it’s almost guaranteed that when you are in the Sukau to Bilit area, you will see a good variety of animals.
Which we did – the range and amount of animals we saw in the 36 hours took me by surprise. In the early evening, we saw proboscis monkeys, long-tailed macaques, more elephants and plenty of birdlife including egrets, the Storm’s Stork, Grey Heron and three varieties of hornbills, native birds to Borneo.
Sleeping beauty: The blue-eared kingfisher
But it’s in the night the rainforest comes alive. We saw the stork-billed kingfisher – the same one from the photograph that had inspired me. We came up so close to a blue-eared kingfisher that was sleeping so soundly we could have stroked his breast and I don’t think he would have woken. We saw crocodiles lying in wait, owls perched on tree branches and a civet cat on the prowl for food.
It helps to have an experienced guide. Hamit has the ability to see in the dark – where we see darkness, he sees flashing eyes or the flap of a wing.
Taking a break from wildlife sighting, we head to Bilit to visit Albert Teo who was staying at a lodge called “Nasalis Larvatus”, the Latin name for proboscis monkeys. Albert is there to attend the official launch of KETA (Kinabatangan Eco-Tourism Association).
It is hoped that with this body, which represents the approximate 15 lodges in this area, the biodiversity and environment of the Sukau area can be protected and preserved. I hope it’s not too little too late for Sukau.
The stillness of the water
The next morning, we are woken up at 5.30am to go for our dawn safari. The river takes on different moods at different times of the day – warm and open in the day, mysterious in the night and enchanting in the morning.
Hamit, knowing our distaste for crowds of people, takes us to a small tributary, away from the usual viewing spot at the ox bow lake. We set out in the mist. The air is cool. The water is still. Like us, the rainforest seems to be just waking up. We hear the distinctive call of gibbons. We are relieved.
Last night, we had been told that the call of gibbons had been missing from the Sukau area for a while. This morning, their calls are music to our ears. “The gibbons are back,” says Hamit.
The mangrove snake
We spot our first mangrove snake. He’s yellow and black and he’s wrapped around the branches. We see crocodiles. Last night, we had been told by the lodge manager that just a few nights ago, he had put his hand in the water to wash it and touched the tail of a crocodile. I am sure he won’t be doing that again too soon.
The Oriental Darter
I am thrilled when we spot the Oriental Darter. It’s just darted in for a soak in the river and was now perched on the tree, drying off before his next flight. He does what looks like to be a dance.
My favourite moment was when we came upon an otter who looked as surprised to see us as we were to see him. Popping his head up out of the water, he stares at us and then darts away.
Back at the lodge, we have a hearty breakfast before heading back to Sandakan by road. There, we visit the Rainforest Discovery Centre which does a good job of telling the story of the rainforest in both a whimsical and informative way. We enjoyed the walk through the gardens and trails, learning about the different flowers, plants and trees. (For example, I didn’t know that durians and mangoes were 100 million years old and that lemons were relatively young – 30 millions years.)
Left: The canopy walk at the Rainforest Discovery Centre
We did the canopy walk and Hamit left us with a parting gift – he spotted one of the rarest birds in Borneo, the Borneo Bristlehead. “I can’t believe it,” he said, “There are four of them on that tree.”
True enough, in the distance, four birds sat perched on a tree branch. Unfortunately they were too far for me to photograph. Otherwise, I’d have framed it and presented it as a gift to Albert.
Oh well, maybe the stork-billed kingfisher will have to do.
• Photos courtesy of the writer
