Explore Borneo’s enthralling habitats on our specially-designed wildlife photography tour. Not only are there endless opportunities to photograph wildlife, but also to learn with tuition from our acclaimed experts.
This small group workshop is accompanied by award-winning wildlife photographers Nick Garbutt and Alex Hyde, with extended stays at some Borneo’s best wildlife locations, providing ample time to photograph wildlife and hone your skills. During the workshop, under the guidance of Nick and Alex, you can look to improve rainforest and macro photograph techniques. Bornean pygmy elephant, orangutan, keeled pit viper and Wallace’s flying frog are just some of the subjects to be enjoyed.
Typical Itinerary
Day1: Depart UK
Depart the UK on an overnight flight to Kota Kinabalu via Kuala Lumpur.
Day2: Arrive Kota Kinabalu
Arrive Kota Kinabalu and transfer to our hotel. Spend the afternoon relaxing, with dinner at a local restaurant in town.
Accommodation: Jesselton Hotel, 1-night
Day3: Mount Kinabalu
This morning we transfer to Mount Kinabalu. In the afternoon, we make our first exploration of the mountain's forested slopes, searching for a variety of birds, small mammals, invertebrates and plants.
Accommodation: Nepenthes Villa, 3-nights
Day4: Mount Kinabalu & Poring Hot Springs
Today we enjoy a full day exploring the range of montane forest habitats around Mount Kinabalu. The forest is remarkably diverse, and carnivorous pitcher plants and striking orchids may feature on our walks again. We also focus on the wonderful insect, reptile and frog diversity within this mountainous landscape and the distinctive bird and mammal species. In the afternoon, we visit the Poring Hot Springs, famous for its rafflesia, a parasitic flower with the title of being the largest flower in the world.
Day5: Mount Kinabalu
Today we have a last morning to explore Kinabalu National Park in search of its unique flora and fauna before we set off for our journey to Sepilok. We transfer to the Sepilok Nature Resort this afternoon and take a night walk.
Accommodation: Sepilok Nature Resort, 1-night
Day6: Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary
In the morning, we start with a dawn walk along the canopy walkway at the Rainforest Discovery Centre and then visit Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary to photograph and learn about these endearing great apes and hear about the remarkable rehabilitation work that is done here. After a visit to Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, we make our way by boat up the Lower Kinabatangan River, photographing the wildlife we find en route.
Our base for the next three nights is the Abai Jungle Lodge giving us access to the quieter forested corners of the Lower Kinabatangan system. There is a good chance of encountering Bornean pygmy elephants, as well as proboscis monkeys, long-tailed macaques, orangutans and other primates.
Abai also has a network of raised boardwalks at the rear of the lodge. Walks along these regularly provide good encounters with primates during the day, and sightings can also be very productive after dark, when various nocturnal species may also be seen and, hopefully, photographed.
Day9: Upper Kinabatangan River
After a final morning of wildlife photography on the water and on the trails around Abai Lodge, we then transfer by boat to Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge.
During our days at Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge, we will explore the main river, side channels and ox-bow lakes just off the main waterways. These have the potential for further excellent wildlife sightings, especially of primates. The riverside vegetation is also a good place to look for snakes; juvenile reticulated pythons, mangrove snakes and keeled pit vipers often coil up in dense clumps overhanging the water. After dark, very occasionally, civets, slow loris and more rarely flat-headed and Sunda leopard cats have also been spotted.
Today we have another morning to explore the main river, side channels and ox-bow lakes located just off the main waterways in search of photographic opportunities with the incredible wildlife of this region. We hope to visit Sabah’s largest cave system in the afternoon, the Gomantong Caves and its forest reserve. A wooden boardwalk inside the most accessible cave makes exploring easy, and in the surrounding forest macaques, maroon langurs and orangutans are regularly seen. There is plenty of fascinating invertebrates to practice macro photography with here.
Day11: Transfer to Danum Valley
After breakfast, we leave Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge and transfer by road to Lahad Datu and then continue to the Danum Valley Conservation Area, one of the world’s great rainforest locations. There can only be a few places that rival this in terms of splendour and biodiversity. There are huge buttress-root trees over 80 metres high, hornbills flying overhead, gibbons calling and orangutans enjoying fruiting trees. Our base is Borneo Rainforest Lodge, located on the banks of the Danum River. It is a beautiful property with a lovely, relaxed atmosphere that provides a very comfortable place to stay and keep refreshed in the hot steamy rainforest.
We have six days to explore this wonderful area fully. Within the vicinity of the lodge there is a network of accessible and well-maintained trails that follow the course of the river and forest interior. This network allows easy access to most of the valley and provides ample opportunity for discovering and photographing some of the forest’s amazing flora and fauna.
Early mornings are perhaps the best time to enjoy the extra dimension the canopy walkway offers. Here a treetop view of the forest provides a spectacular alternative perspective. Various hornbills, barbets and broadbills may be seen, as well as the enigmatic and endemic Bornean bristlehead. Primates too are often sighted, including orangutans and red-leaf monkeys.
After dark, night walks and vehicle rides offer a window into the secretive world of the forest’s nocturnal creatures – greater mouse deer, giant flying squirrels and colugo may be seen. There is also a reasonable chance of seeing both slow loris and western tarsier. Frogs too are common. If we are lucky, we may find a Wallace’s flying frog, while the resonant honk of the Bornean horned frog is always a feature, although tracking one down is a tough proposition.
Day18: Transfer to Lahad Datu & depart
At the end of our time in Danum Valley, we transfer by road back to Lahad Datu to catch a flight to Kota Kinabalu and onward overnight connection to the UK.
Day19: Arrive UK
Key info
Duration and price including flights from/to UK: 19 daysfrom £11,995 pp
Duration and price excluding international flights: 17 daysfrom £10,995 pp
Single supplement:
On request – please contact us.
An award-winning photographer and author, with a background in zoology, Nick has forged a career by combining these skills with leading tours and lecturing.
Nick has written and photographed several critically acclaimed books, including: ‘100 Animals to See Before They Die’, ‘Mammals of Madagascar: A Complete Guide’, ‘Wild Borneo’, and ‘Chameleons’. He is a regular contributor to international magazines such as National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, Africa Geographic and Geographical.
Nick has twice been a winner in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition. In 2000, he won the prestigious Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered Wildlife. His photographs appear widely in books, calendars and other publications worldwide. He is a Special Lecturer on the MSc course in the Wildlife Photography and Imaging at Nottingham University, where he studied.
Often working with moving creatures smaller than a grain of rice, Alex has established himself as an expert in macro photography.
By understanding the behaviour of his subjects, he is able to capture intimate portraits of spiders, insects and other invertebrates in their natural habitats. Although his photography takes him all around the world, the Austrian Alps are a particularly special place for Alex and he returns annually to these favoured haunts to photograph the incredible insect and plant life.
An experienced tutor, Alex regularly delivers workshops and seminars on macro photography and has taught at venues such as the University of Nottingham and the Wild Photo photography festival in London. Alex supplies major international agencies and his photographs appear worldwide in newspapers, books and magazines including The Times, The Daily Telegraph, BBC Wildlife and New Scientist.
The Kinabatangan River snakes through Sabah’s lowlands for 560kms to reach the Sulu Sea. Along its length, a river safari will reveal a mosaic of riparian forest, oxbow lakes, nipah swamp and mangroves which supports a wide variety of mammal and birdlife who have grown surprisingly tolerant of human presence.
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Excellent for: Photography tours With Nick Garbutt, River safaris, Orangutan watching, Rare mammal watching, Birdwatching
Sabah’s largest cave system is set in the heartland of a beautiful rainforest reserve, an impressive sight and home to many thousands of bats and cave swiftlets. Bat hawks linger nearby to prey on the bats as they leave their roost, and macaques, langurs and orangutans are regularly seen in the surrounding forest.
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Where: Sabah State
Ideal for viewing: Asian fairy bluebird, cave swiftlet, crested serpent eagle, forest macaque, orangutan
Danum Valley is arguably Borneo’s premier wildlife location and boasts all ten of Sabah’s primate species. Early morning is the best time to enjoy the canopy walkway through the surrounding lowland rainforest and view the stunning birdlife. It also offers maybe the best chance to see orangutan in the wild.
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Where: Sabah State
Ideal for viewing: Asian elephant, Malayan sun bear, banteng, orangutan, Bornean gibbon
Excellent for: Photography tours With Nick Garbutt, Orangutan watching, Birdwatching
Kinabalu Park is dominated by the peak of Mount Kinabalu, and is probably one of the most important biological sites in the world. It harbours a remarkable botanical diversity with as many as 6,000 species of flora and fauna, over 600 species of butterflies, 320 species of birds and 100 species of mammal.
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Where: Sabah State
Ideal for viewing: Bornean ferret badger, oriental small-clawed otter, rhinoceros hornbill, serpent eagle, sun bear
Excellent for: Birdwatching
Travel by small boat along the Kinabatagan River from Sukau for a truly authentic Bornean wildlife experience – the rewards can be huge, with many species thriving here that have lost their homes elsewhere in Borneo, such as proboscis monkey, Bornean orangutan and endangered hornbills.
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Excellent for: River safaris, Orangutan watching, Birdwatching
Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary is renowned for its work in rehabilitating orphaned orangutans, However, set in primary lowland rainforest, the reserve has much more to offer. The forest boardwalks make exploring easy, the birdwatching is superb and there is a tremendous variety of snakes and frogs to see.
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Where: Sabah State
Ideal for viewing: Bornean pygmy elephant, mouse deer, orangutan, slow loris, western tarsier
Accommodation at Abai Lodge is in timber-built cabins set amongst jungle, all with attached bathrooms, ceiling fan, hot shower and insect-screened windows. Electricity is provided by generator, and there’s a bar as well as a large restaurant, which serves tasty Malaysian food.
Find Out More about Abai Jungle Lodge
The remarkable Borneo Rainforest Lodge lies in pristine jungle in the heart of Sabah’s Danum Valley. Considering the remoteness of its location, this unique, award-winning property offers an extremely high standard of accommodation in a wonderful setting, blending in with the surrounding rainforest.
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Accessible by boat or road transport, this lodge consists of timber-built chalets connected by walkways. There are various spots around the lodge for viewing the surrounding nature and wildlife, including a bird observation tower and a jungle trail where red leaf monkey and wild orangutan are often seen.
Find Out More about Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge
This simple lodge, situated close to the Sepilok Forest Reserve entrance, is extremely comfortable and convenient for visiting the nearby Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary. It offers spacious accommodation in air-conditioned chalets, set in beautiful tropical gardens and connected by boardwalks to the main building.
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