Travel Blog: River Cruising & Wildlife Spotting in Sukau, Kinabatangan, Sandakan.

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As a Forestry student, it has always been a privilege for us to often have fieldwork and explore nature out of town. During sometime around May last year, we had the chance to go wildlife spotting on a river cruise for a solid 2 hours (thought it would take around half an hour only but wow!) in Sukau as our Zoology course assessment.

The duration to reach Sandakan from Kota Kinabalu is approximately a 7-hour bus ride (including the stops we have made in Ranau & Telupid) and another 3 hours to reach Sukau in Kinabatangan.

Accommodation:

You can choose to live in homestays provided around Sukau area specifically in Kampung Bilit, depending on your budget.
We were arranged to stay with foster families in the village (fyi, the villagers even provide homestay services with their own house:)) just so you know since we have come in a group of 70+ people (and easier for us to be managed by the authorities lol).

Coincidentally our foster family’s house were the furthest among the others but the view along the pathway is breathtaking and we were warmly welcomed by the villagers as well.

Home-cooked food is always the best!

River Cruising Experience!

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To be honest, I didn’t imagine the boat ride to be 2 hours long which was beyond my expectation! I am really grateful to have this opportunity to experience this priceless moment with my classmates along Sungai Kinabatangan.

During the ride, we saw mostly long-tailed macaques swinging on the trees. We were quite fortunate because we were able to see a mother Orang Utan in its nest high up of the tree. We have also witnessed hornbill, Proboscis Monkeys and even Silver Leaf Monkeys along the way! It was a bit unfortunate that we weren't able to see the elephants, crocodiles and other rare bird species during the ride. :(

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Extras (may be essentials in a way!) to bring that might be handy during the trip! (based on my experience)

1.Binoculars (useful for birding so you wouldn't go squinting your eyes for dear life just to spot a Kingfisher like we did! Or even Orang Utans.. since their orange body tends to blend in trees). This was the first thing I thought of putting up on the list because this was my ultimate regret! Haha!

.... This is why loh.

2.A CAMERA! This is a MUST! For quality photography purposes, a DSLR with a long range-zoom lens is preferable. Never forget extra batteries as well. :)

This was captured on my friend's iPhone 7.

3.Personal medicine, insect repellent & band aids.

4.Sunscreen, a hat & preferrable long-sleeved clothing (but definitely not dark-coloured ones! That will only attract insect especially mosquitoes)

Visit here and experience the breathtaking view. Take lots of photos! Listen to instructions and thank those who have helped you throughout the trip!:)

Stay tuned!