Essence of Borneo

Proboscis Feeding time The Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary in Sandakan is a place where you don’t need to walk like the fictional pink panther in the forest to sight these arboreal creatures. You can see them almost everywhere; some sitting quietly on a branch, others jumping from branch to branch nonchalantly while some others watch you as you pass by. This is not surprising as there are more than 300 of these primates in the 260 hectares of land. Actually, the land was supposed to be a part of a plantation, Michael Lee Hing Huat, the owner shared. In 1997, after they acquired the land, they set about clearing it. They had engaged several workers to do the job for them. The workers went to work very early but before they left, they kneaded flour to make into pancakes when they returned for their coffee break. However, they had a shock one day to find out that their dough was missing. They looked high and low for it but couldn’t find the dough and they surmised that so...

Nature Lodge Kinabatangan Reaching the banks of Kinabatangan River late in the evening when the sun had set and flickers of electricity lights were the only illumination could be quite daunting. This was more so with the knowledge that the river was home to hordes of crocodiles, who bear no reverence to mammon, man or beasts. A fellow journalist and I travelled the long drive from Kota Kinabalu, the State Capital to Kinabatangan River, in Kinabatangan district, Sandakan Division.   Our travel was dotted by pit stops, some quite unintended as we ventured into roads other than towards Kampung Bilit, our actual destination. A cosy bed When we did reach the river banks where the boat from Nature Lodge Kinabatangan, our host, waited, we had travelled some 350 kilometres in ten hours of driving. It was indeed a long journey and all we wanted to do was check in, eat and sleep. Checking in was absolutely heavenly, for the cabin was cosy, the bed pristine and inviting and ...