Here are a few highlights from our adventure:

– The Gunung Mulu Caves were exceptionally beautiful, and we loved the chance to swim in the pool outside Clearwater Cave—a refreshing treat in the jungle! Our early morning canopy walk through the jungle mist was also memorable. We were glad to be staying at the Marriott as well for that extra bit of luxury.

– Making spring rolls and sipping rice wine at a cozy homestay in the shadow of Mt. Kinabalu was a wonderful, authentic experience.

– Spotting a pygmy elephant at twilight along the Kinabatangan River was pure magic. We thought we’d missed out on seeing an elephant, but our extra journey downriver paid off. We also saw wild orangutans, hornbills, proboscis monkeys and crocodiles on the river safaris.

– Loved the sun bears & overall the time in Sepilok was fantastic. Orangutang infant feeding at the sanctuary was very cute and seeing a mother and baby up in the trees at the Rainforest Discovery Centre was awesome 

– Watching a green turtle layover 100 eggs and seeing turtle hatchlings released into the ocean at Pulau Selingan was an unforgettable thrill.

– Finally, we unwound and recharged in paradise at Shangri-La Rasa Ria to cap off the trip—total bliss!

The weather was on our side at Mulu and we saw 2-3 million bats exit the cave!! All the caves were breathtaking and so fun on the boat, we loved the local handicrafts and everything exceeded expectations!!!

Next the homestay – what a lovely family!!!!  They made us feel very welcome and the Dad did all the cooking and he was a phenomenal chef! Our expectations were exceeded as we had 3 rooms between us! Our guide Melvin was lovely – we hadn’t realised he would stay also. We would have probably been ok without him to be honest but anyway was helpful to have translator although the daughter spoke amazing English! My kids loved making bracelets/ playing Uno and making spring rolls with the family. They took us to the river for a picnic and swimming, which was fabulous!!

The resort at Sepilok was dreamy! It was such a gorgeous spot, with lovely food and atmosphere and super clean. Jackie the guide was sweet, and he grew on us – he was pretty hard to understand and left us to it quite a bit, BUT he was incredibly knowledgeable about the wildlife and the war – we went to Memorial Park with him, very moving. It was super to have the flexibility to say go back to orangutans for the afternoon. Feeding – only 2 came in the morning but 12 in the afternoon and it was much quieter so it was well worth it!!!!

We loved it so much!! Thanks, ladies xx

Turtle Island was paradise. Absolutely beautiful beach. The turtles were a great experience but you should just get the guides to warn people that the actual egg laying you see is incredibly quick! We literally saw her lay 2 eggs (the last of 60 ish) and it was all done in about 8 seconds (no exaggeration!). We were a bit disappointed at the time with how little we saw of the egg laying but really enjoyed the hatchlings and the rest. I think if we were pre-warned that it was very quick and you won’t see much it would have managed expectations and been fine. It was an amazing experience though and we loved it. 

The homestay was an amazing experience, that my son especially loved. We did it the right way though, with two days and just one night there… The hosts were lovely. 

Mulu was fab and I would DEF recommend the upgrade to everyone. Totally worth it. The Shangri-La Rasa Ria at the end was superb. 

So all in all, an amazing holiday. Thank you!! Many thanks again.  

We had a great time at Kinabatangan River – our guide (who stayed with us up to Turtle Island) was really knowledgeable. Turtles – everything about this was incredible.

The beach resort was perfect for us, everyone was so kind and friendly. We kayaked, paddle-boarded, snorkelled, went on a trek organised by the hotel, and hired a boat to take us snorkelling! 

My husband and I both commented that we would not have had quite the same experience if we hadn’t used Stubborn Mule, as the guides were invaluable, and the itinerary we agreed on was perfect for us as a family.  Borneo is a magical experience, not full of tourists and offers such a variety of experiences.  Definitely recommended. 

All the connections were very smooth and the guides, particularly the ones we had for the homestay and the one who was with us for the river and Sepilok both spoke incredible English but also had a vast knowledge of the culture of the area and of the wildlife it contained. 

The hotel at Gaya Island was beautiful and considering it was supposed to be full only ever had a handful of people on the beach.

If you are considering climbing Mount Kinabalu, be aware, even with three mountain experienced teenagers, we did find it a challenge. The final ascent was exhilarating, but we all suffered on the descent hobbling around like penguins a few days after. We would probably have inserted an extra rest day either to Pouring Springs or a luxury hotel just to recover before the next few stops.

Driving to Sandakan for the River Safari on the Kinabatangan River, we saw the palm oil plantations (as far as the eye could see) and this really brought it home to all of us how the rainforests had been eradicated.  Fortunately our next camp on the Kinabatangan River there are still open corridors for the animals to travel freely and thanks to our incredible guide Patrick (Borneo’s answer to David Attenborough!) we spotted Probosis monkeys, elephants, hornbills, pygmy elephants and crocodiles. However, by this time, the kids were struggling with rice and noodles for every meal – they became quite adept at spreading butter and jam on bread with the back of a spoon. Knives were a bit of a luxury! – so the next resort at Sepilok (Sun Bears and Orangutang Sanctuary) offered a la carte which helped refuel the kids. The accommodation was good and full of character. And exploring the Orangutan sanctuary was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

Spending a night on the conservation island to see the turtles lay their eggs was another highlight and so exciting when the guard came in crying ’turtle time’ to announce that the first turtle of the night had arrived. In the end, 42 turtles came that night, laying more than 3000 eggs, which are then carefully protected in the hatchery, before being released. 

For our last stop, we upgraded to Bunga Raya for a very well-deserved three-day rest by the pool and snorkelling.  This was a trip of a lifetime and has definitely given us all the travel bug! 

The only slight disappointment was the firefly cruise and seafood dinner on the last night in Sandakan – not because it wasn’t good (because it was actually really enjoyable) but it didn’t live up to expectations given the way it was described in the itinerary. We were surprised by how few fireflies there were (although seeing them was very cool) and there wasn’t really any seafood offered with the dinner. I think if it had been labeled just as a mangrove cruise with the possibility of seeing fireflies and local dinner (without talking up how great a seafood restaurant it was) it would have managed expectations better.

And doing Kuala Lumpur at the start rather than the end was definitely the right call so thank you! Now to start planning our next adventure….

In Malaysia, the palm oil plantation bike ride was really interesting. Also, the bird watching in Cambodia was really good. We had an unpromising short ride out from Siem Reap very early in the morning and then suddenly within a few hours had seen the most amazing birds – the bird guide was incredible and so knowledgeable.

We were comfortable in all the hotels – the one in Hoi An was particularly friendly and comfortable. And you know about the difficulties we had with the hotel in Siem Reap – which in the end worked out ok.

We would strongly recommend going to the water puppet show in Hanoi and also the circus in Siem Reap. We ate in Haven in Siem Reap – an NGO that trains young local people in hospitality – the food was absolutely excellent and we would recommend it to other people.  

All in all, we had a fabulous time. 

All the best – till our next holiday!!

I was almost disappointed when we reached Bunga Raya – although it was stunning and a gorgeous place so I obviously wasn’t disappointed with that – but it felt like the adventure was over as we were at the relaxing/end part of the holiday.  I think I could have carried on travelling.

I’m already itching to plan the next one…..  It probably won’t be next year but the year after.  Peru or Africa safari?  What do you think?  The children will be 18 (nearly 19), 16 and nearly 12.

Thanks so much for arranging and your advice.

Your team on the ground took really good care of us. They texted me at 2:15 on arrival day from the airport wondering where we were. I told him we were in KL airport and weren’t arriving until 6:15. I think there was some miscommunication about our change of flights. No big deal because they were on top of it. Checked in every night to see how our day went and to remind us of our morning pickup.

It was great that they took us to breakfast every morning at a different local spot. We would never have discovered this on our own. BTW, the Granary is now Katrin and I don’t think it is the same as you may have remembered. It seems like a hot spot for young Asians and the menu is a little out there. We tried it the first night but between the unfamiliar food and the falling asleep kids we gave up lol! I had a long conversation with Sallie from the airport while waiting to leave. She asked me about all the guides, what we liked best, what we would eliminate if we had to shorten our tour etc.

We had a good time at the Home Stay and the scenery was magnificent! Our host was a good cook and her meals were tasty and the rooms were fine, twin beds for the girls and a room with a double for us. The guide and driver were in a section next to us. The girls played with their kids, made the spring rolls and cooked them which they thought was fun. One night is enough.

We have been to tea plantations in India and Sri Lanka but the children had not and enjoyed seeing the process. The batik was so enjoyable and the setting was perfect with that amazing view. The guide there took the time to show D a video made by the Australian gov’t about the march done by young and fit soldiers to honour the soldiers who died in the Sandakan death March of WWII, some on the very spot where we were. The children were interested in the story and we took photos at the memorial. 

Sepilock was such a great learning experience for the kids. They enjoyed the Orang-utan sanctuary (we adopted a two-year-old orang-utan named Zorro!) and the Sun Bears and the Rainforest Discovery Centre. Liked the resort and the pool is great. We saw the flying squirrels there on their platform. Everyone gathers at 6pm to wait for them! The rooms were good with a sitting room and two twin beds and for the kids a room off this with glass sliders and curtains and two twin beds. I think this is a great place for families. Please include all the meals as without a car there is nowhere to go to eat.

Nothing to say about Sukau except everyone should go there. We all thought it was wonderful!!

Danum Valley – thank you for choosing the best room! The kids loved the plunge pool and it was very convenient to be able to walk across the bridge to the dining room. We also had a lovely view!… Our private guide here was young, fun with the kids and they were able to ask him lots of questions. He kept quizzing them about things too. He enjoyed them because he knew that we were all interested and paying attention and also we were able to go places that others didn’t go. We got more than our share of leeches… But I guess it was to be expected as we frequently crashed through the jungle to capture a better look or a perfect photo of some creature!

I know you work mostly with families but I think people should know that this place involves a lot of physical activity. Several younger than we could not complete that lookout hike and were very surprised that we did it and also climbed up that waterfall to swim in the pools above. That hike was well worth the effort as the view was spectacular!

Loved our suite at the Shangri la! Best view. great way to end our trip. Had the afternoon and the next day until 7pm. The staff were lovely and we enjoyed the beach and warm water, the ice cream and waterslides, the sunset bar, and the wait staff who sang Happy Birthday to us as they delivered another cake at 6pm after our dinner! And the final thing before we left..a perfect sunset!

We were so happy to get the boarding passes in Toronto and excited to be on our way. Somehow, 22 hours of flying time and 16 hours in airports melted away with the anticipation of the trip. After all of the worrying about the border opening, I think it is safe to say that we were lucky to be some of the first visitors. Things were not crowded and the people were so genuinely happy to have us there that we felt treasured.

This is a lovely country with warm and friendly people and I feel so satisfied that it was a perfect choice for these children. They feel that their trip was the best! They keep a journal and have already pasted some photos to complement what they wrote. This one is going to be hard to top!!!!

Helene, thank you for making all the arrangements. It all worked out very well!

We are all happy for you to use the photos on social media and thank you for your input into our amazing holiday.  I’m still feeling a bit jaded and have some post-holiday blues, not wanting to get back to normality and work. It was a great holiday and seems to have inspired one of my daughters to want to travel. Her favourite part was the homestay, which was probably the most challenging part on paper, yet she loved it.

Thanks, once again!

Sepilok – was not our favourite place on the trip it is nice to visit the sanctuary maybe for two hours on route to somewhere else. The sun bear place is ok for 20 minutes.  The rainforest discovery centre we didn’t really see anything, I think it’s better to visit here at sunrise or sunset but if you are visiting other jungle parts of Borneo it’s probably not necessary.  The lodge had really fantastic food and lovely staff…

Sakau Rainforest Lodge – we really loved this place.  The two villas side by side were perfect for our family and of a lovely standard and the children loved the pool. The guides here were very good, but waiting staff English was less than great.  We did the additional trip to see the elephants, which was well worth it could have stayed an extra day longer here.

Mulu we really loved, hotel and rooms were lovely.  We had the best guide for the whole trip. Food was very limited.  The national park was amazing and we could have enjoyed many days there hiking some of the longer hikes if only the weather was a bit cooler.

Shangri La – a very long delay in checking in since the rooms were not ready.  Our initial impression was not great… But I have to say it grew on us we upgraded to the ocean wing which is so much better and we only ate in the Indian and Italian restaurants both of which were happy to tailor dishes for gluten free and dairy free and vegan. My daughter loved the horses and went for a ride galloping along the beach every day, my son enjoyed the slide and pool and football on the lawn.  And my husband played golf a couple of times and therefore I got some peace.  And by the end of it we said we might actually come back mainly because our daughter was so in love with the horses.

The trip was overall fantastic despite the few criticisms above and it is by far our second favourite family holiday closely behind South Africa and safari.  Our children are certainly ‘templed out’ but can never grow tired of animal spotting…. Many thanks again we really did enjoy our trip.  Cannot wait to decide where our next one might be.

My only slight negative would be the food in the first of the lodges we stayed where the meat was fairly poor quality compared to the food we had across the rest of our trip. The Pacific Sutera and Shangri La were both lovely hotels and were lucky enough to be upgraded at the Sutera to a suite.

Although we booked the Shangri-La and enjoyed it I think the 3 days were enough and would possibly offer other options closer to KK as the only issue with it if staying for any length of time is that it is a little isolated and doesn’t lend itself to being able to explore local area (although there is a shuffle bus).

Would certainly look at doing a similar trip in the future.

All in all, we had a great time. People were friendly, food was good and we were amazingly lucky with the selection of wildlife we saw. I think other families would also really enjoy the rafting trip and the snorkelling day. We have a great collection of photos and some wonderful memories.

Thank you so much for putting it all together for us.

The local guides were all brilliant, a special mention to Chris who A really like – so much so he cried when we said goodbye to him just before we got on the boat for Mannuken Island. 

We survived the first night at the homestay with no luggage as the airline had ‘kindly’ taken it off the plane at Mulu – huge thank you to Shawn and Vicky Hall for lending us some clothes. Chris was brilliant as keeping us up to date about our luggage which arrived the second afternoon at the homestay – hoorah. 

A was ill on the last night of the holiday and the staff at Mannuken Island were fantastic, going above and beyond – anther special mention for Ben the duty manager who gave me his room phone number in case we needed him in the night. 

I think we did as much as we could in two weeks and four days at Mannuken Island was much needed to relax and not feel rushed – although we were out of the villa (which was amazing with a view hard to be beaten) from 8am until after 5pm each day.  

A coped incredibly well will all of the holiday, he got a lot of attention with his blonde hair, freckles and perfect manners (which come out for anyone who isn’t a parent).

As the plane taxed down the runway at Heathrow A discovered that The Greatest Showman was available to watch and declared “this is the best holiday ever”, pretty much the theme continued for the next two weeks. 

We have both said that for our next adventure we’ll probably base ourselves at two locations then do trips from there, it’d be good to see some of the culture and local life – all three of us like people watching…

Thanks so much for arranging our amazing holiday! 

 It was so peaceful (when the cockerels weren’t crowing) and the food was delicious. It was amusing teaching the children all the bad card games we know (Irish snap – snap with a difference, Cheat – I think it went against their nature). They were such fun and we laughed a lot.

I was a bit disappointed at the lodge on the Kinabatangan river. The rooms were nice but it was just a bit crowded and simplistic for my liking. The food was served and left in the open throughout the service….

…Our visit to the orang-utan and sun bear sanctuaries were fabulous. It was great to see the work being carried out. But we had a magical experience in the discovery centre. While sat on a bench looking at plant life, an orang-utan came down from a tree to collect a jack fruit from the floor. It stopped to look at us. We were only about three feet away. It just sat there looking at us for a while then collected its fruit and hung around eating it. 

The jungle lodge near the sanctuaries was very nice but I think we might have preferred to finish without unpacking in another hotel for 1 night. I’m a traveller and I’d had enough of the busman’s holiday by this time.

The Shangri-La at Rasa Ria was as it should be. A perfect way to end a holiday. 5 star comfort, a bath on the balcony at sunset, sunrise with a horse ride on the beach, a round of golf for me while the girls enjoyed the spa. It is definitely somewhere we will return to. We didn’t have time to explore the 65 acres of rainforest on a bike!!!!!

So overall, it was a great holiday with a blip in the middle.

We were jet lagged to begin with and he was so understanding. The guides who got us up Mount Kinabalu were also very good (Joe and Segal). J and F made it to the summit but and I didn’t.  The wind was horrendous and peaking that night… J said he would have stopped her going on anyway due to the danger of her being blown away.  It was touch and go whether he would have let our son carry on and was constantly re-assessing.  I therefore stayed back with my daughter at Laban Ratan.  A local 6-year old girl was also not allowed to carry on. The boys said it was horrendous… clouds, mist, wind… but they did it!!  No sunrise to be seen though! The team spirit at Laban Ratan was fantastic.

We unfortunately did not get to Poring Springs. The driver took us straight from Mount K to Sabah Tea Planation, not sure what happened there! Sabah tea plantation was lovely, relaxing and our guide Hamid was very accommodating….

The beach resort was perfect for the kids but busy….

Overall we had a fantastic time and saw everything we went to see. I wished we had had a few more days there to ease the initial jet lag and relax a bit more but that was my constraint.  It is a great country with lovely people. Thank you for your help and assistance in arranging a very memorable holiday.  Need to start planning the next one now!!

We had a couple of days to orient ourselves so we went on walks in the rainforest, swam in waterfalls, walked across one of the longest canopy walks in the world and climbed a tree top tower. We saw snakes, lizards, stick insects, scorpions and so much more. Noah our excellent guide took us to the Deer Cave, the largest cave in the world. We saw so many bats. In the evening we waited for the bat exodus and saw bats being chased by bat hawks.

On our way back to our lodge, the bats attracted by the insects near our head torches swooped down up close and personal so we could see them clearly too. Then we had a river-boat ride to Clearwater / Wind show caves. The caves were fascinating with stalactites and stalagmites and a thounderous underground river. The kids absolutely loved swimming in the clearwater river mouth.

Then we were off to the homestay. We weren’t sure how this was going to pan out but we stayed with the most friendly of families with children similar in age to ours. The kids had a whale of time playing and finding out about each-others cultures. Some of the similarities – all kids play with iPhones and like Peppa Pig and some of the differences – boiling water with a large kettle and then using a jug to poor water over ourselves to shower! We saw pineapples growing and helped to make spring rolls. The highlight was the walk to the local river and picnic. The kids loved swinging from tree vines like Tarzan and playing in the river. Even a leech on my son’s toe couldn’t stop him. My 9-year old didn’t want to leave.

Next we were off to a tea plantation. On the way we stopped at a fish farm to have our toes tickled by the fish and we visited a spa and local market and learnt about the Japanese death marches. Next came the moment we had been waiting for, the Orang-utans. We visited the Sepilok Orang-utan sanctuary where we were able to get very close to adolescent Orang-utans and to see previously released Orang-utans feed. To our surprise, the Orang-utans were then chased away by macaques who had arrived to have their share of the food. It was amazing to see the orang-utans swing above our heads as they made their escape into the forest.

Our night walk was just as amazing. We saw flying squirrels glide from tree to tree, poisonous snakes waiting for prey, scorpions, frogs and more stick insects. The next day we visited the sun bear sanctuary. There were so many to see, another brilliant experience for the kids. Next it was time to see the Proboscis monkeys. Again another fascinating experience to be in among the mangroves watching these monkeys swing from tree to tree in large family groups and of course we saw more snakes.

Then it was on to another jungle lodge, accessible only by boat on the banks of the Kinabatangan River. This was the highlight of our trip and where we saw the value in booking with Stubborn Mule. We went on three river-boat trips in small groups of 7 or so. Our guides really stood out as knowing their stuff. There were quite a few boats sailing the river but our guides seem to find animals first and were really knowledgeable compared to the other guides on boats filled with 20 or so passengers. We saw pygmy elephants, crocodiles, wild orang-utans nesting, kingfishers, hornbills, and every type of monkey and so much more. It was a real experience for the kids to see animals in their natural habitat.

Next another highlight that my 5-year old had been looking forward to for so long – seeing sea turtles and snorkelling. Again our guide J was excellent! He ensured that we had a heads up before anyone else as to when we would be able to see the sea turtle laying eggs. He ensured that our kids were able to sit right at the front and get an excellent view. He also ensured that the kids had the opportunity to release some of the baby sea turtles into the sea. The kids loved it.

We ended the trip at a seaside resort with more snorkelling, some sea kayaking and some rest before making our way home but not till we had seen some wild boars, more macaques and even a sea snake! A brilliant adventure for all the family that we will never forget. Thanks again Stubborn Mule for helping us have the trip of a lifetime and for helping our kids understand a little bit about another part of the world.

Liddy – We have now been back in the UK for a couple weeks following our 6-month trip. I think I may have briefly written to you thanking you for arranging our Borneo adventure… but anyway I thought I’d write again to say…. A MASSIVE THANK YOU.

By the time we got to Borneo, we had already spent three weeks in Sri Lanka exploring, just a long week in Cambodia at Angkor Wat and a month in Thailand island hopping and chilling out.

Borneo was a great next step.  Lovely to be looked after by the local guides (and local people) and such a great itinerary. When asked it still gets the top vote (always close with Namibia) from the boys as well as us.

It was a truly inspiring, energising and nourishing for the soul.

It’s impossible to tell friends how cool it was because there was just so many highlights – from bats and caves to tracking with locals at the homestay, so fireflies, shooting stars, orang-utans, turtles etc.

Thanks again and if there is ever an opportunity to work for you in any capacity I’d love to get into helping families do what we did.

The grown ups enjoyed all of the above, as well as the canope and all the other bits… at Sabah Tea we went to a real fish spa ( fishes are massive) and it was really fun. This was because we couldn’t do the hike and they ran out of many ‘dry’ activities materials… it was definitely the right choices to upgrade for the last few days and definitely worth the wait of knowing if we could stay all 5. We absolutely adored the end.

If we had to do it again, would do the exact same but with 2 nights at the home stay.

Booking our holiday through you ensured that we fitted in all of the places of most interest to the family and also that there was no additional hassle in terms of finding our way there or sorting out accommodation etc – which made for a really relaxing time for us adults. More than this though, most of the guides allocated to us were fun, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and great with the children – and really brought to life all aspects of the areas we visited.

Special mention on this score must go to Jum (not sure how it’s spelt) who met us at Sandakan airport and took us to Sepilok and to Bilit. She grew up in the area and clearly loved it and knew a lot about it. She answered loads of our questions about the history, culture and environment of the region, and on our boat trips on the Kinabatangan River helped the children to spot loads of amazing birds, animals and reptiles around us. She made us feel like guests of honour in the lodge at Bilit – with our own private boat, and special food for the children etc. She was great!

The only thing to mention on the other side of the balance would perhaps be the standard of some of the accommodation offered. We entered into it in the spirit of an “adventure” – however the lack of running water at times in the accommodation at Mulu was difficult when it was so hot and humid. Also the fact that our longhouse had not properly been completed meant a dangerous 8-foot drop at one end of the building. In addition, we moved the last part of our stay to Pulau Tiga rather than Pulau Mantanani on the advice of the tour company. It was fine, and we enjoyed it, but was pretty basic in terms of the accommodation and the facilities offered….

Two weeks in Borneo felt a lot longer than that and I think it was largely because we managed to cram in so many different sights and experiences. It’s going to take us a few weeks to fully digest what we saw – and to print out the photos! – but I know already that the holiday exceeded all of our expectations.

The expertise and friendliness of the guides as though they were a ‘safe covering’ over our family, was fabulous. …the homestay….Saba tea plantation, night rainforest treks, the overnight train (18 hrs!) watching rural life go by, ( my husband thought his wife was returning to her teenage backpacking days!) the character of Mandalay, horse and cart ‘taxis’ around the pagodas of Bagan, we loved lnle Lake and life on stilts… cycling round the paddy fields watching 16 of the fastest rice planters in Myanmar!… and as for the elephant camp, that was such a wonderful family experience… it was right up there on the ‘best experiences ever’ list!

Our guide had asked us to write to you especially with feedback about the homestay in Borneo… what a truly authentic experience and a top of the list for our daughter, playing and swimming with the village children. The family were just lovely and brought a local picnic to the river. We could have stayed for days! Want to complement the guide Chris too. He was very family-focused and his outlook on tourism in the homestay was so sensitive.

So Liddy without having you to read on and on…we had a stunning time and really hope that the experience matters long term in our children’s lives as an exposure to culture and a celebration of the diversity of our world. It was a poignant time in the history of Myanmar with the presidential elections taking place and Aung San Suu Kyi’s long struggle for a democratic government finally being recognised while we were there. So what an education the trip was for our children and helps instil so many values we want for our family life.

Thank you too for ‘stepping in there’ to help David with accessing the care he needed with his dog bite. It was a tense time for us as we anticipated him having to leave the country. You were an answer to prayer!
When the bank balance recovers, the culture experience needs a major top up and my children’s mummy needs another reminder of her backpacking days, we will be back to you!

We were greeted by many of the villagers who added to our incredible time, the kids played together, language was not an issue.

We walked in the jungle in the rain, swim in the river, attempted to catch fish and picnic with our hosts and the villagers beside the river. Did I mention my son cooking with the host family and we were shown how to collect rubber and forage for fruit and vegetables as well as fish with a net and bare hands. Memories for us all to treasure. We got invited back for Christmas!

Seeing the orangutans in the wild near the sanctuary made us appreciate the success of the work. The stay at river kinabantan was incredible so could equally be my favourite. We had excellent guides really knowledgeable, helpful and flexible. I don’t think we could have seen or learnt so much without them

Advice for other travellers?
Be prepared for the unexpected! River trekking in the river rather than besides. Amazing fun.
Be ready to question your own views and values.
Be prepared to get wet, you will soon be dry again. Perhaps get your rain macs etc in Borneo and rubber shoes rather than walking boots.
Be ready to try a variety of food and particularly some unusual fruits!
Have plenty of strong sun cream and insect repellent.
Have a waterproof camera.
Be ready for seeing and absorbing.
Don’t be put off by having a guide, we thought we would feel less intrepid but we learnt and laughed so much.
To summarise, the best holiday we have ever been on!

We had too much packed into our itinerary for Sandakan before flying to KK and a lot of it not really of interest to the kids. Our guide was happy to adjust the itinerary for us.
The highlight for W and the children was Selingan Island, so really glad we fitted this into the itinerary and were able to go. The children snorkelled the whole afternoon, which was a new thing for them, and I suspect something they will look for on future holidays!

W’s highlight was the turtles themselves, including wild baby turtles hatching and finding their way down the beach in the afternoon whilst we were just sitting there! The night viewing was all very well organised (and not too hectic, only 36 people staying there the night we were there. If the full 80 were in residence I think the turtle viewing would be a nightmare!). Accommodation/food basic but fine.

The hotel in Sandakan was a business-like/characterless as we expected, but the pool lovely and the kids wanted to spend longer in it, but the itinerary didn’t really allow it. Actually we didn’t need to the village/fire flies/restaurant tour. It felt too much, being as we had spent time on the river at Sandakan and were going on to the island the next day. We had tried to suggest not doing this whole trip and just seeing the village/going for dinner, but they said it was all one trip and couldn’t split it out.

Actually it was just us in the boat and could easily have been adjusted/reduced to accommodate the kids. The tour people insisted on picking us up at 4:00 and we spent far too long cruising about upriver – it felt like they were wasting time/waiting for it to get dark to see the fire flies. Stopping into the village for tea was fun. But by the time it got dark enough for fire flies we had all had enough of sitting in the boat and we just asked to head back to the restaurant. The seafood restaurant was nice, but it was quite late by the time we got there and had out meal, given we were up early the next day for Selingan.

Prior to this Sepilok was fab – the highlight for me was the night walk in the sanctuary with a guide (which we stumbled on ourselves and hadn’t been mentioned by our guide). We were asked to come back to the rehabilitation centre at 6pm and a guide met us and showed us back into the actualy orang-utan nursery area, in order to see the flying squirrels – we did. But what was more amazing was that one of the orang-utans actually turned up and sat a couple of metres away from us feeding. That was amazing. The Sepilok hotel was lovely, full of character, great food, lovely smoothies and such for the kids. The best food on the trip and lovely accommodation in the individual chalets – kids even had a hammock outside their room!)

Loved Sukao, although it was really hot and humid there. All very friendly, well organised, other than there was never anyone in the bar when you wanted a drink before dinner! The trips out of the river were amazing – the guides have such sharp eyes. Saw wild monkeys of every description including orang-utans. Also pygmy elephants.

Prior to this as you had warned the Celyn hotel wasn’t great, not helped by the torrential rain we were having and it was really cold in the room. I am sure if we had every seen the view it would have made a difference, but the clouds didn’t lift from the moment we landed in KK til we got to Sukao. The hotel was deserted we were the only guests.

The village itself was an experience. A beautiful setting, but enjoyment hampered by the torrential rain and power cut in the village (and again no view of the mountain at all during the time we were there!). Coming from expat life it was a bit of a shock to the system, but good for the kids to realise that not everyone lives the life of privilege that they do. The village children were wonderfully welcoming and L was everyone’s favourite! The rubber tapping was interesting, but we should have left the village after our morning walk not sat about for hours in a dark house in the rain when there was no need to hang around!

So sorry for working backwards, but overall a very wonderful holiday. The tour company in Borneo were extremely efficient and the second guide (June) was particularly good at adjusting the schedule for us to fit in extra things at Sepilok, possibly would have been nice to spend a second night there as the rainforest discovery centre looked a good place to spend a bit longer and we were rushing about a bit to fit in everything we wanted to do.

Sorry this may be a little more detail than you really wanted, but thank you for all your help in getting the trip organised. You really offered a personalised service and were very knowledgeable about everywhere we were going which was fantastic.
Many thanks

We had two rounds of lost baggage, which was a little frustrating, but the bags caught us up within 24 hours both times so not a big deal in the end. Overall we felt the itinerary flowed very well and we had about the right time in each location. Of course there was a fair bit of travel but it did no feel too much and of course a lot of it was quite interesting in its own right.

Keeping three teenage kids entertained is never easy but they were happy throughout and genuinely impressed with many of the sights and wildlife.

Organisation and guides were all great, particularly Julius on Pulau Tiga and Maria in Mulu. Julius enthusiastically organised the twins to complete their Padi advanced open water diving qualification while we were there, which was a bonus.

Accommodation was fine, some of it is a little tired and rough around the edges (Celyn, Sepilok, Pulau Tiga) and you feel that with just a little effort it could be so much better, but it was all perfectly OK. Celyn was particularly weird as we were the only guests, but what a location and view!

I think the one day that was a slight anti climax was the day at the Kinabalu Park HQ, the trekking around the HQ was very limited and either we missed something or there really wasn’t much else to do there. Of course had the mountain been open it would have been a different story. Our second day at Kinabalu was much better, the trek from Porring to the waterfall was great and the waterfall has a real wow factor – it is a tough trek, maybe 50% of the pinnacles, I think you said you’d not done it – we would thoroughly recommend it!

I would also say we did not make the most of the Rainforest Discovery Centre at Sepilok. We had a walk through the botanical gardens and did the tree top walk way, which were great, but when we looked at the brochure later we realised we could have done more walking and we missed the Sepilok Giant.

Food was fine, although I shall be happy not to have sticky rice and bony chicken for a week or two. Best food was probably Lankayan and Pulau Tiga and the very authentic italian restaurant we found in Sepilok.

Would we go back? My usual answer is that however much I enjoy somewhere I would always go somewhere else next time. But Mount Kinabalu now feels like unfinished business and we heard stories of some other spectacular dive sites around the coast, so it is certainly a possibility, with or without the kids.

We’d be happy to talk through and expand on any of our comments if you’d like to, let us know. Meanwhile thanks very much for all your help and advice.

As far as feedback goes the trek to camp 5 is quite tough. On a good source i.e. GPS it is more like 11k rather than 8. We were glad we did it but I would advise others that it is not for the faint hearted. We were by far the youngest and oldest at camp 5. The guide Vino was great and really helped when the girls were flagging.

The weather was really kind to us and we were rained on only once. Thanks for everything – we had a fantastic time. We’re already thinking about our next adventure (when we can afford it)!