We arrived in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah, in the late evening, and immediately collapsed into bed. The jet lag was catching up with us. The next day, we had a one hour early morning flight to Lahad Datu, the gateway to the Danum Valley, followed by an excruitiating three hour drive over rough roads through the rainforest and a canoe transfer due to a bridge outage. Our destination was the Borneo Rainforest Lodge, a secluded eco-lodge nestled deep within the heart of Danum Valley, one of the last areas of primitive rainforest untouched by logging.
We arrived just on time for a quick buffet lunch in the open air lodge before being escorted to our jungle chalet to change and get ready for our orientation and introductory walk.
Our chalet was a small comfortable hut connected to the main lodge by an elevated boardwalk. We were informed of the ‘no shoes’ rule when entering the main lodge and given a pair of slip-on rubber sandals for the walk between the boardwalk and our hut. After a few days of tramping through wet mud, we came to appreciate the shoes off rule.
We were introduced to our guide, Laslie, and the three other couples from the US, Australia and Germany that would be our trekking partners during our stay at Danum. After a brief orientation about house rules (no shoes, no wandering alone in the jungle), we were advised to buy leech socks, cloth gaiters that covered our boots, socks and lower pant legs to deter these little blood suckers from crawling up our boots and under our pant legs in search of warm fleshy places to feed.
We donned our boots, leech socks and rain gear for our late afternoon hike. With the dense vegetation, overcast and light drizzle, the rainforest was dark so we used our headlamps to illuminate the trail to avoid tripping on roots or slipping in mud. The path sloped gently upwards and between the mud, the incline and the high humidity, the hiking was tough. Fortunately, Laslie paced us, frequently stopping to point out vegetation or look for wildlife in the canopy above. The experience was surreal – surrounded by old growth trees covered in vines that blocked the sky, a plethora of ferns and plants and a dark, damp muddy floor, the forest smelled damp and fungal and was eerily still.
Shortly into our hike, Laslie discovered a leech on a leaf alongside the trail. No ordinary leech – the Danum Valley Tiger Leech is renowned for its aggressive behavior. Attracted to warmth and movement, these leeches drop from leaves and branches on unsuspecting hikers, using an anesthetic to camoflauge their bite and an anticoagulant to keep the blood flowing. Hikers are often unaware they have had their blood sucked until after the leech detaches. We laughed as Laslie showed us this spindly, harmless looking worm – it did not seem deserving of its fierce reputation.
Since leeches are more gross than harmful, (keep in mind that as recent as the late 19th century, leeching was a state of the art medical procedure for bleeding an ill person to restore the body’s good humors), Laslie decided to demonstrate. He let the skinny worm twist atop his hand until it found a nice warm crevice between his pinkie and fourth finger. We watched in fascination as the skinny worm attached, then plumped and fattened on Laslie’s blood, showing the characteristic brown and yellow stripes that earned it its name.
After ten minutes, the leech, satiated, detached on its own, rolling to the ground. The leech was the wildlife hit of the hike – the only other wildlife we glimpsed that day was a lone red leaf monkey high above us in the treetops.
Thursday evening was happy hour at the open air Hornbill Bar facing the river behind the lodge. Although hot and muddy, we decided to indulge before heading back to the room to shower. We sat near the rail watching several small Sanbar deer graze on vegetation on the river bank. As we snacked and sipped our cocktails in the waning daylight, we were oblivious to the small worms dropping from the trees above us.
Much to our surprise, when we undressed to shower, we found several Tiger leeches busily feasting on our shoulders and backs; one had even made its way into my husband’s belly button. Spraying the leeches with bug repellant caused them to immediately detach, fall to the ground and disgorge their meal, but they left behind a powerful dose of the anticoagulant that caused the bite to seep watery blood for another half hour, soiling our clothes. This would not be the last time we were leeched and we left Danum Valley several days later with ‘unofficial blood donor’ certificates!
It rained for the rest of the evening, canceling our planned night drive. Fortunately, the next day dawned humid but dry with an occassional ray of sun piercing the thin overcast. Today we hike the more challenging Coffin Cliff Trail, a continuously uphill climb through the forest leading us to a limestone cave that is an ancient burial site of the indigenous people. It was slow going through the mud and we appreciated the places where wooden planks had been constructed allowing us to more easily navigate the wet, root tangled portions of the trail. We stopped frequently to observe the flora and although we did not see any wildlife, we were surrounded by the vibrant buzzing and tweeting of the forest’s insect and bird life. The trail led to a wooden platform built against a shallow limestone cave. Nestled in the niche was the remains of a coffin estimated to be between 250 – 900 years old with remnants of a blowpipe and ceramic jar nearby. The indigenous people of the rainforest believed that the nearer the sky a person was buried the closer their soul would be to the powerful spirits of nature. Consequently, the most important tribal leaders and warriors were placed in ironwood coffins in the highest, most difficult to reach limestone caves. Because Borneo ironwood is one of the most durable, rot resistent timbers in the world, the coffin remained intact well after the body inside disintegrated.
We knew we were done with the hardest part of the hike when we reached a lookout point at the top of the trail. Time for a break, we savored the panoramic view of the forest canopy, the winding muddy brown river below and a bird’s eye view of the lodge, as we downed water and trailmix.
On the way back, we stopped at a natural pool with a small waterfall for a refreshing swim. Stripping off our hiking shirts and pants, leech socks and boots, we gingerly walked across the rocky shore plunging into the deep water, swimming to the falls to cool down and cleanse away the dirt and sweat of the hike. Little did we know that as we enjoyed the spring water, those sneaky tiger leeches were making themselves at home in the clothes we’d draped over the trees branches waiting for us to redress. So once again, we returned to the lodge to shower and fund ourselves host to these pesky blood suckers!
After deleeching, showering and eating a well deserved lunch, we joined Laslie and our group for an easy trek and canopy walk. The lodge had built a series of platforms linked via suspension bridges in the canopy of the rainforest to give guests a better opportunity to see wildlife inhabiting the treetops. After a short climb up several flights of a metal circular staircase, we were on top of the world!
At this height, it was much easier to observe the wildlife that frequented the canopy. We watched a red leaf monkey perched on a branch, its long tail dangling, snacking on what else, leaves!
A lizard lazed on a high tree branch nicely camoflauged by the branch’s patchy moss.
Moving from platform to platform via hanging suspension bridges was easy going and it was a relief to leave the mud and leeches below. Even the temperature and humidity were noticeably lower on top of the trees!
Walking on the road back to the lodge, we were delighted to be surrounded by a kaleidoscope of butterflies, their fluttering wings alternating between irridescent blue and black. One landed on the gravel ahead, giving us a few seconds to observe the blue triangular pattern of its wings, bright red head and white beady eyes. This was just one of the many species of butterflies that make their home in the Danum Valley.
On our final evening in Danum Valley, we took a short drive after dark. In addition to some sleeping birds, we saw one of the rainforest’s most unique animals, the coluga. This small lemur like animal has a furred membrane of skin that stretches from its neck to its claws and tail giving it the ability to glide through the forest. This coluga was clinging to the tree trunk, eyes wide open with its membrane folded. Although, we watched patiently, it was in no hurry to glide for us so we eventually called it a night and headed to our room to pack up for tomorrow’s departure.
Wildlife sightings in the Danum Valley are not an ordinary occurrance – the valley is large and remote with acres and acres of pristine forest giving fauna lots of room to roam far from human activity. Nonetheless, it was amazing to spend time in one of the oldest pristine rainforests in the world. Tomorrow we head back to Lahad Datu and then on to the Kinabatangan River, considered one of the best places for wildlife viewing in Borneo. Fingers crossed that we will see more amazing wildlife and the Borneo Big Five.
May, 2025