Trip Report: Borneo's Best: Orangutans & Rainforest Wildlife - June 2025

Borneo, a giant and rugged island in southeast Asia, is home to ancient rainforests, elusive wildlife, and enough humidity to fog every lens you've ever owned. I recently had the opportunity to lead our inaugural trip here with fellow BCJ guide Paul Anderson. We had an intrepid group of photography enthusiasts who took on Malaysian Borneo from the cat-filled streets of Kuching to the deep, leech-rich jungles of Danum Valley. This wasn’t just a trip; it was a full-on photographic safari and adventure through some of the densest rainforests on earth. 

We began the capital of Kuching, a vibrant city with lots of history, culture, excellent food, and more cat statues than could possible be justified. Our first objective would be one of the nearby orangutan sanctuaries. The reserve is very large, and has no enclosure, meaning the orangutans are free to come and go. The employees do offer additional food if the fruiting trees are not providing enough for the orangutans. These sanctuaries are good places to see the elusive primate in a semi wild setting and are crucial for the conservation efforts surrounding the orangutans. We were fortunate to see a big male and a younger female while we were there.  

While in Kuching, we left the city behind and took a boat to the Bako National Park. This idyllic coastal park offered us some really cool wildlife sightings of proboscis monkeys and silvered langurs. The highlight was a very close sighting of the langurs just sitting on the beach posing and eating grasses. 

The rest of our Bornean adventure would take place in the northeastern part of the island. A couple of flights later and we were reacquainting ourselves with the humidity, this time in Sandakan. We went straight from the airport to the Labuk Bay proboscis monkey sanctuary. This was an opportunity to photograph these strange looking monkeys up close and personal. It was pretty fun watching them swing from tree to tree and interact with each other.  

Our lodge that night was located just on the outside of the Rainforest Discover Center. A beautiful and pristine section of forest with lots of trails and even a canopy walkway for getting a higher view of the wildlife. The next morning we were up at dawn walking the canopy, looking and listening for wildlife. It was a slow morning, but on the way back, Paul sighted a wild mother and baby orangutan overhead that the rest of us had walked by. A great encounter and a good reminder that it is never over until its over. 

Next we moved to a beautiful lodge on the Kinabatangan River where we would spend the next several days looking for wildlife along the shores. The Kinabatangan is the second longest river in Malaysia and a hotspot for wildlife. Our major target here was the Borneo pygmy elephant. A subspecies of Asian elephant, the Borneo elephant is endangered with an estimated population of less than 1,500 individuals. We were hopeful, but realistic about our chances of seeing one. Our second day on the river, our guide let us know that there had been a sighting the day before and we should try our chances further up river. We set out early in the hot sun, making the commute to where they had previously been spotted. We passed bend after bend with no luck. Just about when we were about to give up, we noticed some rustling in the grasses on the shore. There they were! We were able to spend quite some time as the elephants slowly ate their way through the grasses and emerged into view. We were thrilled to return home with photos of these rare elephants in a spectacular setting.  

After a couple days on the river, we visited the nearby Gomantong Cave. This massive cave has so many opportunities for photography it was hard to choose what to focus on. There were orangutans and maroon langurs dancing around the treetops looking for fruit and birds flying all over. The inside of the cave itself was quite impressive (assuming you could overlook the smell and cockroaches). Our goal, however, was outside the cave on a platform near one of the higher entrances. From this platform, we have a front row view to a mass exodus as millions of bats leave the cave each night. This meant we would have to climb what our guide called “The Stairway to Heaven”. We assured the group that the effort to climb the stairs would be worth it. 

Besides the dazzling display of millions of synchronized wings, our eyes were on the lookout for predators coming to take advantage of a flying meal. Several birds of prey know to come by the entrance each night at dusk and they arrived right on cue. What was more interesting was when the Oriental Pied Hornbills showed up. Typically a fruit eater, these birds have learned to take advantage of the crowd of bats. They don’t have the talons the raptors do to catch them mid air. The hornbills have to sit on the tops of trees and pluck the passing bats out of mid air with their beaks. It really was quite spectacular to witness this behavior and I think all of us will remember this as a highlight of the trip.  

Our trip would wrap up with a few days in the amazing Danum Valley, a remote and beautiful landscape of untouched rainforest. A couple hours winding through the jungle on a narrow dirt road brought us to our hotel, the Bornean Rainforest Lodge. Here we would have first class lodging, food, and guides as well as some of our best opportunities for wild orangutans.  

On our first safari walk, we were incredibly lucky to see two orangutans near the road. Our guides told us these were known individuals: Beth, a 45 year old female and Lan, her 6 year old son. While Beth was high in the tree, Lan was swinging around the vines right above us, very curious of all the cameras. It was a really amazing experience to see these wild orangutans so close.  

We all really enjoyed the time in Danum Valley. Besides orangutans, we had opportunities to photograph Red Langurs, a variety of birds, and many nocturnal animals during our night safaris. We also were able to walk the canopy walkway which was a really cool experience. It was a very productive way to end the trip.  

Borneo is truly one of the great wildlife photography destinations anywhere on earth. Photographing in the jungles is always challenging. The animals are quick, the light is low and the humidity is high. Despite the challenges, photographing in Borneo is incredibly rewarding and spending time with some of our closest relatives in animal kingdom is so special. Thank you to Paul and all our guests for such a great experience. I already am looking forward to the next one!