From NaturePixels.org
May 2008
Author: wilis
Editor: <Please add your name here if you have edit this article>
Photographs and article are copyright of wilis
Contents |
Introduction
The Kinabatangan River is located in the Malaysia’s state of Sabah. Stretching 560km from the Crocker Range in the southwest of Sabah to Sulu Sea in the east, it is well-known for its remarkable flora and fauna diversity, spanning across habitats such as dipterocarp forests, freshwater swamps, oxbow lakes, salty mangrove swamps and limestone caves. It is reputedly has the highest density of wildlife in the whole of Southeast Asia, and a true photographer’s haven.
But sadly the rich biodiversity is being threatened by excessive loggings and clearing of lands for plantations. On one of our night river cruise, we came across boats transporting timber thru the river, a sorry sight and an insult to the beauty of nature. But talking about the state of Kinabatangan is well beyond the scope of this report, so let us go back to discussing more about the photography opportunity and the logistics.
While we will share images taken on trip, the real objective of this article is not to list the many wonderful birds and wildlife one can see. We believe there has been enough trip reports on the net covering this topic extensively. The objective of this article is to share the costs involved, logistics needed and challenges encountered to prepare other like-minded nature photographers for a similar trip down the Kinabatangan.
Participants
Remo: 2nd visit to Kinabatangan.
Jay Tan, Ender Tey and Wilis: first timers.
Getting There
The town nearest to Kinabatangan river is Sandakan town. It has an international airport serving few destinations domestic and international. Air Asia runs direct flight between KL-Sandakan and Johor Bahru-Sandakan, although at during our trip (May2008), the JB-Sandakan route seems to be irregular.
For our party of 4, the easiest and cheapest for us were to drive to Kuala Lumpur, followed by AirAsia flight to Sandakan.
From Sandakan, it is a further 3 hours drive away to Sukau, which is one of the key villages on lower Kinabatangan. Sukau has a number of budget accommodation and mid class lodges catering to travelers with different budgets.
To sum up, although Kinabatangan is quite accessible, the lack of direct access from Singapore means it still took us more than 12 hours just to reach there.
Singapore- KL: 4 hours drive to KL Sentral.
KL Sentral to LCCT (Low Cost Terminal): 1 hour (http://www.skybus.com.my)
KL- Sandakan: 2 hours 45minutes by AirAsia
Sandakan – Sukau Kinabatangan: 3 hours by van
And the above have not included the transit and waiting time.
Alternative Route: Fly Singapore- Kota Kinabalu (KK), and then from KK to Sandakan.
Note: Air Asia has a strict 15kg check in luggage weight limit, although strangely they didn’t bother to check on the weight of the carry on. I hand carried 2 lowepro bags (600 lens trekker and Mini Trekker) with total exceeding 20kgs.
Itinerary
To minimise taking too many annual leave, we took advantage of the Labour day holiday long weekend.
Day 1: Singapore- KL- Sandakan and overland to Sukau (Kinabatangan)
Day 2: Kinabatangan full day
Day 3: Kinabatangan full day
Day 4: Return to Singapore.
Selecting Outfitters
Some of the local outfitters we approached were:
North Borneo Safari: owned by Cede Prudente
North Borneo Safari runs Sukau Tomangong Riverview Lodge
http://www.sukaulodge.com/STRL/index.html
Robert Chong Kinabatangan’s Jungle Camp
http://www.kinabatangan-jungle-camp.com/
Borneo Eco Tours
http://www.borneoecotours.com/welcome/
Sukau Bed & Breakfast
Sukau B&B's simple room, with good ventilation, ceiling fan, and power point
Sukau B&B
In the end we chose to go with Shuairey from Sukau Bed & Breakfast for 2 reasons:
1. Instead of lump-sum package the norm of other operators, he provided a detail breakdown of each cost item. This was very helpful as it allowed us the flexibility to change and fine-tune further to suit our budget.
2. His quote of RM2,710 for 4 pax were much lower than the others that quoted between RM8-RM9000.
The boats used by operators are almost the same, and the only advantage we can see other operators offer were probably better accommodation & food, as well as possibly a more experienced guide. Having said that, we were still unable to fathom the huge difference in price.
It was flexible with Sukau B&B because on the last 2 days when we decided to cancel some of the boat sessions after discovering the flycatcher's nesting at the camp, we were not charged for those, and that brought down the cost to RM2,310 (RM578 per pax)
At a tender young age of 20, Shuairey has a lot of potential and were extremely sharp in locating birds and animals at night. However, he appeared less enthusiastic during the day session, leaving us to do most of the work. So I would say he is impressive for night boating, and mediocre during the day :)
Shuairey
What's in a Day's Agenda?
Typically we have 3 boat sessions daily. Morning from 6am-10am, followed by 2-6pm in the afternoon and night time from 8-10pm.
The boat is a simple 6-seaters, 21 footer one engine wooden boat. It also has electric mode so when we’re in tributary and smaller rivers, or when we want to approach birds, the boatman can switch to electric mode for quite cruising and approaching. However, it is not covered and you will be subjected to hot sun and rain.
In between boat session, we bird the forested areas around the campsite, or simply just catching up on sleep and back-up photos.
During our time there we had mostly sunny and hot late mornings, followed by thunderstorms in the afternoon. Waterproofing equipment and yourself are very important.
Equipment to Carry
For this trip I was relying on my Canon 600mm mounted on tripod on the boat. I used Canon 17-40mm for landscape. Although I took along my Canon 70-200mm, it was rarely used. I wish I had brought along my macro lens instead of the Canon 70-200mm as the place were full of exciting insects, butts and moths that would've kept me occupied while having birds vacuum.
My decision to bring along Canon 300mm 2.8 proved correct as it was used often, especially on the monkeys and handholding on night boat sessions. Although the river is relatively calm, photographing from the boat can be rather tricky business and there's always risk of shake.
For photos back-up, I rely on Asus eeepc & Buffalo 120GB portable hard disk. Weighing only 900 grams and with second hand price of less than $400 in Singapore, I would take it along anyday instead of portable back-up device the likes of Epson or Nexto.
Remo backing up photos of the day on his Asus eeepc
Wildlife at Kinabatangan
5 most interesting birds photographed during the trip:
1. Darter (Anhinga): can be found at the tributary like Sungai Menanggol, as well as oxbow lakes.
2. Blue-eared Kingfisher: probably the most common kingfishers at Kinabatangan. We have countless encounters with this little jewel. However sighting is one thing, and approaching the bird is another as most are quite skittish. Only during the night boating session were we allowed to approach very close.
3. Malaysian Blue Flycatcher: one pair nesting at Sukau B&B.
Malaysian Blue Flycatcher by Ender Tey
4. Black & Red Broadbills: Nests were plentiful along the river.
5. Buffy Fish Owl. The most common birds at night.
Raptors were supposed to be plenty at Kinabatangan but we didn't have many sightings on this trip.
Other interesting animals we saw during the trip:
1. Proboscis monkeys: The monkey with long nose. One of the most common monkeys along Kinabatangan and like to jump from one tree to the next.
2. Orang-utan: We only heard the call at Kinabatangan. On the last day we checked out Sepilok Orang Utan Rehab Centre. Established in 1964, the centre's objective is to return orphaned orang utans back to the 'wild'. If you have sighted the wild orang utans at Kinabatangan, we suggest to give this place a miss.
3. Baby crocodile and civet cat during night boat session.
We hoped to be able to photograph the pygmy elephants. Unfortunately we did not encounter any during this trip. Well, always need to leave something to look forward to for the next trip.
Detail cost breakdown
Spore- KL return by car:
Toll Charges approx RM120 total
Petrol approx RM150
Cost/Pax: RM68
Parking was free as one of us have relative staying near KL Sentral. Otherwise parking at LCCT costs about RM36 per 24 hours block. However, park at your own risk as vehicle theft is not uncommon in KL. (http://www.klia.com.my/LCCTerminal/LCCgetting-to-terminal.html)
KL Sentral to LCCT:
Airport Shuttle at RM9/pax. Runs every half hourly from 3.30am. More info (http://www.skybus.com.my)
KL-Sandakan:
Return air tix including taxes by Air Asia approx RM420
Sepilok Orang Utan Reserve
RM30 for foreigners, RM5 for Malaysians, RM10 per camera permit
Sukau B&B: Room (twin bed) incl breakfast: RM40/night
Boating (Day): RM25/boat/hour
Boating (Night): RM30/boat/hour
Transport Sandakan-Sukau RM250 per way without stopover at Sepilok Orang Utan centre. RM300 with stopover at Sepilok
Meals at Sukau B&B RM10/pax/meal. Meal consists of 3 dishes & fruit. Recommended
More Photos from Borneo
Common Iora collecting nest materials by William Susanto
Black-backed Kingfisher by Jay Tan
and some catches from night boat session...
Black & Red Broadbills by Jay Tan
Buffy Fish Owl by William Susanto
Article by William Susanto, photographs contributed and copyright of William Susanto, Ender Tey and Jay Tan
