• Everyone may choose to sleep in a bit following our late night with the sea turtles. After breakfast there will be time to swim and explore the inter-tidal realm before catching our speedboat back to the mainland at 10:00 am.

• By 11:30 am we should be back aboard our bus for the 1.5-hour drive to the famous Kinabatagan River.

• The Kinabatagan is Sabah’s largest river that is now being hailed as the “Amazon of Borneo” for the treasure trove of animals found here. Influenced by the tides of the Sulu Sea and massive rainfall in the Borneo interior, the lower part of the river plain floods regularly – just like the Amazon. Thus over countless centuries, five distinct habitats have evolved – waterlogged and dry forests, saline and freshwater swamps and limestone forests. Each of these habitats contributes towards some of the most diverse concentrations of wildlife in Southeast Asia.

• We will check in to the beautiful Myne Resort perched on a forested hillside and overlooking a great bend in the river. Anyone considering a refreshing dip may think twice when seeing the large crocodiles sunning along the riverbanks or peering, like periscopes from the murky depths.

• Following a delicious lunch in the open-air pavilion restaurant, there will be time for a discussion on endemism and the regions wildlife before our afternoon river excursion.

• Like all islands, animals that evolved in isolation on Borneo have tended towards dwarfism or gigantism. Borneo, for example, boasts the world’s largest pitcher plant, flower and moss, but the smallest squirrel, orchid and elephant.

• At 3:30 pm we will board motorized launches for a 2.5-hour jungle river cruise in search of Bornean endemics and other species. This is the best time of day to spot large troops of proboscis monkeys, long-tail macaques and all 8 species of hornbills found in Borneo as they gather atop tall riverbank trees to roost for the night.

• There is never a dull moment along the Kinabatagan. Our wildlife safari should include sightings of stork-billed kingfishers, blue-eared kingfishers, night herons, great egrets, oriental darters, Storm’s storks, fish eagles, hornbills (rhinoceros, helmeted, black, white-crowned, pied, wrinkled, wreathed, bushy-crested), Asian reticulated pythons, mangrove snakes, crocodiles, monitor lizards, long-tail macaques, proboscis monkeys, orangutans, Borneo gibbons, Borneo bearded pigs, otters, and with luck – Borneo’s pygmy elephants.

• As the sun sets over the Kinabatagan River, we will slowly cruise back to our riverside lodge for a delicious buffet dinner and a sharing circle on the lounge deck to tell tales of our day’s adventures under the star-studded sky.

Overnight: Myne Resort, Kinabatagan River