• We will rise early today and embark by boat on a Dawn Safari as this is the best time of day to see some of Borneo’s “keystone” species. Fruit bats, hornbills and gibbons are all frugivores (fruit-eating animals) and are crucial to the wide dispersal of rain forest seeds. Because the loss of these species can result in the loss of the forest itself, biologists refer to them as “keystone” species.

• Returning by 9:00 am from our Dawn Safari, we will enjoy a good breakfast, pack up and bid a fond farewell to the Kinabatangan.

• Just a 30-minute drive by bus from Myne Resort we arrive at Gomantong Cave. This is the largest cave in Sabah and home to millions of bats and swiftlets. A 15-minute walk through a jungle trail leads us to the cave chamber entrance where we can witness bird nest gatherers going about their daredevil task (90-meters above the cave floor) collecting swiftlet nests for the lucrative Chinese trade.

• The edible nest swiftlet is an insectivorous bird that patrols the skies by day, then retreats to the security of the cave chamber at night. The waxy secretion it uses to build its nests in the cave is the source of the famous Chinese “bird nest soup”.

• The WWF has described Gonantong as “the best managed edible bird’s nest cave in the world”, and historical records have traced it as the source of this precious delicacy to Chinese Emperors centuries ago.

• Dusk is the time that all the swiftlets return to the cave and millions of night-feeding insectivorous bats emerge. It is a dramatic moment as the hordes of bats pour out of the cave chamber and ribbon their way across the sunset colored sky.

• While we will not stay here long enough to witness this spectacle, we will have an excellent opportunity to learn about cave ecology and to view orangutans in the wild. The road leading into Gomantong Cave, and the boardwalk leading to the entrance, passes through a prime orangutan forest as evidenced by the profusion of nests seen in the treetops. With any luck, we should see “The Wildman of the Forest” here even if we failed to spot any orangutans along the Kinabatangan.

• From Gomantong Cave we now have the longest drive of the trip ahead of us. It’s a four-hour journey, but we will break up the bus trip with a good lunch stop at Telupid along the way.

• Arriving at Sabah Tea Garden in the late afternoon it will all seem worth it as we find ourselves in the sloping hills, dipping valleys and lush surroundings of Sabah’s only tea estate. Students can try their hands at the age-old art of tea picking (two leaves and a bud), as well as tour the tea factory with its wonderful aromas and interesting processing methods.

• Our overnight accommodation will be in a traditional style Borneo longhouse where we can all gather together native-style on the long porch for lessons on the indigenous peoples of Borneo.

• Here in the delightful cool of the highlands we will enjoy a delicious dinner and a campfire beside the lovely Sapaon River before retiring to our Borneo longhouse beds.

Overnight: Borneo longhouse, Sabah Tea Garden