All Articles

I was picked up at 2pm for the wildlife river cruise adventure at Kawa-Kawa by the tour bus, hopeful to see the proboscis monkeys. The guide, Tim, told us the drive is approximately 2 hours to where we would get on the boat. On the way I was enlighten with the view of the country side of Sabah. Cows and dogs running loose along the road is definitely something you won't see in Sweden, where I'm from. We arrived to the house from where the boat would depart and we had some Hi-tea and other refreshments like fruit and local sweeteners. Ready with my camera I got my lifejacket and got on the boat. We cruised along the river close to the trees to get a view of the Proboscis monkeys but sadly we didn't see any. Tim did tell us that we might not see the monkeys because of the heat. He said that when the sun is too hot, they hide under the branches and leaves to cool off. We went the other direction to walk along the beach by the end of the river, in perfect timing to see the sun go down by the horizon of the ocean. Our guide was optimistic about seeing monkeys on our way back to the house. And so we did! As the sun went down the Proboscis monkeys came further out from the tree trunk and branches and I got to see 5-6 of them playing in the trees. First time I ever saw monkeys outside from the zoo. It was really cool.

On our way to the Poring hot Spring we made a few stops along the way. The first stop was in a town where they still have these historical shops and houses, all built in wood in the older days. Some of the guests did not have their breakfast yet, so we stopped by one of the local restaurant. Then we proceeded to the Jambatan Tamparuli Bridge. We walked across and our guide talked about the village on the other side. We spotted a special plant that closed its leaves as we touched it.

This adventure started at 6.30 in the morning when the Amazing Borneo bus picked us up at our hostel. We picked up 3 other guests before heading towards the mountain where we were going to spend our day. We started with the Butterfly Park where they were flying around here and there and up and near.

Now it was time for me to discover one of Borneo's many beautiful islands, Mantanani. Early in the morning my driver, Oswald, picked me up in front of my apartment. Then we picked up some more guests at the Best Western Hotel. After an almost two hours' drive from KK to the Kuala Abai Jetty it was time to switch from van to speedboat.

At 06.45 in the morning Ryan our guide picked me and two guests up from the hotel. After some more pick-ups from the hotels, the bus was full. I must say that Amazing Borneo has really comfortable busses, considering that we were supposed to sit in a bus for almost 6 hours.

The trekking started from the Kampung Kiau village. It took our group 1.5 hours to get to the camp. If I was to compare this trekking with the fast track on the mountain, this is a piece of cake. But for the others guest who were joining, it was a bit harder because they just had finished the climb to the summit of Mt. Kinabalu the day before. Their legs were very sore. But anyhow, the trek was nice and the view was beautiful. At some parts it was very steep! So I always had to be alert in where to put my feet. Along the way the guides showed us some plants that are edible and which ones that are filled with poison. When we got to the camp we had lunch. Unluckily, it started to rain heavily so we couldn't really do anything for about 2 hours.

Sabah Fest 2014 blazed a trail of opportunity for many to lose themselves for an hour & a half in the razzling dazzling rhythm of Sabah’s harmonious unity in diversity. A plethora of traditional performances ranging from Tenom Murut Gong, Papar Tanggungak, Putatan Bertitik troupe, Kudat Mongigol Sumundai, Kota Belud Dusun Tindal, Penampang Sumazau & Magaggung, Tenom Anggalang & Magunatip from the West Coast of Sabah.

Proud to be part of an expanding business venture and the very first East Malaysian tourism clients, Amazing Borneo Tours welcomes the dawn of the new age of unparalleled safety, convenience and comfort with the innovative WestStar Maxus V80 passenger tour van. The official launch of this van to be used as a tourist vehicle (Bas Persiaran) , together with the handover ceremony of two 11-seater Maxus passenger vans to Amazing Borneo Tours & Event Sdn. Bhd. was held on 28 Feb 2014 at Promenade Hotel Kota Kinabalu, with Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun gracing the event. Datuk was quoted saying that this is a timely investment that will boost quality service for all customers and promote the tourism business sector, especially in celebration of Visit Malaysia Year 2014.

If you want to try the most adventures rafting that Amazing Borneo can arrange for you Padas River is the place. The rafting is a grade 3-4 but can under some circumstances get up till 6, but then it’s too dangerous to do rafting. The only way to get to the starting point for rafting at Padas river is a 2 hour drive to Beaufort and from there to take a train for almost 90 minutes. We got picked up at 5:30 just near our apartment and the driver and also our guide Moos told us that we had to speed up to not miss the train. In our car there was a family of 4 from the Philippines, a couple from China and three guys from Hong Kong. A good mixture! It was nice to drive thru the landscape and see the sunrise over Mount Kinabalu. To see people wake up and start their days. And to know that we are going on an adventure. Luckily for us we made it in time for the train. It was a lot of people on the train and not seats for everyone. The standard on the train is a little bit different than what we are used to in Sweden. To start with, the trains in Sweden go on time, not 20 minutes late. And there will be air-condition or heat on the trains in Sweden. But this is the charm with traveling, that things are not what we are used to. It’s fascinated to go by train in the jungle and see small houses in the middle of nowhere. You started to image how their life looks like and what they do for a living, and how your own life would look like if you were born in that family.

One of Amazing Borneo Tours trips we wanted to do the most was the Rasa Ria Orang Utan Encounter. We have never seen Orang Utan in real life and really wanted to do that. We don’t have monkeys in Sweden (except for in the zoo) so for us this is very exotic. First they told us that we would not be able to see them because no one had booked the tour for the day that was fitting out schedule. But after a few days they told us that someone booked the trip and if we still wanted to go we could. Of course we still wanted to see the Orang Utan in real life so we did some changes in our schedule for the next day. Something that is good to know is that you have to book the trip at least 2 days before because there is only a limited number of guests that are allowed to visit the center in one day. Our guide and driver for today was Leo and Lerond, they picked us up outside our apartment and we drove to 1Borneo to pick up an American family. We continue to Rasa Ria Resort, only 50 min drive from Kota Kinabalu city. The resort have a nature club were they rehabilitate Orang Utan to get back to a life in the wilderness. To get to the nature club you walk thru the whole resort. This is not just a small hotel, the have like their own world. On the way in to the hotel you pass a golf court. We stopped outside the reception and walked thru go get outside to the “backyard”. The staff are very welcoming and greet you very politely. The resort have their own beach and a pool area and everything is so well organize, you will feel very tempted to stay at the resort and don’t go back after you have seen it.