Sukau River Lodge, Riverine Rainforests, Borneo

From Sukau River Lodge from which it is possible to take boat trips to the ox-bow lakes and trek in the riverine rainforests where there is plenty of wildlife to see, and of course wonderful scenery, although when I was there most of the wildlife was hiding with the exception of the leaches who seemed very pleased to see me. In fact on arrival at the jetty of our riverside lodge there was one waiting for us, sniffing the air. During the rainforest treks you have to wear long trousers tucked into leach socks and short sleeves, because they definitely will drop onto you, then head straight for your warm bits with good blood-flow (e.g. arm-pits) so the best way to deal with them is have your arms visible so people can alert you as they progress up your arms (rather than let them do it under cover inside a shirt) It is best to pull them off before they start drinking. They are relatively easy to pull off however and are quite cute once you get to know them. It is best to shower immediately after a jungle trip and check to see if you have missed any.

The rooms at the Sukau River Lodge are very rustic huts surrounded by jungle. The water in the showers was a little on the yellow side, presumably rainwater and filtered river water. I however thought it was a wonderful place to stay with a fantastic bar jutting out into the water and surrounded by mist from the jungle. No TV but an optional wildlife lecture and slide-show.

You can also take boat trips, from the lodge, to look for the wonderful proboscis monkeys. They mostly sit high in the trees so they are difficult to photograph, but are a fantastic site, with the large fat dominant male sitting still with his huge nose and attentive females, while the younger males and females with their smaller noses leap around. I could watch them for hours. In fact I did. Absolutely wonderful, and you won't see this anywhere else in the world.