River Fun in Borneo

On one of my two trips to the island of Borneo I wanted to take a river excursion into the heart of the island. I was staying on the Malaysian side of Borneo and was informed of a guided trip I could take in the heart of the island.

I don't recall the price I paid for the excursion but it was likely in the $50 range for a half day with a guide and a kayak rental. Additionally the guide acted as a photographer using my camera phone when requested.

Here is a picture of me with my guide headed to the river. The kayaks are in the back of the truck with us.

After the truck stopped we had a bit of a walk carrying our kayaks through the jungle to the river. Luckily the kayaks were of the cheap plastic variety and didn't weigh much.

I didn't take pictures of the trail itself but parts of it was muddy with muddy water. What I didn't realize until after the fact was there were leaches in that muddy water. I was wearing rubber flip flops and was ill prepared as I thought we would only be on the river. So, yes, I had to deal with that.

You may wonder why the guide did not warn me of this. He spoke little English so it was more a communication thing. But perhaps I gave him too much credit and he silently laughed at my disgust.

Anyway, we reached the river and now it was time to enjoy the tropical views:

There were places like this to stop along the way or you could play and have some fun. The guide was more than happy to take me in hopes of his future tip.

This was mostly a lazy float down the river. It was more about the adventure of the scenery than the adventure of the river itself.

another fun place to stop and swing on a rope over the river. These are staged areas for tourists who come this way and take this river adventure.

I particularly enjoyed these ledges along the river. It stood in stock contrast to the rest of the scenery.

You can see in the below photo all the caves in these ledges. You can imagine all the bats that live within these caves and come out at night.

And what's a trip through a river jungle without these pesky friends watching....see the jungle monkey?

I really enjoy these types of adventures. I love the rainforest and the jungles not only for the tropical setting, but for the diversity of wildlife found within it. What’s cool about these river adventures is that you can go deep into the bowels of the jungle where people don’t live. It’s just you and nature.