Borneo Rainforest Lodge, Danum Valley, Malaysia - Day 1

We're relaxing in between the morning and evening treks at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge.

We arrived yesterday, after a very early 6:20am flight from Kota Kinabalu to Lahad Datu. The BRL folks met us at the airport for the two hour drive the lodge, in the middle of the primary rainforest of Danum Valley conservation area. The last 90 minutes is over gravel and was a little bumpy. We spotted a bearded pig on the drive in.

The lodge itself is amazing, a great place to relax and base our trekking and wildlife spotting. And yes, in the middle of the rainforest, they have wifi.

Our room is a cabin reached by boardwalk from the main building. It's amazing how nice it is considering the location.

A stay at BRL is filled with treks. Our guide introduced himself, and then we had the afternoon to relax. The animals are smart enough to not go out during midday sun, and so the treks are morning and evenings.

Lunch was amazing, served overlooking at river that runs past the lodge with a 100m high ridge in the background. The open-air lodge is well designed so it feels cool even though there's no air conditioning.

We met up at 3:30 to start our first little trek. There was a Finnish couple with us. This time of year is low season so it's only four tourists to a guide.

We were suited up in out trekking gear, including leech socks. Leech socks look like Christmas stockings that are worn over your socks and pants, and tie up under your knee.

We had only walked about 50m when we ran into a researcher (there's a research facility in the conservation area) who was tracking a dominant male orangutan. We waited a few minutes but he didn't appear so we carried on.

The short trek on the first day is the canopy walk, a suspended bridge over the valley. It's great for spotting wildlife at tree top level. We saw an adolescent orangutan, and several hornbills.

Back at the lodge we had an hour to relax before heading out on a night drive. There were 10 of us in the back of a truck, with a guide up top with a big search light. It seemed a bit odd and not very sporting. We did see a small cat, a deer and an owl.

We were both exhausted with the day (having started at 4am to catch the flight). Had dinner, showered and fell asleep to the natural white noise of the rainforest.