Leech socks? Check!
Gum boots? Check!
Sense of adventure? Check!
When the sun goes down, a whole new world comes to life in the jungles of Borneo. We spent all day cruising the Kinabatang river in search of the wild life of Borneo, and the Kinabatang did not disappoint. But once darkness falls, new creatures emerge from their hiding places and are not all that far away from the cabins of the Bilit Adventure Lodge.
When the Bilit Adventure Lodge was built, the design was tailored to the natural environment. They designed the cabins and the boardwalks so that a minimum number of trees would need to be felled. They also encourage tree planting activities among their guests, and do their best to protect their wilder guests as well. All this hard work has paid off. Just outside the cabins of the Bilit Adventure Lodge, you can come face to face with one of Borneo’s more unusual creatures; the Tarsier. The Tarsier is the strange little creature with frog fingers and giant eyes. We would have loved to have shown you a photo of a Tarsier, but we were not quite lucky enough to spot one.
But there is more to this special nocturnal world than just the Tarsier. There are also frogs and other reptiles, who are moving slower than normal due to the cooling night air. And bird lovers will be in for a treat. As the brightly coloured jungle birds settle down for the night, it’s the perfect opportunity to get a little closer to them than would otherwise be possible.
The lodge will provide you with a torch, but you will need to bring your own hiking boots and leech socks, or rent some from the lodge for a small fee. The lodge is owned by Sepilok Tropical Wildlife Adventures, but the sock and boot trade is operated solely by the lodges housekeepers. If you rent your socks and boots from the lodge, you will be directly contributing to the local economy of this special jungle area.
I stayed with Jacob, whose exuberant voice would have scared away all the wildlife, and Daniel took off with a group of other guests to explore the night jungle. Even though the little birds were sleeping soundly, Dan had the bad luck to be with a particularly noisy group of middle aged women. Several of the birds flew off before he could take a photo.
The next morning we were speaking with a young Dutch couple, who had gone on the tour a night prior to us. They were the only two on the walk, and had a completely different experience.
Want to make the most of your night walk experience, and have the best chance possible to see a Tarsier? Then stay more than one night!
Check out Sepilok Tropical Wildlife Adventures for more information on the Kinabatangan and Bilit Adventure Lodge.