• 5 Dinner (D)
• 7 Breakfast (B)
• 6 Lunch (L)

• Sepilok: Meet the world’s smallest bear at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, guided by founder and CEO Dr Wong. Learn how his team rescues and cares for sun bears threatened by habitat loss and the illegal pet trade, and see how each bear is given space to climb, forage and behave more naturally.
• Sepilok: Explore the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve from suspension bridges and a 147-metre canopy walkway, with the rainforest rising around you. Look across the treetops, watch for rare birds and see the scale of Borneo’s lowland forest from above, where every sound, branch and movement draws you further into this protected habitat.
• Kinabatangan River: Glide along the Kinabatangan River with your guide helping you scan the banks, branches and shallows for Borneo’s Big Five: orangutan, proboscis monkey, pygmy elephant, rhinoceros hornbill and crocodile. From the water, you’ll see why this river is one of Sabah’s great wildlife corridors, linking rainforest, wetlands and mangrove habitats.
• Kinabatangan River: See the Kinabatangan after dark, when the river feels completely different. With your guide, scan the banks and branches for civets, flying foxes, palm civets and owls, using the boat’s quiet pace to pick up small movements, eye shine and the sounds that carry across the water after sunset.
• Sandakan: Step inside Agnes Keith House, the restored hilltop home of the American writer who wrote about life in North Borneo before and after the Second World War. Through its rooms, photographs and gardens, you’ll see Sandakan’s past through one family’s experience of this former British North Borneo capital.
• Sandakan: Sit down to lunch at the English Tea House, set beside Agnes Keith House on a hill above Sandakan. Expect colonial-style surroundings, garden views and a menu that nods to the city’s British North Borneo past, with familiar tea house favourites served in one of Sandakan’s best-known dining spots.
• At the Everything Pineapple Project, see how local pineapple is turned into handmade jams, chutneys and juices. Browse the products, taste the sweet and sharp flavours and learn how this small project uses a crop grown across Sabah in ways that support local makers.
• Kota Kinabalu: Get to know Kota Kinabalu through the places that shape Sabah’s capital. Visit the city mosque, pass the Atkinson Clock Tower and stop at a local market, seeing how coastal life, faith, trade and daily routines sit side by side in one of Borneo’s busiest cities.
• Ara Dinawan Island: Enjoy time away from the city on a small stretch of Sabah’s coast known for clear shallows and coral close to shore. Take the pace you want here, from quiet beach time to optional activities on the water, with space to enjoy the island without feeling rushed.
• Ara Dinawan Island: Enjoy a private beach barbecue lunch on Ara Dinawan Island, with grilled seafood, chicken, fresh salads, tropical fruit and cold drinks served close to the water. After time on the beach or in the sea, sit down with your fellow travellers and enjoy what’s been cooked over the grill.

• Sandakan: Follow Sandakan’s streets with your Travel Director and taste the flavours locals know well. Try roti kosong, a plain flatbread often served with curry, kueh, colourful bite-sized cakes or sweets and teh tarik, Malaysia’s pulled milk tea known for its frothy top.

• Deluxe coach travel
• Selected hotel dinners plus a locally hosted meal
• Standard regional accommodation

Visit Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre to watch orangutans feed and move through the trees. View the nursery, where young orangutans practise skills they need to survive in the rainforest.

The centre cares for orphaned orangutans and animals formerly kept as pets, helping them prepare for a return to the wild. This conservation-focused visit offers a close look at the work involved in protecting one of Borneo’s most recognisable species and its forest habitat.

Trafalgar

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over a welcome dinner in Sandakan, Sabah’s historic east-coast city. It is a chance to share a table, get to know your small group and hear what makes Borneo’s wildlife and communities distinctive.

Sandakan’s waterfront setting and mix of Malay, Chinese and Indigenous influences provide a fitting introduction to the region. Your Travel Director will introduce the rainforest, wetlands and highlands that feature in the journey.

Tour the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Sepilok with its founder and CEO, Dr Wong. Learn how the team rescues and cares for sun bears, and watch for their natural climbing and foraging behaviour.

Sun bears are the world’s smallest bears, recognisable by their pale chest markings and long tongues. Threatened by habitat loss and the illegal pet trade, they are given space at the centre to recover in a forest setting while visitors learn why their protection matters.

Walk the suspension bridges and 147-metre canopy walkway at the Rainforest Discovery Centre in the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve. Look across the treetops and watch for birdlife among the branches of Sabah’s lowland rainforest.

The elevated route reveals a forest layer that is difficult to appreciate from the ground. Towering trees, shifting light and calls from the canopy give you a sense of the height and complexity of this protected habitat.

Explore Sandakan on a Heritage Walk with your Travel Director, following streets through markets, cafés and community spaces. Along the way, taste roti kosong, kueh and teh tarik—a flatbread, small local sweets and Malaysia’s frothy pulled milk tea.

Sandakan’s food and streets reflect the cultures that have shaped this port city on the Sulu Sea. The tastings offer a flavour of everyday life, rather than a view of the city’s history from a distance.

Cruise the Kinabatangan River with a guide, scanning its banks and overhanging branches for proboscis monkeys, hornbills, crocodiles and, with luck, pygmy elephants or orangutans. Excursions include a first-light cruise towards an oxbow lake and an afternoon journey along the river.

The changing water and light reveal different parts of this wildlife corridor, from still wetland edges to riverside forest. Passing Kg Abai also offers insight into the Orang Sungai communities whose lives have long been tied to the river.

Walk the boardwalk after dark near Kinabatangan Wetlands Resort, looking for insects, frogs and other creatures active in the mangroves and rainforest at night. Listen for calls that are easily missed during daylight hours.

The resort sits within the Lower Kinabatangan-Segama Wetlands, a protected Ramsar site where mangroves and nipah palms create shelter for wetland life. Exploring on foot offers a close, quiet contrast to viewing this habitat from a boat.

Take a guided night river safari on the Kinabatangan, scanning branches and banks for eye shine and subtle movement. Watch for nocturnal wildlife such as civets, slow lorises and tarsiers, as well as kingfishers resting above the water.

After sunset, the river’s sounds carry across the dark water and familiar forest edges take on a different character. Wildlife sightings cannot be guaranteed, but the boat’s measured pace gives you time to observe the wetlands when many species are most active.

Step inside Agnes Keith House, the restored Sandakan home of the American writer who documented life in North Borneo before and after the Second World War. Explore its rooms, photographs and gardens for a personal perspective on the city’s past.

Beside the house, enjoy lunch at the English Tea House in a hilltop setting overlooking Sandakan. Its garden and colonial-style surroundings connect the meal to the history explored in the house.

Meet coffee-growing Dusun hosts in Kiau Village, in the foothills of Mount Kinabalu. Share fresh local coffee and a home-cooked lunch while hearing how farming, food and family life are connected here.

This hosted visit brings you into a working highland community rather than presenting village life as a display. Conversation over the meal offers a personal introduction to the people who grow coffee in Sabah’s mountain foothills.

Follow coffee from plant to cup at Guas Nabalu and taste the finished brew. Sample local honey and discover pineapple products, including handmade jams, chutneys and juices associated with the Everything Pineapple Project.

These tastings highlight how growers and small-scale makers use familiar Sabah crops in different ways. Sweet honey, sharp pineapple and freshly brewed coffee offer distinct flavours of the Mount Kinabalu foothills, with an opportunity to learn about the work behind them.

Explore Kota Kinabalu’s city landmarks with a visit to the City Mosque, a pass by the historic Atkinson Clock Tower and a stop at a local market. Together, these places offer an introduction to faith, trade and daily life in Sabah’s capital.

The mosque is known for its waterside setting, while the clock tower recalls an earlier chapter of the city’s history. At the market, browse the activity of a busy coastal city shaped by its many communities.

Visit Ara Dinawan Island off Sabah’s coast for time beside clear shallows, coral and white sand. Enjoy the shoreline at your own pace and gather for a private beach barbecue served close to the water.

Grilled seafood and chicken, salads, tropical fruit and cold drinks make lunch part of the island experience. The small island offers a coastal contrast to Borneo’s inland forests and river wetlands. Kayaking and snorkelling are separate optional activities.

Explore Kota Kinabalu’s night market on foot and enjoy dinner amid the activity of the city after dark. Browse the stalls and take in the sights and aromas of a market where food is part of the evening atmosphere.

This experience offers a different perspective on Sabah’s coastal capital from its daytime sightseeing. It is optional, at additional cost and bookable on tour; ask your Travel Director for the available arrangements and price.

Choose a water activity at Ara Dinawan Island: kayak along the shoreline or snorkel above coral close to shore. Either option lets you experience this small island off Sabah’s coast from the water.

Kayaking brings the shape of the coast into view, while snorkelling offers a look beneath the clear shallows. These activities are optional, at additional cost and bookable on tour; ask your Travel Director about availability, equipment and prices before choosing.