| Accommodation and Packages in North East Sabah and Islands ...

| Journey to Lahad Datu | Trip from Lahad Datu to TWR | Tabin Wildlife Resort | The Pygmy Elephant | The Lipad Mud Volcano | The Cicada | SOSRhino | Sepilok Orangutan Appeal UK | Night Safari | Birdlife at Tabin - a list |

- Arriving at Tabin Wildlife Reserve

The laterite road took us to the borders of the reserve. We passed through a village, where many of the plantation workers lived amongst the villagers. Along the way, a lone rainforest tree, the Tualang tree towering above all else stands at about 100ft high. The tree would have been a little higher than the rainforest canopy 50yrs ago. Now it stands alone like the tower of babel, a morbid reminder of what it used to be. As we turned a sharp corner, we met up with some guests from the resort. They were standing about with binoculars and all. I was told that the elephants were nearby and anytime soon the male pygmy elephant will emerge from the bush on the regular walk through the secondary forest cover into the plantation in search of food. Tired and hungry, I decided it was best to skip the event, thinking the next day would be a better time to meet up with these creatures again. We took the turn and left for the resort.

- Tabin Wildlife Resort

The resort was established in 2002. With only 20 chalets dotted around the open area by the edge of the river, this resort can only cater a select number of guests. There is the camping site some 100m away, close to the information centre but the thing about camping in tropical jungles - there are lots of fears to overcome.if you have any. The bugs, creepy crawlies, unfamiliar sounds at night, going to the loo a distance away in pitch darkness and the rain.which can be very heavy at times. Although the package was cheaper, I opted for the jungle chalet instead. The river chalets are built partially on solid ground, extending over the edge of the riverbank. It's a lovely setting most times except during the rains when the gush of the river can be quite deafening. There are 12 units all lining the riverbank on one side of the main reception and restaurant. On the other side, a plank walkway leads to the jungle chalets. The chalets are equipped with air conditioning, hot/cold shower room, writing desk, double or twin beds, and some bedtime reading material that is designed to inform guests of the activities and Tabin's treasures to be discovered. Although I didn't have any unwelcomed guests in my cosy,wooden chalet but my immediate neighbours, Sandra and Alex from Germany had a resident gigantic gecko in theirs!

The first evening that March, we had an incredibly heavy downpour which lasted 3hours. Dinner - steaming hot rice and some local dishes took away the chills in our bones. It can get quite cold in the rainforest especially at night. There were several other guests staying at the resort. Having some time to kill before the safari drive down the plantation road later on, we gathered round to discuss what the group had seen on the trip out earlier. I was told that when I passed them on the way in, they actually managed to catch a glimpse of the pygmy elephants crossing at a specific spot along the plantation road. It certainly was exciting for the guests as I was told yet again.it wasn't all that easy spotting them. Once the herd has crossed the path, it should take them another 3 days or so to come this way again.

•  The Pygmy Elephant

The pygmy elephant is slightly smaller in stature to the ones normally found in Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand and Indochina . Initially it was first thought that elephants were brought to Borneo as gifts for the Sultan centuries ago but now experts believe the elephants to have been in Borneo for over 300,000 yrs. The Pygmy Elephants are found only in to Sabah ; and are not found in Sarawak or Brunei . They are Sabah 's national treasure, one of many beautiful inheritances that is disappearing fast. The elephant is sometimes regarded a nuisance. In one night, an elephant can destroy acres of young oil palms. The fragmented forest reserves and the deforestation in Sabah has placed these creatures in conflict with landowners and villagers. A gory picture taken in 2005 by a tourist was published in the local papers - a decomposing head of a pygmy elephant being washed down kinabatangan river. These conflicts often led to the elephants being killed. Translocation programmes of elephants have not been introduced in Sabah as yet. For more on the pygmy elephants, log into

The Reserve is hilly in the centr-al and western regions. And its northern part connects to the lower reaches of the tributaries of the Segama River , Sabah 's second longest river. The controversy here at the moment though is that the logging concessions have been given out to log areas in the Ulu Segama Reserve as well as the Malua Reserve - but that's another long standing story of stay against change..

The vegetation at Tabin Reserve consists mainly of lowland dipterocarp forest, swamp forests and mangroves and even small patches of native coniferous in the higher elevations. Lowland dipterocarp areas were and still are the first areas to be cleared and there are very few virgin patches left in Malaysia . The reserve area stretches out an area of 120,500 hectares. It was originally registered as "Silabukan and Lumerau" forest reserve in the 1950's, and later placed under wildlife forest reserves of forest category class VII by the Forest Enactment of Sabah in 1968. This means that the jungle here is maintained for the sole purpose of wildlife preservation. However, the class VII category only covers what is known as the core area which is a fraction at only 8,600 hectares of flora with original genetic roots planted down in this land, dating back millions of years old - undisturbed, to grow and die in its own lifecycle and propagate its genes .

The Lipad Mud Volcano

The Tabin area is rich. It has salt licks, mud volcanoes and streams and all this goes into feeding and the wellbeing of animals and plants in the area. Many protected areas and jungles have their share of salt licks but very few where mud volcanoes exist. In Sabah , there are only two places that are accessible to the public. One is at Pulau Tiga, just off the coast of Kota Kinabalu and the other is at Tabin Wildlife Reserve. There are 3 spots within the 1205 Sq km area (485 sq miles) but only 1 is accessible - The Lipad Mud Volcano. The other one is within the core area about 20km away but this area is restricted to those who have permits from the wildlife department to enter. For other recreational visits to a mud volcano, we were taken to the one closer to the resort. We climbed onto the pick up truck and sped off on a bumpy ride towards the SOS Rhino office. About 50m from SOSRhino, a small trek leads off to the mud volcano. Sandra, Alex, our guide Michael, trudged through 800m of muddy trail. Along the way, there were a number of tree samples which had coloured tags pinned on them. The research was conducted by university students in an attempt to distinguish the various categories. Red, Blue ,Yellow tags differentiated tree samples from soft , medium and hardwood species. Plants - the understorey of the jungle lined the area. Michael who is of Iban origins and comes from Sarawak, shows the vegetation that his mother and mothers before her have been using as herbs or vegetables in their daily use.

The jungle begonia, a beautiful stunted plant with vibrant tiny pink-white flowers is more than just an ornamental plant. The natives pick its thick leveled leaves to cook with fresh fish. It can also be eaten raw and tastes quite palatable . a little sour , which gives a lovely flavour to the dish.

March was the mating season for the cicadas and the jungle was just vibrating with a sharp resonance...

more on tabin wildlife reserve...

Accommodation & Packages to North East Sabah ~ Tawau, Semporna, Mabul and Kapalai, Mataking, Sipadan , Lahad Datu & Tabin Wildlife Reserve