Bunking in Borneo’s Rainforest, Malaysian Style

Known for its incredibly biodiverse rainforests, Borneo, the world’s third-largest island, offers a walk on the wild side. Borneo also boasts the distinction of being the only island in the world controlled by three countries: Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. I took a deep dive into Malaysian Borneo’s jungle by experiencing three wildly different and rustic lodgings. An exceptional family runs the lodges. The inspiring family also makes a difference by protecting this part of Malaysia’s most precious resource: nature.

The Adventure Begins

Launching from Kota Kinabalu, a likable and busy coastal town, I took a winding and ascending five-hour bus ride to Keningau, a valley town known for growing cinnamon trees. From there, a private car took me to Sapulot, a region historically known for its Indigenous Murut tribe and their traditional practices, including headhunting and longhouse living. Today, the “tribe” is primarily Christian, and they practice hill-terraced rice cultivation while adapting to modernization and sustainable tourism.

There, I met father and son, Robert and Virgil Gunting, who not only own Borneo Outback Tours but also focus on conservation.  The father/son team keeps busy driving community development through authentic, preservation-based, and income-generating projects that uplift the locals in one of Malaysia’s poorest districts. Money didn’t become necessary in these parts inhabited by the wonderfully soft-spoken Murut until 20 years ago, when clear-cut logging destroyed their hunting and gathering way of life.

The Rainforest Restoration Efforts

The resurrection of these pristine jungles is underway. Yet, the previous decimation of the primary forest means that regrowing forests contain significantly more undergrowth than primary forests. This makes moving through them to track animals and hunt boar and deer much more difficult, as undergrowth in secondary forests often hides wildlife. Additionally, the region’s life-sustaining rivers were severely damaged by the logging that killed off the fish. However, change is underway through tree planting, riverbank restoration, and community revitalization. This place is once again becoming Mother Nature’s paradise.

Robert Gunting, a Murut descendant and eco-tourism sage, is the mastermind behind this encouraging rainforest recovery and reversal of fortune. He graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1981, earning both his undergraduate and Ph.D degrees in five years. Robert, the first tribal native from Sabah (this part of Malaysian Borneo) to earn a Ph.D, grew up in a longhouse and exemplifies laidback modesty as well as a loathing for denuded forests.

Pungiton Cave Camp

The first of my three jungle accommodations was the 10-customer-max Pungiton Cave Camp, accessible only by a 4×4 drive-in followed by a narrow, longboat ride on the Sapulot River. This open-air, roofed bunkhouse offers a soothing jungle soundtrack for sleeping. The go-to meal was savory deer meat accompanied by sautéed wild jungle ferns. We enjoyed the meal while sitting on tree-trunk stools in the camp’s dining hut. This getaway is generator-run and has air-temp showers. Roughing it, you might say.

From the camp, it’s a 10-minute hike to the lodge’s namesake, the underground Punginton cave trek that Gunting recently saved from its scheduled destruction as a mine for marble and lyme.

The following day, we took the longboat and wound our way upstream in the Sapulot River to Batupunggul, a lone, towering limestone pinnacle known to locals as the Rock Stump. The surrounding 400 acres of primary forest, replete with strangling Ficus trees, were also saved by Robert. On our return trip, we pulled over onto the riverside for a picnic, melding fried chicken with fried eggplant.

A Walk—and a Sleep—on The Wild Side

Days later, we followed the river and a rugged road to a trailhead for a 30-minute trek to a hanging-cable bridge over another river, which led to an epic waterfall and our next down-to-earth accommodation, the Kabulongou Waterfall Camp.

These open-air accommodations are perched on a riverbank just below the waterfall. The centerpiece of this otherworldly universe is the combined outdoor community hut, kitchen, and dining room. All common areas on this tour are experienced barefoot, as shoes stay parked outside all entrances. Along with the constant waterfall soundtrack, this idyllic jungle setting is further enhanced by the Guntings’ purpose beyond profit (they have also saved this area). Meals included okra, deer-bone-broth soup, and winter melon.

Guests replanting cocoa plants alongside the crew participate in the rehabilitation of this rainforest. Other agro-ecological replantings include additional sustainable crops, such as coffee, durian, and rambutan. This is modern, organic, integrated farming 101, making this place an undisputed grass-roots farm-to-table, on-the-ground operator. Period. Oh yeah, there’s also a birdwatching cabin.

Whitewater long boating on a wide river lined by longhouses to Indonesia’s Kalimantan border provided another day of thrilling adventures. A picnic in a secluded swimming cove added another highlight.

Halfway Back to Civilization

My final overnight stay was in the electrified and more civilized Munor Aulai Guesthouse, where 25 open-air beds all have fans. This third barefoot domain, located along the Salung River, features the inviting Eden Farm as its backyard. This farm experiment aims to and succeeds in optimizing yields through biodiversity, featuring a cascade of fish ponds hosting empurau fish, cocoa trees, agarwood, oud oil, super-charged compost basins, and durian and guava trees. It’s a true modern Eden, a model “model” farm, further enhanced by its landscape architecture that’s all focused on functional beauty. This agro-tourism jungle-encircled nirvana, flanked by a river, provides many unique memories on this three-part odyssey.

Our final group dinner, once again on tree-trunk stools, segued into a cultural evening featuring a dance performance by the villagers, acrobatic bamboo-rod tricks, and group drumming. Dessert became the intermission: tapioca starch with sweet-potato bits. The festivities concluded with a Murut-style drinking game involving fermented rice wine.

Throughout my triangulated stay in Northern Borneo’s rainforest, I noted that my Murut hosts always ate second, as is their tradition when welcoming guests. And that’s just another example of how these wonderful people handcraft your experience.

Experience the rugged vacation grand slam in Malaysian Borneo’s rainforest (Sabah) with waterfalls, caves, whitewater long-boating, trekking, and splendid agrotourism. For more information on these rustic and organic adventures, visit family-run Borneo Outback Tours. Also check out Sabah Tourism.

 

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