From a shiny Singapore we landed in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo and were immersed once again into the chaos of Asia. Buses heaved along with open doors, motorbikes scooted to and fro and horns blared. When we finally got to our hostel we didn't know what to do with our time in Borneo, overwhelmed with all the different experiences Sabah had to offer but also how far away and expensive everything was! Finally we decided to begin with a trip to Kinabatangan river; Malaysia's second largest river and one of the world's largest ecosystems.

The next morning we headed off on an eleven hour bus journey across the country before arriving at Borneo Natural Sikeau Bilit Resort. It was a beautiful wooden chalet built on the riverside. We had a quick tea and a snack and then were ushered onto our first river cruise for the evening. Although a river cruise might sound luxuriously, it was a basic open air boat with enough wooden benches for about 16 of us to squeeze in. Binoculars in hand and camera at the ready we strained our eyes to spot some wildlife. But before we could hardly see the trees up ahead, our guide Bon Bom had spotted water monitor lizards crawling up the truck. I swear he had bionic eyes! On our first evening on the river we saw short and long tailed macaque monkeys, probosis monkeys with their pendulous noses and some eagles. The probosis monkey is endemic to Borneo and pretty much guaranteed to see given their prevalence along the river – but nonetheless cool to see these cheeky things messing about in the wild. We even managed to spot a baby crocodile before he dived into the water.

The next two days were spent either on the boat for dawn and dusk or hiking on the neighbouring hills. We were lucky to spot twenty different species of animals from rhinoceros hornbills, an orangutan, silver leaf monkeys, eagles and even a female pygmy elephant. The orangutan was especially unique as these are hard to come by wild. He was perched on the top of a tree sunbathing after heavy rain that morning. The female pygmy elephant was seen with a heavy heart as she was separated from her herd and appeared to be ill likely caused either by a snake bite or indigestion. They are the smallest of elephants and are endemic to Borneo. And now rapidly declining due to the ever increasing number of palm plantations.

It was devastating to see first hand the effect that palm deforestation has caused to the ecosystem. And with increasing demand from international companies this will only continue to happen. Sustainable palm oil is an approach to oil palm agriculture that aims to produce palm oil without causing deforestation or harming people. Unfortunately, less than seven percent of the total production of palm oil is certified as sustainable, as most companies refuse to pay the premium associated with less-destructive farming practices. So although it was a delight to see all of these incredible species we made our way back saddened to realise that these animals may not be here in years to come.

The next morning was another early start. At 5am we headed to the south to go white water river rafting. However the tour agent failed to mention that it would only take five hours to get to the starting point, a mere 2/3 hours was what we had signed up! A bus journey followed by two trains to the little village of Pandas which has no road access. We geared up and set off on the river with a honeymooning couple from Sweden. The rafting was great craic, crashing through class 4 rapids and waves. After battling with the Padas River rapids, we enjoyed a delicious, buffet style lunch on the banks of the river, giving us time to dry off and change into dry clothes for the return journey to Kota Kinabalu. The train journey itself was a unique experience. We sat on a bench next to the door, and it offered an amazing view of the journey, which meandered through beautiful jungle scenery, weaving in and out of the jungle and along the river, until we reached Beaufort station.