Discovering Borneo wildlife with kids in Sabah, Malaysia

“Look at their noses wobbling Mum!” giggled my daughter, as we watched a troop of proboscis monkeys tucking into their food – just one of the high points during a week spotting some unforgettable Borneo wildlife with kids.

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Our visit to Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary was the final stop of our fantastic whistle-stop visit to Sabah in Malaysian Borneo with Intrepid Travel, but just one of an endless string of memorable moments.

We’d expected to be wowed by the orangutans (and we were) but that was only a single highlight from a trip which left my animal-loving daughter open-mouthed, grinning and determined to do her part to help Borneo’s endangered wildlife.

Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre & Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

In one corner, a one-year-old was practising forward rolls, legs flying with each roly-poly, grin visible on the other side of the play area. Elsewhere on the ropes, another little one was hanging off a bigger friend, the pair of them having huge fun dangling and climbing.

If you ignored the orange fur, you could have been in any playground world-wide. But this was the wonderful Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, a must on any itinerary for Borneo with kids, where you can not only see these great apes but learn more about how they’re being protected.

The centre takes rescued and orphaned orangutans and helps them learn the skills they need to survive in the wild – for babies, that means getting them an older orangutan ‘buddy’ as they play in the nursery, watched by visitors behind one-way glass so they’re unaware of any scrutiny.

As they get older, they’re gradually moved to different areas, which open onto the rainforest so they’re free to leave – an unchanging menu every day encourages them to head out and forage for something a bit different.

Some never return to the sanctuary, while others head back every few days, so there are no guarantees you’ll see the adults. But you might get a lot closer than you expect! Strolling along the wooden walkways to the feeding platform, we spotted two full-grown orangutans making their own way along the handrail.

And across the road in the Sun Bear sanctuary, which helps protect the world’s smallest bear, a mother orangutan with her baby was resting at the junction of three paths – edging past cautiously with my own daughter, who’d been chattering away about which orangutan she wanted to adopt, she was instantly silenced, eyes wide at the thrill of being so near.

Temporarily, at least. Since then, she’s asked for an orangutan and sun bear adoption on her birthday wishlist, and suggested the orangutan rehabilitation centre as a charity for her school to support – proof positive of just how big an impact travel can have for families.

Check out my video of a visit to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehibilitation Centre with kids

Sandakan Rainforest Discovery Centre

My daughter gasped as the squirrel leapt into the air, its ‘wings’ opening as it glided easily to the next tree. Watching giant flying squirrels high up in the tree canopy, on a walkway 620m above ground level, was a world away from spying their everyday grey cousins in our local park.

In the background, the soundtrack of huge Pomponia merula. Better known as the 6 o’clock cicada, as it starts its mix of croaking and high-pitched chirrups around sunset, some of the insects make more noise than the average motorbike.

As night fell and we wandered the paths to the light of our torches, we felt miles from civilisation – having Intrepid Travel take care of the practical side of this family adventure, especially as I was travelling alone with my daughter, was a huge advantage when you’re heading off the beaten track.

Thankfully our guide not only kept us from getting entirely lost, but also had an impressive ability to spot some of the forest’s shyest and rarest nocturnal creatures.

The highlight? Seeing a Western tarsier – one of the oldest mammals on the planet, tarsiers date back an astonishing 55 million years. With their huge eyes and strange elongated fingers, which wouldn’t look out of place on ET (great for gripping trees), they’re easily startled.

The first two we encountered had obviously heard us coming, and leapt off into the undergrowth. But our persistence was rewarded, with the sight of one clinging to a branch, its eyes gleaming in the dark.

Emerging from the knee-high bushes, we were silently thrilled to have seen one for ourselves – and in my case, also pleased that we hadn’t encountered another native forest-dweller… the leech!

Check out my video of our visit to the Sepilok Rainforest Discovery Centre

Kinabatangan River

10 minutes after climbing into our boat and speeding off down the Kinabatangan River, we saw them – a family of three pygmy elephants in the water.

Trunks entwined, the baby was busily play-fighting with one of its parents, while the other splashed through the water looking for food on the opposite bank. At around 8-10ft tall when fully grown, they might be small for elephants but still pretty sizeable.

How, we wondered, can you possibly top that? But the wildlife along the river is so rich and varied that each of our cruises to spot Borneo’s wildlife in its natural habitat had countless moments to remember.

During two afternoon boat trips, we saw monkeys splashing about by the water’s edge before settling down in the trees to sleep, their backs to the river as night-time predators would come from the forest – proboscis monkeys, silver leaf monkeys, long-tailed macaques, short-tailed macaques too, all leaping, climbing and then curling up together as the sun sank towards the horizon.

Elsewhere crocodiles basked on the banks, while birds flew overhead – an iridescent flash of blue from a kingfisher, dramatic black and red broadbills with their eye-catching green beaks, several species of hornbill, gleaming white herons, and more.

Venturing down a little tributary – and getting thoroughly over-excited at a sighting of a ‘crocodile’ swimming nearby, which turned out to be a floating log – we ducked under the branches of a fallen tree to reach an oxbow lake, covered with purple water hyacinths, a peaceful stretch of water carved out by the river.

At dawn, the river shrouded in mist, we saw the rainforest slowly came to life. And at night, we glimpsed an owl waiting to hunt, while a rare slow loris clung to a branch during its nocturnal outing, all under more stars than we’d ever seen and only the splash of our wake disturbing the silence.

We got to play a small part in helping protect the animals too, joining a local conservation project to plant elephant grass. Seeing the pygmy elephants in the river might have been a holiday highlight for us, but it’s actually caused by lack of food which forces them to range more widely.

Supported by the Intrepid Foundation, which works with local communities in Intrepid Travel’s trip destinations, it ensures tourism makes a positive impact – and gives families a chance to get hands on. While my city-dwelling daughter isn’t usually keen on getting her hands dirty, she jumped at the chance to help the elephants, feeling a particular connection after seeing them first-hand.

Check out my video of our wildlife-spotting cruises on the Kinabatangan River

Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary

If the macaques won the title of cheekiest monkeys spotted during our Borneo family holiday, the proboscis monkeys won my daughter’s heart for their unique looks.

To make it in the proboscis monkey world, the bigger your nose and belly, the better. Having seen them clambering in the trees along the Kinabatangan River, harems in tow, or some of the bachelor groups settling down at night, we couldn’t wait to see them close up at the sanctuary.

Once we’d got past the Silver Leaf monkeys, that was, including some bright orange babies with their silver-grey mothers – and one being looked after by a well-meaning but slightly ineffectual big sister, as its own mum snacked nearby.

But for entertainment, you couldn’t beat the proboscis monkeys: lounging casually in a branch as if it were an armchair, paws on knees and noses very definitely wobbling up and down with each bite they took.

One enterprising mother was even giving her baby a quick wash in the bowl of water left out to drink from – and we learned that proboscis monkeys can actually use those big noses as snorkels when they swim.

No wonder they quickly became my daughter’s firm favourite, a much-cuddled fluffy proboscis monkey toy now a permanent reminder of our unforgettable Borneo family adventure.

For more details of Intrepid Travel’s Borneo family holiday, check out the different itineraries on their website

*First published 2024, last updated 2025*

Disclosure: My trip was courtesy of Intrepid Travel and this post was written as part of a paid collaboration – all opinions are mine (and my daughter’s) as getting to see this Borneo wildlife with kids genuinely was amazing

Images copyright MummyTravels

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