We had to stay a night in Lahad Datu because coming from Hong Kong, you fly into Kota Kinabalu then the connecting flight to Lahad Datu is later afternoon and the tour we booked only had transfers into Danum Valley in the morning.  If you can avoid it, don’t stay in Lahad Datu, it’s an absolute piece of shit and probably, no definitely, the worst town I’ve ever visited, with the exception of the people who appear quite nice.

There’s not much here, very little restaurants, and the streets are full of broken, open drains, that if you don’t look where you’re going, you could very easily all into. They use these as rubbish tins.  When we walked to the Grace Hotel Lahad Datu, a guy stopped and asked if we wanted a ride anywhere, not sure if he was expecting money for it or just being nice, I think it was the latter. Not many things were open here when we arrived as it was Sunday early evening, we had a bit of a walk around and it’s rather depressing.  There’s some type of river which stinks of dead animals, which is understandable since Grobbler spotted a dead rat in it.  

Going into the rain forest in Danum Valley, you expect to be eaten alive by mosquitoes and have bugs all over the place, but it’s really not that bad.  I was all mosquito sprayed up before coming but, whilst you see some around, we didn’t get bitten the entire time we were there.  In Borneo Rainforest Lodge, the dining is all outside (covered) but there’s very few mosquitoes or bugs that bother you, which was a nice pleasant surprise.  Even inside the Rainforest, at night, there’s a few things flying around but Grobbler and I, as were the rest of our group, were all wearing t-shirts and nobody got bitten over the two and  days we were there.

What to wear/take.  I reckon you’d be okay in shorts and a t-shirt, but to be safe, you probably need a long pair of pants and some long, thicker (not too thick) hiking like socks.  Which is what I had most of the time and was fine. T-shirts are fine, take a dry-fit/running light t-shirt or something similar, and take a couple for each day as you’ll need them.  They do a washing service which takes a day, it’s $50 for a big bag so not much, but when you’re here for a few days as were, you don’t really accumulate enough over 1 day in order to have it ready for the next.

Goes without saying this is a jungle, your shoes and pants are going to get a bit wet and very dirty, so wearing your new white Adidas Boost isn’t the best idea.  You need proper hiking shoes with some grip, it’s slippery in places and good grip is a must. Expect shoes to get filthy but they do have a show hose and cleaner to give them a scrub after each time you go out.  Wear muted colours if you can. I bought a mosquito hat thing for Grobbler but didn’t need that, neither did we really need sun screen as in the Rainforest much of the time you’re covered.

As each walk is quite short, not longer than 3 hours, you don’t need a huge pack, a 20L is fine. Bring a camera, buy some cheap binoculars (Nikon Sportstar 10×25 are compact and more than enough). The lodge provides a pair in the room but they’re big, heavy and not as good, plus our ones absolutely reeked of the last person’s sweat.  You should also bring a very light rain jacket as it can rain here very quickly, and very heavily. Bring some wet bags or plastic bags for valuables, phones and shit like that in case you caught in a downpour.

Also bring some togs, our room had a plunge pool and that was nice for cooling after the walks.  Not all the rooms have them but the expensive ones do. I reckon if you’re coming here, fork out for the extra on a decent room, overlooking the river,  The standard rooms have no view and whist I didn’t see inside, they didn’t look anywhere near as good. The rooms we stayed in were rather expensive, but if you factor in that it includes all the food and drinks (with the exception of ordering from the bar), it’s actually not too bad.

The food in Danum Valley is not great but okay.  It’s edible and some things are okay but bring snacks. There’s a small gift shop that sells a few things but not much.  When you check in at Lahad Datu office, there’s a 7-Eleven nearby you can shit at, but that’s pretty limited so I’d stock up on a few things before you come.  It’s not too bad, but if you have hungry kids it’s definitely worth saving some space for some snacks throughout the day.

In July (we came here 14-22), the weather is nice, around 27-30 during the day and about 20 at night. Unless you’re the cold type, no need to bring a sweatshirt or thick jacket, most of the time you’re doing shit so you’ll be warm. The tour company gives you a complimentary aluminium water bottle and there is no plastic bottles here (hooray for that).  You fill your water bottle up at the lodge. Water isn’t the best tasting but it’s fine and I presume very clean. Having said Grobbler got a bit of diarrhea, that might have been from the food though and he was fine after he got it out.  You can also bring your own water bottle. If you like drinking ice or fridge cold water, you’re out of luck.

I thought all the staff, from cleaning to cooks to admin to the guides were all excellent.  I’ll complain about anything but there’s really not much to complain about here. You need to be understanding that it’s in the middle of nowhere and even not considering this, everything is very efficient and professional and the staff are very friendly.  Okay the food wasn’t fantastic, but if you’re the type who expects to be served up a Gordon Ramsay level dish in the middle of a Borneo rainforest, you probably should stay at home.

At Danum Valley Rainforest Lodge, you’re not allowed to venture out on your own and go exploring, with the exception of the roads and some tracks. This is a bit of a disappointment but I can understand why.  It’s pretty remote, loads of venomous and poisonous snakes and animals around, and it’d be very easy to get lost in here very quickly.

We did both Danum Valley and Kinabatangan River.  Sandakan/Kinabatangan is way more touristy with a lot more lodges and people and hotel is shit.  Don’t even bother with Kinabatangan as it’s a waste of time and nowhere near as good as Danum Valley.  Of course, the Borneo Rainforest Lodge is a lot more expensive, but with the money you save by not doing a ground transfer to Sandakan, which is basically a bigger version of Lahad Datu, you’ll end up better off and not waste time travelling. 

The food at Bilit Rainforest Lodge is horrendous.  Bring instant noodles and loads of snacks because unless you have no taste buds, it’s bad. I’m no foodie and don’t expect much especially when going into a Rainforest, but this was shocking.    Snacks in Sandakan or Lahad Datu are limited and not very good, even potatoe chips taste shit, so make room in your bag for a massive stash of snacks and bring your favourite ones from home.

Few more mosquitoes on the Kinabatangan part of the tour, which is to be expected as you’re on the river, but still not that many as you might expect.  We didn’t get bitten at all whilst doing any of the river tours, Grobbler got bitten 5 times when he went for a whizz in the toilet at the lodge, but the bites went away quickly.  There’s a few buzzing around the reception at Bilit Rainforest Lodge but not that many. You’ll be fine walking around, as we did, in shorts, a t-shirt and jandals.  

The Bilit Rainforest Lodge on Kinabangan River part of the trip was very regimented and in a group.  You have to eat at set times, at least at Danum Valley they gave you a window, but at Bilit Rainforest Lodge it was 7:30 on the dot for example.  There are some times that are free and easy but there’s not much to explore around the lodge and the area is dirty with rubbish lieing around everywhere.  If you get a miserable family like we did grouped with you, it can make a difference.