Explore Sabah
While the west may have majestic Gunung Kinabalu, East Sabah is the destination of choice for animal encounters. Around former capital Sandakan alone, visitors can see orang-utans in Sepilok, proboscis monkeys at Labuk Bay – and there are no prizes for guessing the attraction at the Turtle Islands National Park.
Next stop on the itinerary is the Kinabatangan River, where lodges arrange longboat journeys to see pygmy elephants, orang-utans and more in the wild. Further into the interior, there is the option of visiting Danum Valley, a primary rainforest area with a majestic canopy walkway, or the equally appealing Tabin Wildlife Reserve.
Back on the coast, divers especially are pulled to Semporna, the jumping-off point for the myriad flora and fauna hidden in the waters surrounding Palau Sipadan, Palau Mabul and numerous other islands. Serious trekkers keen to explore the Maliau Basin, referred to by some as “Sabah’s Lost World”, set off by 4WD from the frontier boom town Tawau.
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Sandakan
Sandakan
Situated at the neck of Sandakan Bay, facing the Sulu Sea and towards the Philippines, the commandingly positioned town of SANDAKAN was all but destroyed during World War II. Postwar reconstruction on reclaimed land, worked around an unimaginative grid system of indistinguishable concrete blocks but without the sense of space you find in KK. Today, though, there’s a bracing sense of regeneration focused on the waterfront.
Sandakan’s main visitor attractions, beyond its excellent accommodation and eating options, are away from the centre. The Sandakan Memorial Park, commemorating the horrors of the Sandakan POW camp is 11km northwest of town, whereas Sandakan’s colonial heritage is mostly concentrated immediately north of the centre on Trig Hill.
Brief history
Although eighteenth-century accounts mention a trading outpost called Sandakan within the Sultanate of Sulu, whose centre was in what’s now the Philippines, the town’s modern history began in the late 1870s.
The area of northeast Borneo between Brunei Bay and Sungai Kinabatangan had been leased by the Sultan of Brunei to the American Trading Company in 1865 but its attempt to establish a settlement here failed, and in 1879 an Anglo-American partnership took up the lease, naming Englishman William Pryer as the first Resident of the east coast. By 1884 Sandakan was the capital of British North Borneo, its natural harbour and proximity to sources of timber, beeswax, rattan and edible birds’ nests transforming it into a thriving commercial centre.
In 1942 the Japanese army took control, establishing the POW camp from which the infamous Death Marches to Ranau commenced. What little of the town was left standing after intensive Allied bombing was burned down by the Japanese, and the end of the war saw administration Sabah’s shift to KK. Nevertheless, by the 1950s a rebuilt Sandakan profited from the timber boom and by the 1970s had generated such wealth that the town was reputed to have the world’s greatest concentration of millionaires.
Once the region’s decent timber had been exhausted in the early 1980s, Sandakan looked to oil palm and cocoa, crops that now dominate the surrounding landscape.
- Sepilok
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Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary
Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary
Set amid mangrove forest and reached via a track through an oil-palm plantation, Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary functions as a companion to the more famous orang-utan sanctuary at Sepilok. Most visitors come on a day-trip from Sandakan or Sepilok, which is significantly closer, but it’s also possible to stay overnight.
Two large observation platforms, each with two feeding times, offer perfect vantage points from which to view the long-nosed proboscis monkeys; at the same time you can also see silverleaf monkeys scavenge fruit left behind, and there’s some fantastic birdlife including hornbills. On a day-trip you could see all four feedings if you like, or even leave after just one, but it’s more usual to see one from each platform.
Other activities
If you make arrangements in advance then it’s possible to combine watching the monkey feeding with other activities. These include a short jungle trek or a bird-watching walk (each 1hr; RM30) or a boat trip (2hr; RM250/boat) to a fishing village. If you’re staying the night then you can also sign up for a firefly walk (45min; RM20) and a morning birdwatching walk (1hr; RM30).
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Turtle Islands National Park
Turtle Islands National Park
Peeping out of the Sulu Sea 40km north of Sandakan, three tiny islands comprise the TURTLE ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK. They are favoured egg-laying sites of green and hawksbill turtles, which haul themselves laboriously above the high-tide mark to bury their clutches of eggs almost every night of the year. Although all three islands – Pulau Selingan, Pulau Bakungan Kecil and Pulau Gulisan – hold hatcheries, tourists can only visit Selingan.
All the action is at night. As well as seeing a mother turtle laying her eggs, you can watch as the park wardens release newly hatched turtles that waddle, Chaplin-like, into the sea to face an uncertain future. Before dark there’s plenty of time – arguably too much time, given the lack of facilities – for swimming, snorkelling (equipment rental RM25) and sunbathing. Take precautions against sandflies, which can be voracious especially when it rains.
