The area around Sukau and the surrounding Kinabatangan River offers an unmatched range of ecotourism attractions which includes the famed proboscis monkeys of the swamped areas of Kinabatangan tributaries, its diverse wildlife and yet unexplored flora, Batu Putih limestone outcrops, Gomantong Caves and a whole host of other adventures all ready to be tamed.

At 560 Km long and with a catchment area estimated at 16,800 square kilometers, the Kinabatangan River is Sabah's longest and largest river. This mighty river has its headwaters in the remote mountain ranges in the south-western part of the state and flows through a vast tract of mangrove forest to the east of Sandakan into the Sulu Sea. The lower part of the Kinabatangan appears to have been sparsely inhabited since early times, perhaps mainly because of the unpredictable floods and partly because of the depradations of pirates during the nineteenth century. It is said that there was a Chinese settlement on the Kinabatangan River many hundreds of years ago, but definite proof has never been found. The village of Sukau, accessible by road and 25 kilometers beyond the rough track to Gomantong Caves, is the largest settlement on the banks of the lower Kinabatangan.

The original village, named Kampung Melapi, was a little further upstream, around the mouth of the Menanggul tributary. During the nineteen century, Melapi was the home of many of the Gomantong birds' nest collectors. When the British acquired from the Sultan of Sulu the rights to govern Sabah, they assumed that everything within the state was theirs. The collection and trading of the Gomantong nests was organized by Pengiran Samah, the wily old headman of Kampung Melapi, who refused to recognize the British claim to Gomantong. In 1884, Pengiran Samah was shot dead in his home in Kampung Melapi and thereafter Kampung Bilit, further upriver, assumed greater importance as the centre for nest collectors.

Much of the lower Kinabatangan region remains as it was during the last century. The main river is lined with forest fertile alluvial terraces. Behind these are extensive, low lying forested swamps which are usually water logged and covered with water during rainy periods. Within the swamps, scattered lakes and small hills dot the landscape. Although rarely seen, various wildlife species abound here, including elephants and orang-utans. Most readily seen are the fascinating proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus), a species unique to Borneo which is particularly abundant in the swamps of the lower Kinabatangan. Living in groups of up to twenty or so individuals, these placid vegetarians always sleep next to the water. For that reason, they can be found by searching the riverside forests from a boat, either late in the afternoon, before they retire for the night, or early in the morning before they move off in search of food.

Gomantong Hill is one of the largest limestone outcrops in Sabah and it contains two large caves and several smaller ones. The hill is situated well to the south of Sandakan, on the far side of the Bay from the town, between the road to Sukau and the Kinabatangan River. Visitors can reach the caves via a three mile stretch of road branching off from the road linking Sandakan to Sukau or by boat via Suan Lamba, where a taxi can be hired for the last stage of the journey by road.

Macaque

The hill and its caves are fascinating for the naturalist. At ground level is the entrance to Simud Hitam (The Black Cave) about 30 meters wide and 20 meters high, which expands into a chamber 90 meters high, followed by a branching into two separate large passageways. Simud Puteh (The White Cave) is a large branching cave with several sub-caves and long passages, situated above Simud Hitam. One of the sections of Simud Putih, named Bungbulud, opens on the very top of Gomantong Hill, 150 meters above the cave floor. An estimated two millions insect-eating bats roost in the Gomantong caves, and swirl out daily just before dusk. Some fall prey to several species of birds and snakes which await this daily spectacle. Specialized cave cockroaches, beetles, crickets, spiders, long legged centipedes and scorpions (none harmful to humans) are amongst the many creepie-crawlies which spend their entire lives in the caves, feeding on the bodies of fallen bats and birds, or the waste products of the living ones. 

An unexpected little visitor to the Lodge

Gomantong Caves are most famous for their swiftlets and their edible nests. There are actually four species of these birds, which weigh between 10 to 20 grams each, roosting and nesting in the caves. The white-nest swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus) makes nests entirely from saliva, which is sticky when produced but quickly dries and hard, while the black-nest swiftlets (Aerodramus maximus) makes them from its feathers cemented together with saliva. It is this saliva which is edible, and relished by Chinese both in Sabah and elsewhere to make soup. The mossy-nest swiftlet (Aerodramus vanikorensis) and white-bellied swiftlet (Collocalia esculenta) make nests of moss and other vegetation, which are not edible. All four species build their nests on the walls of the Gomantong Caves which supports about one million swiftlets.

The edible nest are harvested during two seasons per year. The first harvest is done in February to April, immediately after the birds have made their nest and before they lay their eggs. The birds then build another nest. During July to September, after the young have hatched and been taught to fly, the used nest are collected. The nests are collected from every corner and crevice of the caves. Rattan ladders, ropes and poles are suspended, pushed or hauled to wherever it is required to obtain the valuable harvest.

More then one hundred kilometers upstream from Sukau, and not far above the Kinabatangan bridge, is an area known as Batu Putih. There are several white rocks - limestone outcrops- of various sizes in this part of the Kinabatangan, but old residents say that the name refers particularly to a pillar of limestone which stands in the river itself and subsequently to a village which sprung up in the late nineteenth century on the riverbank nearby. The village remains and older residents relate tales of former times. Various remnants of an abandoned tobacco plantation exist here but are overgrown by the near impenetrable forest.

About a kilometer north of the Kinabatangan Bridge, on the east side of the road, is an isolated limestone outcrop 130 feet high, surrounded by secondary forest. Many people believe that this is the origin of the name Batu Putih, but locally it is known as Batu Tulug. There are several small caves in Batu Tulug, which contain the remains of old hardwood coffins. Such coffins exist in many caves and rock overhangs in the Kinabatangan region, but those at Tulug are the most readily accessible. Their age is uncertain, but probably dates back to the nineteenth century. In the olden times in the Kinabatangan people were buried with their possessions, but those have long been looted and destroyed during this century. The coffins and fragments of bones in the stillness of the caves induce a haunting feeling of a fleeting link with past times.

Chameleon, about to change it's color