The east coast of Sabah is renowned for its jungle, wildlife and island offerings — Lahad Datu is
no different. The charming town has its money on the still-wild Tabin Wildlife Reserve.
THE last time I visited Lahad Datu, 400km southeastern of state capital Kota Kinabalu, I was on a cycling and scuba diving trip.
I was in awe of the beauty of its natural surroundings, particularly the breathtaking view on top of the Menara Kayangan platform on Gunung Silam and the gigantically healthy table corals underneath Darvel Bay.
Back in 2012, I had met an expat couple who uprooted their lives to start a bed and breakfast here.
They said the mixture of bucolic charm and wildlife of Lahad Datu made for a perfect tourism destination as well as a place to raise a family. The only thing that could make it better was if Lahad Datu had a McDonald's outlet.
Today, Lahad Datu has yet to have a McDonald's. But what this town lacks in Happy Meals, it more than makes up for in beautiful jungle sceneries and wildlife.
Enter the Tabin Wildlife Reserve, famous for its mud volcano.
Established in 1984 to protect Sabah's endangered wildlife, the wildlife reserve that is gazetted as a Secondary Forest Reserve is covered with lowland dipterocarp woodland.
The nature reserve takes up a significant portion of the peninsula that forms the northern headland of Darvel Bay, in the centre of the Dent Peninsula, covering a rectangular area of 4,9590ha.
Tabin has also been classified as a geopark, which means that it is a protected area with internationally significant geology — one that aims for sustainable development and incorporates tourism, conservation, education and research in other related fields in addition to geology.
Tabin Wildlife Reserve is located 48km to the east of Lahad Datu and almost three-hour drive from Lahad Datu Airport on sealed and gravel roads.
Tabin used to be known as the last habitat in Malaysia where the heavily endangered Sumatran rhinoceros lived. Alas, the last surviving Sumatran rhino in Malaysia — affectionately known as Puntung — died of cancer back in 2017.
Today, Puntung's preserved body can still be found at the Tabin Wildlife Visitor's Centre, along with other educational displays on Tabin's flora and fauna.
WILDLIFE SAFARI
If you sign up for the 3D2N Wildlife Safari package (itinerary available on their website), the package would include plenty of guided activities, including a trek to the Elephant Trail and the Lipad mud volcano, a night safari drive, a trek to the Lipad Waterfall, a dusk drive and a night walk to spot insects and smaller reptiles.
On the third and last day, there is also an optional Dawn Drive for an additional RM120 per person.
After checking into my chalet at Tabin Wildlife Resort for the night and enjoying a scrumptious buffet lunch at the Sunbird Cafe, we start the first activity for the day which is the trek to the Elephant Trail and the Lipad mud volcano.
The trek begins with a 4x4 journey from the resort along a gravel road up to the junction heading towards the Elephant Trail and the Lipad mud volcano. From the junction, the actual trekking distance would only be 700 metres. The trekking route is also fairly easy and child-friendly for families travelling with younger children.
Along the muddy Elephant Trail, we are introduced to trees and plants such as wild curry and wild ginger that serve as food for elephants and other herbivores.
Our guide Maldin, alerts us of animal footprints that he spots along the way. The trek to the Elephant Trail concludes at the Lipad mud volcano — an area approximately the size of a football field comprising numerous mini mud volcanic craters.
I am told that not all mini volcanoes are 'active' at a time. There are times when some lay dormant and only a few are bubbling. In seasons when more of the mud volcanoes are active, herds of elephants would take mud baths there to cool off during the day.
The one thing you MUST do when you visit the Lipad mud volcano is to dip your fingers into a bubbling mini volcanic crater and smear the mud all over your face. The mud from the Lipad mud volcano is believed to have therapeutic properties that benefit the skin.
After a buffet dinner, it's time to hop onto the back of a 4x4 for a two-hour night safari expedition. This is by far my favourite experience, especially when engulfed by the fresh and cooling jungle air.
It doesn't take long before we spot our first wildlife of the night: an Asian palm civet perched atop a tree. As we make our way further, we encounter two more species of civets — the Malay civet and the masked palm civet. We also spot other mammals such as the red flying squirrel, the flying fox and the brown wood owl.
On the second day, I wake up to gibbons' calls followed by an early morning coffee at 6.30am before embarking on a pre-breakfast morning walk around the resort.
Apparently, visitors can expect to see different animals at different times throughout the day. In the morning, we are greeted by a family of gibbons hanging low on the tree branches just by the Tabin Wildlife Visitor's Centre.
What strikes me as surprising is that all my wildlife encounters thus far have been pretty up close, as if the animals aren't afraid of people.
Of course, unlike in other commercialised wildlife resorts where visitors are allowed to feed the orangutans or the wildlife, Tabin visitors aren't allowed to feed the animals.
Wildlife is meant to scavenge for food in the wild, so feeding them would promote dependency on humans and worse, encourage problematic behaviours such as stealing from the kitchen and chalets.
Other than gibbons, I also spot my first ever pig-tailed macaque in Tabin. Unlike their long-tailed cousins, the pig-tailed macaques are short-tailed and stouter in stature. They also prefer to meander alone rather than scamper in groups.
BIRDWATCHERS' PARADISE
Each year, birdwatching enthusiasts come to the east coast of Sabah to spot and photograph the birdlife species that are endemic to Sabah.
Due to the vast numbers of food plants available, Tabin draws a very rich diversity of birds, including uncommon and endemic species. Moreover, birding and photography are made especially enjoyable by the comparatively low canopy and ample natural lighting.
More than 300 species of birds from 42 families have been identified in Tabin. These include all eight of Sabah's hornbill species: the black hornbill, rhinoceros hornbill, wreathed hornbill, pied hornbill, white-crowned hornbill, wrinkled hornbill, bushy-crested hornbill and helmeted hornbill.
Other sought-after birds species have also been spotted in Tabin, including the blue-headed pitta, black-and-red pitta, Malaysian blue flycatcher, Temminck's sunbird, purple-throated sunbird, yellow-rumped flowerpecker, and rarely-seen elusive species like storm's stork, jambu fruit dove, large green pigeon, white-fronted falconet, great-billed heron and giant pitta.
For an amateur bird and wildlife-spotter like me, who isn't equipped with binoculars or a digital camera, I thoroughly enjoy spotting birds and other wildlife perched on lower tree branches.
In fact, if you're just taking pictures for social media, you'll find that using your phone camera is good enough for capturing animals during your visit.
As a travel writer and nature enthusiast, I've visited other parts of Sabah and participated in countless other safari drives before, but I have to say that there aren't any other places where wildlife is so easily encountered as in Tabin. In fact, it is almost a given to see something new each time I venture out of my chalet.
THE MAN OF THE JUNGLE
After another delicious buffet breakfast and lunch, I pack up a change of clothes for an afternoon trek to the Lipad Waterfall with the other guests and our tour guide.
Before the trek, we first make our way to the Tabin Big Tree — a monolithic Koompassia excelsa (also known as
tualang or mengaris) tree — that is known to be at least 150 years old.
Along the way, we spot several orangutan nests made of fresh leaves. We learn that the orangutan builds a new nest every day near an area they choose to feed.
An adult male orangutan would live in his nest alone while a nursing female orangutan will share her nest with her baby. Apparently, they also build a 'mattress' made out of branches inside the nest.
Soon, we also spot three different orangutans — an adult male orangutan and two juveniles — hanging on a tree and feeding on fresh fruits.
Visitors looking to encounter orangutans in the wild should come between July to September as this would be the fruiting season and it would be easier to spot orangutans feeding on fruit trees.
Our afternoon expedition concludes with a 400m trek to the Lipad Waterfall for a refreshing swim.
A caveat: if you're afraid of leeches, be sure to have a pair of leech socks on (available for purchase at the Tabin Wildlife Resort souvenir shop) and have your shirt tucked in during the trek.
The dusk drive is another rewarding experience when most of the birdlife comes out to play. We manage to see the crested serpent eagle, oriental darter, storm stork, blue-throated bee-eater and the oriental pied hornbill during the drive.
Again, most of them are perched low enough to spot with naked eyes. In terms of wildlife sighting experience, I definitely got more than I paid for during this trip!
FAST FACTS
Tabin Wildlife Reserve
KM 49, Jalan Tungku,
Lahad Datu, Sabah
EMAIL enquiry@tabinwildlife.com.my
TEL 088-267 266
WEBSITE www.tabinwildlife.com.my
Use Klook Voucher to enjoy the wildlife reserve experience at affordable prices.