Tabin Wildlife Reserve — Attraction in Borneo

We booked a long trip to Malaysian Borneo through an agency with long experience in the field, Naturalis Expeditions inc. with which we had already traveled previously, remaining very satisfied.||Unfortunately, this trip was a total disaster.||Although the Tabin rainforest is wonderful, even if it is next to an endless expanse of oil palms, the Tabin Resort is one of the poorest, worst organised, dirty, unsafe and decaying places I have ever seen around the world (I have over 20 years of experience in nature travel).||I attach some photos of our room only. Without commenting on them.||The staff, although courteous, is in disarray, also because they are very young. Instead of organizing the work, management sits holed up in their air-conditioned office doing nothing. Don't trust the photos and videos they publish because it's something else entirely. The 4x4s are old and run down, dangerous, you risk falling off. There is no first aid kit (and we needed it). The food is always the same and, I believe, what is left over is reheated the next time. The exits are almost useless, at least in terms of how they are organised. The tower on Lipad volcano was closed because it was at risk of collapse. Other structures closed because unusable. Safe deposit boxes closed perhaps because other people have reported money stolen from the boxes. So you will have to bring everything with you (even your passports).||The animals are there, but there is no communication between the guides who simply take you on tours for hours without any interest in what they are doing (at least ours).||The price paid for the services is a steal.||If you come from far away, trust my experience, better to go elsewhere.||After sending several written warnings, no one ever responded to us. We contacted law firms in Malaysia to obtain...

This was the 5th tour of six with ABC tours (reviewed separately) that my wife and I undertook whilst in Borneo. Tabin has been labelled as probably the best place to see wildlife. A place where there is a higher chance of spotting wildlife. We did the 2N/3D tour and weren’t really disappointed. We never had high hopes of seeing animals such as the Sumatran Rhino, Sun Bears, Pygmy Elephants, Clouded Leopard or the Orang Utan so we were not overly worried that we didn’t. However the Orang Utan and Elephants were on the list of most probable. It’s a case of right time and the right place. We did manage to see a lot of rare sightings though so not all too bad. Our guide was very good and very passionate about his work. I think he was more excited at spotting stuff than we were and he sees it all the time. We saw too much to mention on here and what we did see made up for what we didn’t. More time was probably needed as well. The highlight was when walking back to our bungalow a group of Borneo Gibbons arrived within a couple of metres of us so that was a good photo opportunity. We also did a night drive and a night walk and saw a vast array of animals. From Frogs to the Malay Badger and Flying Squirrels actually flying to Owls. All very impressive. The staff again were very friendly and the food reasonable. It is an Eco area so there are generators and solar power so the facilities are limited. No internet but they do sell beer. This is one place I would like to visit again and for a bit longer. I would definitely recommend Tabin Wildlife reserve as a...

This place is wonderfully simple and yet charming and peaceful ||I note some reviews mark it down for facilities but it’s a lodge in the jungle !!!||If you want 5 star pampering go somewhere else ||Yes the rooms are basic but they have a bed and a shower and all you are going to do in them is sleep and wash FFS||Some criticise the food but it’s not a restaurant ||The buffet is good local food and again part of the experience ||Some have criticised the place for stuff they didn’t raise when here which I find ridiculous ||The staff are lovely and if you tell them nicely about something that bothers you they will change it ||Some of the trips are physical and bumpy ||But that isn’t their fault - if you can’t take go and play golf somewhere rather than taking it our on this place and these lovely people ||It’s the jungle Argghhhhh||We swam in the pool supplied by a waterfall ||It was magical ||We went on a night drive and saw loads of animals and birds ||We did the mud soak it was lovely ||And our guide was great ||Some of the rooms are up long stair climbs but so what? ||We carried our own luggage up - it wasn’t a problem. ||Short story - focus on the experience instead of whingeing about creature comforts and you will have the best time ||And be nice to the guides - the more you give the more you will get ||Ernest - you are a...