Wildlife holidays in Malaysia
Tell me about Malaysia …
Malaysia is separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo.
The Federation of Malaysia is one of the region’s most important and rapidly developing nations, with an increasingly significant role in global politics. Despite the tremendous pace of industrial growth, the country has managed to preserve large tracts of forest which today are regarded as among the finest rainforest reserves in the world.
Our Malaysia specialist recommends...
"I recommend our ‘Peninsular Malaysia’ tour exploring the highlands and forest of peninsular Malaysia for the many birds and the other wildlife. We get to stay at the Taman Negara national Park, one of the finest lowland forest reserves in Asia."
Dan Free
Operations Manager
Peninsular Malaysia:
Peninsular Malaysia has a trio of wildlife rich habitats which form the basis for a superb natural history holiday. Its cool central hills, lowland forests and coastline fringed by mangroves are home to many interesting birds and mammals.
Malaysian Borneo:
The forests of Borneo contain the largest and most spectacular rainforest trees found anywhere in the tropics and they are also the oldest rainforests on Earth.
The Malaysian province of Sabah is home to a spectacular variety of birds and a diverse flora, as well as a rich mammalian fauna including one of the world’s most endearing mammals, the Orang-utan.
Naturetrek tours to Malaysia
Naturetrek offers a natural history tour to Peninsular Malaysia which visits the highlands and forests in search of birds, mammals, flowers and butterflies. The holiday includes a stay in Taman Negara National Park one of the finest lowland forest reserves in Asia. Some highlights from our ‘Peninsular Malaysia’ tour:
- Mangrove specialist birds such as Mangrove Pitta, Flyeater & Mangrove Whistler
- Waders of the paddy fields such as Yellow Bittern, Long-toed Stint & Great Spotted Eagle
- River cruises by canoe in Taman Negara National Park in search of 10 woodpecker species & seven hornbill species & much more
- Asian Elephant, Tiger, Leopard, Silver-leafed Monkey & Malaysian Tapir among other mammals
We also offer two wildlife holidays to Malaysian Borneo:
- ‘Mount Kinabalu & the Rainforests of Borneo’ – a 21-day tour which goes in search of bird life in the lowland & montane forests of Malaysian province of Sabah in northern Borneo
- An 11-day holiday to the rainforests of Borneo in search of Orang-utans & other wildlife (run in conjunction with the wildlife charity Environmental Investigation Agency)
WHAT YOU'VE BEEN SAYING ABOUT OUR Malaysia HOLIDAYS
This was my first trip with Naturetrek. I thoroughly enjoyed the holiday and it exceeded my expectations... I found that having a naturalist heading the party was invaluable. I am spreading the word and recommending Naturetrek to anyone who has an interest in nature.
I have done several previous trips, a number of which have been with Naturetrek, but, whilst they have all been exceptionally enjoyable, the Borneo trip from which I have just returned really blew me away. Being a primarily a mammal enthusiast, although also having a keen interest in birds, I was just overawed by being able to see Orang-utans in the wild. We had absolutely fantastic sightings and I was lucky enough to get some fabulous DVD footage and stills. Whilst our wildlife sightings really made for a fantastic trip, I think what made it really special was the quality of our guides. Wang, our local guide in Danum valley was amazing, finding us some really difficult stuff, but I want to give special mention to Osman and Chris. Osman was a fabulous personality and his knowledge was exceptional. As for Chris, what can I say, he was the most professional, knowledgeable, likeable guide I have ever had the privilege of travelling with. Not only were his spotting skills out of this world, he also showed real care for his clients and enthusiasm for getting them to see as much as possible. The trip would have been enjoyable anyway but with Chris as our leader our trip was absolutely fantastic. I hope that I get to travel with him in the future. He should be cloned and offered on every trip!!! Thanks again to Naturetrek for giving us yet another extremely enjoyable holiday.
I'm pleased to say this was another very good holiday which was so ably led by Mano. He is very cheerful, and readily shared his knowledge of the birds, wild life & history of Malaysia with us and made sure that the individual interests of all of us were met....Behind the scenes he was busy making sure the holiday ran smoothly - organising boat trips etc, and even checking that the restaurant toilets were OK before he took us in. He arranged for us to sample the various cuisines available in Malaysian restaurants.