Luxury tours put eastern Sabah on Borneo's ecotourist map

LAHAD DATU, Malaysia -- With hundreds of kilometers of beaches and tropical islands, and a forested interior teeming with wildlife such as orangutans, sun bears and pygmy elephants, the state of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo is a tourism hot spot.

In 2018, Sabah's tourism revenue was the highest of any Malaysian state at 8.3 billion ringgit ($2 billion) with a record 3.9 million arrivals, including half a million Chinese. The state welcomed 1.03 million visitors in the first quarter of 2019 -- up 9% on the same period last year, according to the Sabah Tourism Board (STB).

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Morphological and molecular evidence supports Argiope chloreis Thorell 1877 and A. chloreides Chrysanthus 1961 (Araneidae: Argiopinae) as distinct species

The two green-bodied Argiope chloreis Thorell 1877 and A. chloreides Chrysanthus 1961 from Southeast Asia were shown to be distinct species on the basis of morphological and multi-gene data analyses. The two species recorded interspecific uncorrected p-distances of 7.87−8.83% and 8.21−9.18% based on COI and COII datasets, respectively. Individuals of A. chloreis from Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia are considered to be conspecific based on the relatively low intraspecific p-distance as well as similarities in their epigynal structure. Phylogenetic analysis of the COI+COII+H3A dataset has demonstrated that A. chloreis and A. chloreides are sister to each other, and related to A. aemula (Walckenaer 1841) and A. anasuja Thorell 1877. The morphological and genetic characteristics of male A. chloreides were described for the first time.

Op kikkerzoektocht in de jungle

Reizen Vliegende kikkers, dansende kikkers, kleefkikkers: op Borneo leven 183 kikkersoorten. Spiedend en sluipend door de jungle, speuren naar kikkerogen. Click to view more

Ultimate Guide to Hiking at Tawau Hills Park and Mount Lucia in Sabah

What to do in Tawau? Well, for sure, hiking in the Borneo rainforest: Tawau Hills Park is Sabah’s southernmost forest reserve, situated about 20km north of Tawau town. It’s still an offbeat destination that few travelers to Sabah visit — likewise, you should check our guides to a Borneo orangutan spotting tour at Bukit Piton and the amazing Sungai Kapur river safari in Lahad Datu. Click to view more

Herping Borneo

Spent 4 months in Borneo this past winter and did loads of herping, mostly looking for snakes. Found plenty of great locations but going to share a few photos and a species list from one of my favourites; Tawau Hills Park. Tawau has both primary lowland and montane forest, there's affordable accomodation inside the park, a cafe that serves up tasty food and it's an easily accessible park. 

Anyhow, during my time there I found the following species: click to view more

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TAWAU HILLS PARK

Tawau is the third largest city in Sabah, located on the east coast of the state. It's a popular stopover destination for tourists heading to or returning from Semporna.

From the city centre there's a mountain range in the distance. Within this mountainous region lays Tawau Hills Park, a national park which covers almost 29,000ha of protected primary rainforest. The headquarters of this park is only around one hours drive from the airport along good roads, making it a convenient place to visit. The volcanic mountains in this park are crowned by three tall peaks – Mt. Magdalena, Mt. Lucia, and Mt. Maria. Calming streams and tranquil waterfalls flow down this hilly terrain. Other than the topography, the rainforest and biodiversity of Tawau Hills Park are actually almost identical to the more renowned Danum Valley. Tawau Hills Park and Danum Valley are part of the same rainforest network but unfortunately agricultural activities has severed and cut off Tawau Hills Park’s forest connection to Danum Valley.