By Lester Ledesma and Lim Chee Wah

We all want to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin at Galapagos but that is just too far, too expensive. So here are four other equally fascinating ecotourist trips closer to home.

In these environment-conscious times, ecotourism has become all the rage. No longer just for the backpacker with a conscience or the ageing hippy couple, there are now countless eco-tours – trips where flora and fauna play a dominant role. The itineraries on offer vary greatly, ranging from simple, guided forest treks to tropical safaris and even full-blown ‘encounters’ with exotic animals. Which nature trips offer the most memorable, in-your-face experiences with Mother Earth? We list four of our favourites.

Kinabatangan River, Malaysia
Here’s a bona fide jungle journey down one of eastern Malaysia’s longest waterways, the Sungai Kinabatangan. Located on the island of Borneo, this virgin swath of river and rainforest has been described by scientists as an ‘area of immense biological diversity’ for its size (16,800km2), which hosts one of the highest concentrations of wildlife found in Southeast Asia.

Not surprisingly, this distinction has made the Kinabatangan a mecca for both biologists and the ecologically curious. The most accessible entry point into this nature sanctuary is at the village of Sukau – accessible via land or river from Sandakan – where reputable eco-friendly establishments like the Sukau Rainforest Lodge can be found. From here, visitors can sign up for half-day boat tours down the river and its nearby tributaries. These trips are run by knowledgeable guides and boatmen who follow accepted eco-tourism practices. Non-polluting electric boats are used, and they are quietly steered to avoid disturbing the wildlife.

The sheer variety of fauna to be seen is truly impressive: hornbills, kingfishers and macaques are a common sight along the riverbanks, as is the endangered proboscis monkey – often the highlight of these tours. With luck, you might come across even more exotic creatures like the Bornean pygmy elephant, estuarine crocodile or the famous orangutan.

Sukau Rainforests Lodge (www.sukau.com) offers two-day, one-night packages for RM850 per person


Cape Kidnappers, New Zealand
No, you won’t find the world’s largest mainland colony of gannets in some far-off, isolated beach. This being New Zealand, you’ll find it right beside a sheep ranch. This massive nesting community of seabirds lies right at the southern tip of Hawke’s Bay on the South Island (a 30-minute drive from nearby Napier City), and has been one of this area’s most notable attractions for 40 years. Every year from August to April, Gannet Safaris runs private, half-day tours of the estate using a quad bike. The usual route starts at the sheep and cattle farms, passing through spectacular mountain and seaside scenery before ending at the cliff-side plateau where more than 20,000 Australasian gannets reside.

It’s amazing how accessible this place is: visitors get to stand right at the edge of the sprawling flock to watch the surprisingly tame birds go about their everyday activities. Feeding or touching them is, of course, prohibited. You’re best advised to bring a good camera as these gannets, with their huge, six-foot wingspans and distinctive white-and-yellow markings, offer stunning wildlife photo-ops. Come mid-October, when the mating season hits its peak, they can also be seen building nests and feeding their young. The good news is that four decades of carefully managed ecotourism have had absolutely no negative impact on the colony. Proof lies in the gannet population, which has actually increased over the years, and in the programme’s status as an official New Zealand Tourism Board endorsed attraction.

For more information, go to www.gannetsafaris.co.nz

 
Kangaroo Island, Australia
Seven times the size of Singapore, Kangaroo Island, located just off the coast of South Australia, has more than one third of its land mass declared as conservation zones or national parks. The beautiful rustic scenery with varied coastline and dramatic sea cliffs is akin to an untamed African wilderness but instead of the big five, you get kangaroos, wallabies, possums, koalas (not native but introduced to the island) and seals.

Having separated from the mainland around 10,000 years ago, Kangaroo Island nurtures several subspecies of iconic Australian wildlife that have evolved very differently from their mainland cousins. Its geographical isolation also means that the island is free from predator-pests such as dingoes, rabbits and foxes, thus creating a conducive environment for the native wildlife. As such, Kangaroo Island is arguably the best place to observe Australian wildlife in its natural habitat.

The Kangaroo Island kangaroo, smaller and darker than its mainland cousin, can be easily spotted at Flinders Chase National Park, along with Cape Barren geese and platypus (if you are lucky). The nearby Admiral Arch is home to over 7,000 New Zealand fur-seals whereas you can find wild sea-lions at the talcum white beach of Seal Bay Conservation Park.

Koalas can be seen near their food source – the gum trees. So just look up once in a while regardless of which national park you go to. Winter time – from May until August – is the best time for some wildlife peek-a-boo, not least because it is the whale-watching season as well for southern right and minkie whales. Other fauna on the island that you can find effortlessly are the little penguins, pelicans and black cockatoos.

The best place to stay is the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Lodge (www.kiwr.com.au). It is an eco-resort adjacent to Flinders Chase National Park. But what’s amazing about this resort is that the suites are arranged around a bushland courtyard where friendly Tammar wallabies (extinct in southeastern mainland Australia), possums and echidnas (porcupine-lookalike egg-laying mammals) roam in the evening. Also, the resort provides bicycles for your carbon-neutral wildlife sightseeing tours.

Kangaroo Island is served by regular 30-minute flights from Adelaide. There’s also a ferry service plying between Cape Jervis on the Australian mainland and Penneshaw on the island


Komodo National Park, Indonesia
Dragons aren’t a myth. On Komodo Island, they are a freak accident of nature. Well, not quite that way but scientists believe that the Komodo dragon, which grows up to three metres and weighs 70 kilograms, is a fine example of an evolutionary process known as island gigantism – a phenomenon where certain animals in isolated ecosystems increase dramatically in size due to the absence of larger predators.

But Komodo Island, now a national park and also a world heritage site, has more to offer than just lizard spotting. Due to its reclusive location on the Flores Sea, the island has evolved into a unique habitat for many endemic plants and animals; so much so that it is often referred to as the Asian equivalent of the Galapagos. The national park is a huge area encompassing several volcanic islands and atolls surrounded by one of the world’s most diverse marine ecosystems. Yes, that means you could dive or snorkel in the surrounding waters but just be careful. Komodo dragons are fond of taking a swim themselves.

There’s no accommodation at the national park. Most travellers stay at Labuanbajo town on the nearby Flores Island but a boat ride can easily be arranged for a day trip to the national park. You’ll need to pay a conservation fee when visiting Komodo Island but rest assured that the money also goes towards community outreach programmes for the locals. It’s worth it – the thrill of exploring a varied landscape of monsoon forests and otherworldly savannah tracking these predator-lizards that have fuelled many Hollywood B-grade movies is unlike any other in the region.

Merpati (http://merpati.co.id) flies between Bali and Labuanbajo several times a week