Where the wild things are

The jungle-clad region of Sarawak on the island of Borneo is a destination designed for adventure, from its prehistoric caves to its colonies of orangutans. 

- Adrian Phillips.

Growing up, Borneo seemed like the wildest corner of our planet: a vast, far-away island where orangutans swung through the rainforest and remote tribes hunted with blowpipes. It was the sort of place that stoked the imagination; if you were a kid spending a rainy afternoon writing a story of adventure and exploration, you couldn’t start with a better backdrop than the jungles of Borneo.

Four decades on, I find myself on the island, opting for a 10-day tour of the forested Malaysian region of Sarawak, which lies along the northwest shore. Strolling along the bustling waterfront of Kuching, the region’s capital (home to its international airport), I realise the real Borneo is more varied and textured than the Borneo of my boyhood visions: a place with modern, urban attractions as well as the tangle of nature beyond.

The city has busy bars, shops selling crafts and a restaurant scene in the throes of culinary revival of kampong (village) cuisine. I pass costumed street artists entertaining pedestrians and admire at the architecture of the towering Borneo Cultures Museum, its facade concealing immersive, multisensory exhibitions that offer a contemporary dive into the island’s past. Where I expected to find bronze effigies honouring the country’s revered great ape, there are quirky statues of domestic cats instead peppering the streets. This part of Borneo is urban, vibrant — and a little bit bonkers; a curious gateway through which to pass into a verdant landscape of ancient rainforests and colourful, charismatic wildlife.

South of the city, at Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, high in the canopy, the trees bend and swish as apes move through the forest. Just a few feet away from my tour group, the troop’s dominant male descends to eat coconuts on a wooden feeding platform.