3-Day Kiulu River Rafting & Jungle Trekking Adventure | Borneo

Alongside Kiulu River rafting and jungle trekking, there is so much more to this 3-day adventure. You’ll go home learning something new! Your friendly, expert jungle guide will teach you survival skills, from making different types of hunt traps and starting a fire using bamboo to making a shelter with only the jungle for materials. From your campsite on the banks of the Kiulu River, you’ll enjoy incredible views of Mount Kinabalu.

You’ll also experience the culture and warm hospitality of the Kadazandusun. The Kadazandusun is the largest native group of Bumiputra in Sabah, and they are known as predominantly wet rice and hill rice cultivators. Their ancient beliefs include that everything has life – the rocks, trees, and rivers are all living things.

Make the most of each moment when you travel.

Trip Itinerary

Day 1 (Meals: packed lunch/dinner)

Pick-up time: ~ 8.00 am from hotels in central Kota Kinabalu. Join your private minivan transfer to the start point for your tour, the Kiulu Valley.

On arriving at the Adventure Centre, or base camp, located on the riverbanks of the Kiulu River, you’ll be welcomed by your Guide and receive warm greetings and your safety briefing. You’ll collect your packed lunch, ready to start your jungle trekking adventure.

It’s then time to head into the jungle and start your trek. Your trek will take you through local Kampong (villages) and over hanging bridges and the Kiulu River. You will trek along established jungle trails, and as you walk, your guide will teach you about the ethnobotany of the forest found in the Kiulu Valley. The guide will show you fruits and plants that are edible and plants that are used for medicinal purposes, as passed down through the local tribes over the years. You’ll arrive at the Junglebug Camp, a genuine forest training centre. Your guide will then demonstrate the basic skills needed for comfortable jungle living. Rest here a while and enjoy the sounds, smells and sights of the forest. Your guide will then demonstrate how to create the basic equipment you might need or want from the bamboo growing throughout the forest. From chopsticks and spoons to huts and homes, bamboo can be your best friend. It’s then time to trek out of the jungle and return to the Adventure Centre.

At the Adventure Centre, you’ll have a chance to freshen up (with washing/shower facilities located here). It’s then time for a relaxing Hi-Tea. How civilised!

The rest of the afternoon is free and easy. You can chill out along the banks of the Kiulu River, watching the world gently go by. Alternatively, you can join in with some fun and cultural activities provided by the Adventure Centre team – from enjoying inner tube rides along the river to some local traditional games you can join in.

Enjoy a dinner of tasty local delights provided at the adventure centre.

Overnight in Tents located along the banks of the Kiulu River (in good quality two-berth tents which offer plenty of space and a comfortable night’s sleep).

Day 2 (Meals: breakfast/lunch/dinner)

After a tasty breakfast, it’s time for more adventures during your Kiulu Rafting and Jungle Trekking adventure.

You start the day flying over the Kiulu River – twice! Okay, on a zipline ride. After receiving your safety briefing, you’ll start by climbing our hair-raising 18-meter tower before zipping into the jungle. You’ll join a zipline ride over the Kiulu River before joining a second zipline ride back. Your Zip Borneo instructors will help secure you into a harness and clip you onto safety lines before you attempt the challenges.

After the excitement of the Zipline, you’ll transfer to Tombung Village for your Cultural Village Experience. Upon arrival, you will be greeted with a warm welcome by your host village and be briefed on the village programme. You’ll then enjoy a scrumptious lunch cooked and served by the villagers. Then it is time to immerse yourself in the local culture and tradition by participating in the demonstration of the local games and activities such as rice pounding and sieving, handicrafts making, fishing demos and playing musical instruments.

After your cultural village experience, you’ll return to the Adventure Centre. It’s then time for dinner served at the base camp with views of the Kiulu River.

After dinner, your evening is free and easy to chill out along the banks of the Kiulu Rivera and enjoy an early night after a day of new adventures.

Overnight in Tents at the Adventure Centre.

Day 3 (Meals: breakfast/lunch)

After breakfast, it’s time for your Kiulu River rafting adventure!

You’ll be transferred to starting point for rafting. Here, you’ll receive your safety briefing by a RIVERBUG professional river guide. The fun then starts! You’ll join a grade I – II rafting adventure along the Kiulu River for the next 1½ – 2 hours. The Kiulu River is moderately adventurous and relaxing and offers thrill seekers water rapids, where rapids are relatively calmer and easier to navigate. A river guide will be on your raft at all times, giving instructions like “paddle forward” and “paddle backwards” to build momentum. Enjoy the natural surroundings during those scenic floats in between the action.

On arrival at the rafting ending point, you’ll have a chance to freshen up before enjoying a BBQ Lunch.

After a Group Photo, it is time to say goodbye to your local host & take unforgettable memories back to your country.

Join your private minivan and transfer back to your hotel in central Kota Kinabalu. You’ll arrive back at your hotel around 4:00 pm.

Trip Pre-requisites

The trip is open to all (the minimum age for the KIulu Rafting is three years old). Participants must be physically fit. You must have a moderate level of fitness for this tour as you are required to be outdoors the entire time and be prepared to trek for up to 2-3 hours.

A minimum of four persons per booking.

Trip Inclusions

• Return road transfer from hotels in central Kota Kinabalu in a private minivan.
• Meals (2 Breakfasts, 3 Lunch & 2 Dinner).
• Activities as per the itinerary: jungle trekking, cultural activities, 1 x Flying Fox biplane ride per person, village experience, and rafting along the Kiulu River.
• Two nights’ accommodation in a comfortable twin-share tent (campsite at the Adventure Centre located on the banks of the Kiulu River). The tents come with two camp beds, sleeping bags and pillows, and a zipped mosquito net for the doorway.
• Guiding throughout your trip by an experienced, friendly and English-speaking licensed Guide.
• Access to free-flow fresh water at the campsite.
• 0% Sales & Service Tax on the tour price.

Trip Exclusions

Soft drinks or alcoholic drinks. You can choose to purchase a DVD of your Kiulu white water rafting activity on the day. Return transfers from outside central Kota Kinabalu.

Recommended Packing List

To get the most from this trip, please bring with you swimming attire for innerwear, sandals with straps, for those wearing spectacles/sunglasses, we recommend you to wear them with a strap, a T-shirt, trekking pants, comfortable trekking shoes/boots, leech socks, warm jacket, warm hat, extra socks, change of clothes, waterproof backpack, raincoat, torchlight (a head torch is useful), insect repellent, sunscreen/sun protection cream, personal first aid kit, personal medication, walking stick and hand protection gloves.

Notes

The headline trip price shown is a price per adult based upon a minimum of 4 persons and is valid for trips taken up to 31st December 2022. You will be required to sign a Liability Release/Assumption of Risk form at the start of the tour. If weather, or other factors, makes an activity unsafe, the trip provider will adapt the trip itinerary for safety reasons. There will be no refund if a trip itinerary needs to be adapted on the day due to safety reasons. The campsite is basic yet comfortable, and you must be prepared to rough it out. You must be prepared to get wet while trekking as you will need to cross a river and a hanging bridge. You have to carry your personal belongings and water during the trek.