Some posts on this site contain affiliate links, meaning if you book or buy something through one of these links, I may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Read the full disclosure policy here.
Would we see Pygmy Elephants in Borneo? It’s not a sure thing. I had lucked out a few years earlier. On my second trip to the Kinabatangan River, they had moved up river but when an offer to go and find them came up… we were all in! 
We could smell them.
The grass had been flattened along the shore.
A sure sign they had swum across the river.
We had been travelling up the Kinabatangan River in Borneo for two hours.
Searching.
Our guide was quite confident we would see them, but there was no guarantee.
Never with nature.
Time was running out.
The boat rounded a final corner.
They appeared.
Massive grey boulders bathing in the river.
Elephants.
Swimming in the Kinabatangan River
Wild elephants.
Pygmy elephants.
Endangered pygmy elephants.
In this narrow swath of a river valley.
Endangered pygmy elephants.
Demanding to retain their natural habitat.
Endangered pygmy elephants.
Not many left in the world.
Our driver cut the engine.
We floated.
We watched in wonder.
Silent.
We simply listened.
And watched.
Swishing wispy tails
Flapping ears back and forth, back and forth
Calling one another
Trumpeting.
Spraying murky water
Stomping enormous feet
Circling each other
Trumpeting.
Ripping elephant grass
Snapping overhead branches
Slurping river water
Trumpeting.
Relishing the oozing mud
Slipping into the river to rinse
Lumbering up the muddy bank
Trumpeting.
Protecting the young ones
Grumbling and calling
Touching trunks
Trumpeting.
Massive yet graceful
Independent yet interdependent
Powerful yet nurturing
Mighty yet endangered.
“They will not speak to us, but to each other they say much. Some of it, we hear. The rest is beyond words.”
Carl Safina, Beyond Words: what animals think and feel
Facts about Pygmy Elephants:
Pygmy elephants, the smallest of the Asian elephants, in the Kinabatangan River valley have had their natural habitat fractured and encroached upon by humans. Palm oil plantations have replaced much of the rainforest. When travelling to the Kinabatangan River from Sandakan, there are palm trees as far as the eye can see. The river valley is now protected, but the amount of land that the pygmy elephants and other wild creatures have to roam has severely declined.
“Delicate and mighty, awesome and enchanted, commanding the silence ordinarily reserved for mountain peaks, great fires, and the sea.”
Peter Matthiessen, The Tree Where Man Was Born
When You Go…
Accommodation:
3 days / 2 nights includes 4 river cruises, a jungle walk and all meals.
Night walk in the jungle. Cost: 15MYR ($4.80 Canadian)
Extra for rubber boots. Cost: 10MYR ($3.20 Canadian)
We stayed in a dorm room; 2 bunk beds. We had it to ourselves.
In 2013, I stayed in a little hut.
You can charter a boat. Em and I opted out of the jungle walk and took a bird watching boat tour. So many hornbills to see! The charter is less expensive, the more people in the boat.
Cost: 132MYR each ($42.00 Canadian)
Six of us split the cost of the boat to go up the river looking for the elephants.
Cost: 85MYR each ($27.00 Canadian)
Getting there:
From Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan:
Bus: 7 hour bus ride
Flights: frequent; Air Asia
Nature Lodge Kinabatangan will pick you up from Sandakan or Sepilok, where the Orang Utan sanctuary is located. It is a 1 hour and 45 minute drive to the Nature Lodge
Wildlife:
It is possible to see much wildlife – orang utans, macaque and proboscis monkeys, crocodiles, many species of birds, monitor lizards…
Simply Delicious:
At Nature Lodge Kinabatangan, all meals are included. The buffet meals were absolutely delicious.
Like this post? Pin it!
Wild elephants! And pygmy too (learning something here). Love your simple, flowing prose about them. Great blog DaH. If it was designed to make me wish I was there, you nailed it.
Thanks, Paula!