So for some reason our morning FOUR HOUR hike up to Coffin Cliff did not start until 8:30 a.m. Usually these kinds of hikes start right at 6:30 a.m. in order to avoid the heat of the day, but nope … we were going to wind up finishing the hike smack dab in the middle of the day. Ugh.
Anyway, we set out from the lodge and passed the same green crested lizard hanging out on the same large fern we saw last night before turning right into the rain forest. Now there is a huge difference between walking along the road in the hot weather and walking in the rain forest. The dense vegetation retains the heat and is magnified as the day warms up. In other words, we all became sweat machines in short order.
As we walked (the easy part), Hairee spotted a few little bugs along the way including a Roly Poly, a millepede and a brown spotted lizard, but sadly no animals. We also saw some bracket mushrooms growing from a log.
About a half hour into the hike, we crossed two suspension bridges over the Danum River and passed the Coffin Cliff Trail sign, which was the start of our 1,225 meter climb to the lookout point.
Now the first 900 meters were fairly easy and were made up of a windy slightly inclined, but very muddy path. And what made it even tougher was the huge tree roots that were everywhere. You had to be very careful not to step the wrong way or you would either twist an ankle or fall over. And you also had to take care when crossing through the mud because there were times we sunk into the mud and had to yank a bit on our shoes to move on.
And while the incline was not that steep so far, we were surrounded by dense rainforest that made the going oppressive. I was dripping wet and we were only an hour in and hadn’t even hit the hard part.
Once we reached 900 meters we took a break on a bench and admired a waterfall and springs down below us. Apparently, we were going to stop there on the way back … if we had the energy.
Sadly, it quickly became apparent over the next 225 meters that I most definitely would not have the energy. The path took a decidedly dark turn as we trekked upwards. The incline became incredibly steep and we began climbing an endless series of staircases, which fortunately came with rope railings, which I used to help pull me up some of the steeper stairs. And while the rope railings were nice, you had to watch where you placed your hands so as not to grab a snake, giant stinging ant or spider that may be hanging out on the ropes. (And yes I did see one of the giant stinging ants and fortunately saw it in time.)
After what seemed like an eternity and massive huffing and puffing on my part, we reached the last part of the trail. Now it was here that the trail gets its name as there is a nearby burial site of the Dusan Subpan tribe who buried their dead in coffins in high cliffs and caves because they believed that this would make it easier for the dead to ascend to heaven.
In order to visit the site, we veered off the trail to the right, climbed up a small incline and over numerous rocks where we saw the remnants of a 250 plus year old person and an old wooden coffin. And high above us there were numerous other burial caves that could be visited if you wanted to hike up a platform. I opted out.
So after the burial site visit, we made the last 100 meter climb to the top and it was in a word … BRUTAL. I could barely lift my legs. The staircase wound first to the right, then to the left and the space between many of the stairs was huge. By the time we reached the top, my legs were shaking.
Now as views go, I will say it was spectacular looking out over a rainforest that has been around for a million plus years. But again, we saw zero animals and only the occasional bird (although we could hear them all around us).
We stayed at the top for about 15 minutes before beginning the grueling hike down. Now while the hike down did not make me feel oxygen deprived like the hike up, the hike down with its massive step downs was brutal on the knees. At this point, I was longing for the river trip where all I had to do was sit in a boat and be taken to the animals. Here, I was working my butt off and seeing nothing.
Anyway, once we made it past the 325 meter mark, we reached the waterfall and spring and we all decided we did not have the energy to climb down and back up so we continued on through the rainforest past the massive trees, dodging ants (and me pretending that there were no spiders nearby) and finally crossing over the two suspension bridges. By 12:35 we had returned back to the lodge and I was absolutely beat, soaked and sweating like I have never sweated before.
Once I got back to my villa, I stood in the shower for what seemed like 10 minutes with cold water streaming over me. And even when I got out of the shower, I began to sweating all over again. That was an absolutely rough hike.
After lunch, I rested, put a hot water bottle on my soar and shaking legs and debated whether I would be going on the afternoon hike. Hairee promised it was going to be a simple walk down the road and back to see if we could spot anything.
Anyway, at 4:00, I decided I was in (I hate missing out) and was so glad I went. About 20 minutes in, we had still not seen anything, but Hairee had a surprise for us. We stopped in the middle of the road and Hairee pointed upwards to a tree. And there high up on a branch was the male orangutan we had seen yesterday. Apparently he had given up on the female and was on his own.
I immediately began snapping pictures and had actually taken a couple good ones when Hairee told me to give him my camera and he would take a picture for me of the orangutan through the viewfinder of the telescope. Now I had done this before in Costa Rica last year and it can work out pretty well. Unfortunately, Hairee hit a couple buttons on my camera that he shouldn’t have and zap … he deleted all my pictures. Now fortunately, I download my pictures onto my iPad after every trek so the only pictures deleted were the pictures I had just taken of the orangutan, but … I had taken a couple great pictures so I was pretty gutted (but did not tell Hairee what he did because I knew he would have been upset).
Anyway, we ended up watching the orangutan for quite a while as he munched on leaves and berries. Eventually, the orangutan jumped/swung to an adjacent tree where he began building his nest for the night. Now orangutans build a new nest every night by bending branches to make the little bed and then covering it with leaves. They generally do not use the same nest twice.
And damn was it ever fascinating to watch the big guy through my camera lens build this nest while he was miles in the air. We could see him bending branches and pulling at leaves and before we knew it (about 5 minutes after he started) he was done and had disappeared for the night. Now the upside was that I was actually able to get a couple pretty good pictures so all was good!
Once the orangutan disappeared for the night we headed back to the lodge. Hairee said we would head back out in a couple hours for a very short night walk. Now as much as I wanted to go, my legs were seriously cramping up. Back at my villa, I ended up refilling my water bottle three times with rehydration salts and was finally able to put an end to the cramping. I also put a hot water bottle on the back of my legs and that also helped so when 7:00 hit, I decided I would join the evening hike.
Now sadly, the evening hike was again a dud. We only saw a couple harlequin flying frogs, a couple Asian blue centipedes (which are apparently poisonous), a triangle steel back snake (highly venomous), and a sleeping butterfly all near a pond area outside the lodge. Sadly, at one point we did spot a civet, but only caught a fleeting glance and it was gone. By 9:30, I was in bed with a hot water bottle on my legs hoping that it would ward off any cramping (it did).
So on my last day, Friday, we were up and at it by 6:30 a.m. for a two hour hike to the lodge’s canopy walkway. Now this was a very easy hike as we simply walked down the road about 45 minutes to the entrance to the canopy. And on the way, we spotted a gorgeous rufus back kingfisher as well as our favourite orangutan munching on leaves in the early morning. He was a lot higher in the trees today and camouflaged by leaves so it was really hard to get any good shots of him. But at least we got to see him.
By 7:00 we were walking up the canopy staircase (a short climb) where we crossed two suspension bridges. And like the previous day, we continued to strike out on seeing anything. We could hear rhinoceros hornbills and pigeons and woodpeckers and even barking geckos, but we saw nothing.
We were back at the lodge by 8:30 and after breakfast I showered, packed up and got ready for a VERY long trek ahead of me. We would first be driving the 2 ½ hour haul over that lovely windy bumpy road to Lahad Datu for a 4:10 p.m. flight to Kota Kinabalu and from there a 7:05 p.m. flight from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur. I was overnighting in KL and then heading on to Doha Saturday morning. Tuesday, it’s Doha to Seattle. Yikes … long trek to get home.
