After spending two days in Sandakan, savoring the amazing food, and visiting the proboscis sanctuary and orangutan conservation center, our Sabah trip continued to Bilit Adventure Lodge at the lower Kinabatangan river.
We started our journey after lunch and arrived at about 4:00 pm at Bilit Adventure Lodge.
This article will focus on the lodge, and there will be a separate article about our river cruise and jungle walk.
Bilit Adventure Lodge is located at Kampung Bilit along the Sungai Kinabatangan river, the longest river in Sabah. It is an ideal place to experience how it feels to stay in the tropical jungle.
On arrival at Kampung Bilit, we must take a short boat ride across the Kinabatangan river to check in to Bilit Adventure Lodge.
Don’t miss the video shot at Bilit Adventure Lodge. It is at the end of this article. 👇👇
Facilities in the room
The chalets are connected to the dining area by a series of boardwalks. Each chalet has four separate rooms. Our room is the superior room which comes with a queen-sized bed plus a single bed and an attached bathroom.
Our room was spotless, to our surprise, considering we were deep in the jungle.
A few tiny insects entered the room while we opened the door, which I found was an experience that enhanced the feeling of staying in the rainforest.
It has air conditioning and tea and coffee facilities. Besides that, the lodge also provides other basic amenities, such as toiletries and towels.
The hospitality triumphs 5-star amenities
In my opinion, the best experience is the hospitality that touches our hearts.
We could feel they genuinely treated the lodge as their own, offered sincere services, and welcomed us just like their families.
Everyone was so friendly and enthusiastic that they did multiple jobs simultaneously with a smile. You might not even expect this human touch from a five-star hotel.
Since my sister-in-law had an important meeting on one of the mornings, they arranged to share the internet so that she could attend an online meeting. Not bad that we still can connect with the outside world in the forest to attend to some important matters.
We even took a group photo with all the staff before we left!
If we ever come back to revisit the Kinabatangan river, the hospitality will be the main reason for us to stay at this Bilit Adventure Lodge again.
Other facilities
The dining area is where everyone will interact and exchange their experience of the river cruises and jungle walks. The food served at the lodge is simple but tasty.
There is a small bar in the dining area where you can order your favorite alcoholic drinks.
And a small souvenir shop for you to get some mementos.
The lodge also has a water filtering system to ensure the water supply is safe and clean.
Spot animals and birds right at the Bilit Adventure Lodge
Bilit Adventure Lodge is located in the rainforest wetlands, so it is pretty easy to spot animals and birds. Maroon langur, Bornean gibbon, and civet cats are among the animals you might encounter near the lodge.
The staff showed us the civet cat and a buffy fish owl that came here regularly.
This place is also the natural habitat for proboscis monkeys, an endangered species only found in Borneo.
Activities at the lodge
Our guide brought us on a boardwalk in one of the mornings, identifying some small animals and explaining to us the species of some plants.
We also participated in the tree-planting activity in the garden.
And batik drawing during our leisure time in the afternoon.
River cruises and jungle walks
We will upload a separate article about what we have seen during our river cruises at Kinabatangan river and the guided jungle walks. Over here, we want to show you a glimpse of what we have seen.
The cruise will bring you to the wildlife area for the Borneo pygmy elephant, the smallest elephant in the world. The night jungle walk was eye-opening as we would never have had the opportunity to see some nocturnal animals and birds if we had missed it.
Watch our video shot during our stay at Bilit Adventure Lodge . 👇👇
If you have read this blog post this far, don’t miss out on the video shot at the lodge. Click the image below to watch on YouTube (shot in high definition!).
Other places we visited in Sabah, Malaysia
If you like this article, you may also want to read about other articles we wrote during our visit to Sabah, Malaysia.
- (EP1 Sabah) Sandakan food guide: Ten best restaurants in Sandakan
- (EP2 Sabah) Sandakan Heritage Trail & Memorial Park guide- Best places to visit in Sandakan
- (EP3 Sabah) Sepilok Jungle Resort review- Our true experience (with amazing hospitality)
- (EP4 Sabah) Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary- feeding session (amazing photos)