Expedition Report
Kayak Borneo was an innovative rolling expedition exploring rivers of the rainforest in Borneo, and provided the team an opportunity to get a unique view of one of the world’s few remaining true wildernesses. Borneo is the 3rd largest island in the world split into 3 countries: Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. The rivers in Borneo are surrounded by dense jungle and are extremely steep with plenty of waterfalls to explore. The dense rainforest is the oldest in the world, aged at 130 million years, and is also thought to be one of the largest.
The team found no information that there has been any previously organised kayaking expedition to the island, and apart from a couple of the rivers where rafting companies operated, the remaining rivers were awaiting a first descent, an extreme rarity. Very few detailed maps existed for the area to be explored, and records of the road network proved to be incorrect. Therefore much of the pre planning involved Google Earth, where much of the imagery was too poor to make out all but the largest rivers, particularly in Kalimantan.
The Exploration Board supported the one Imperial student participant of the expedition, which was comprised of nine members in total. The rolling arrangement involved the expedition being conducted in three stages, each comprising three or four kayakers, with the Imperial student participating in the second stage from 2nd to 22nd September 2013.
During this stage, whilst in the Sabah region in the Malaysian part of the island, the group tackled the Tolokosang River, a run of 10km world class grade IV/V kayaking through lush jungle, comprising a couple of waterfalls. This had already been completed as a first decent by the first stage team, but now the river was 6ft higher due to recent rain, providing eddies, gorges and incredible steep boulder filled rapids. The group then moved to the Sarawak region to attempt the Tutoh river which flows through the Mulu National Park.
The next destination was the hills of northern Sarawak where the group tackled the Tengoa River and a first descent of the Luping River. The next objective was the Trusan River which delighted the group by offering high flowing large long pool drop rapids. The Kelalan, a side stream of the Trusan, gradually increased in intensity, and culminated in a very steep technical gorge offering fantastic and challenging rapids. After the gorge the river settled down into many kilometres of class II/III paddling before returning to Luping village.
Whilst in Borneo the team collaborated with an award winning charity, Heart of Borneo, to help combat the loss of this great wilderness and further their goal of conserving the rainforests of Borneo through exploration, research, education and empowerment. The funds from the sale of the expedition boats were donated to support this charity. A notable aspect of the venture was the hospitality of the people encountered. Meals, fuel and transport were often freely provided, and the expedition members were often welcomed into people’s homes in remote villages in the forests.
