Gunning Short

“Missed it all cause they could not have been captured with merely a 70-200 lens”

It was supposed to be a routine day – a couple hours on flight, a couple hours on the road to our destined location and then take in the possibility of endless hours on boats and on foot hiking through a pristine limestone forests deep in Borneo. That was the plan.

Though it was a short two night expedition through the Kinabatangan river, there were more than many unexpected surprises from this somewhat over 500km river. Gleaming with life, this is the most immaculate places (in my books) for wildlife photography. Countless species of aves, mammals, reptiles and amphibians found here almost resemble paradise, an untouched land depicted by ancient travellers, where wildlife thrive without knowing the existence of man. Some of the great wildlife here includes hornbills, various kingfishers, darters, raptors, elephants, proboscis monkeys, orang utans, and saltwater crocks. Truly a wildlife Photographers heaven.

Though it was a shame to have missed out photographing the star subjects – it was a spectacular delight to have witnessed a large crock splash into the river with great might, elephants grazing in the fading light and proboscis monkeys feeding in the canopy – all from the safety of our small boat. Missed it all cause they could not have been captured with merely a 70-200 lens (slap forehead!)

I’m not sure when i will be back there again (hopefully soon) – all in all, it was a great ‘reccee’ trip to immerse & sample the richness of biodiversity in the Malaysian rainforest with wildlife conservationists that truly care for the greater good of our natural heritage.