Malaysia: Cameron Highlands, Sabah & Kinabatangan Wildlife

Private transfer from KLIA to the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur. James meets you for a brief orientation and welcome dinner.

Petronas Towers Skybridge in the morning, then Merdeka Square and the Islamic Arts Museum. Afternoon free before the drive into the Highlands tomorrow.

A three-hour private drive north and upward into the Titiwangsa Range. The road climbs through secondary jungle and rubber estates before the landscape suddenly transforms into emerald tea estates. Arrival at the Smokehouse Hotel — a 1937 English country house in the Highlands that is one of Malaysia's most extraordinary colonial survivors — for afternoon tea and the first lungful of cool highland air.

Morning visit to BOH Sungei Palas Tea Estate — the most scenic of Malaysia's highland tea plantations, with a glass-walled factory building cantilevered over the valley, views of rolling green terraces in every direction, and free factory tours explaining the tea process from leaf to cup. The BOH terrace café serves excellent tea, obviously. Afternoon: a guided walk through the Cameron Highlands Mossy Forest — a montane forest ecosystem draped in extraordinary epiphytic moss, ferns and orchids, with a boardwalk trail for ease of access.

A free morning in the Highlands at your own pace — the Smokehouse garden, a walk through the nearby forest trail to the Robinson Falls waterfall (3km return on a gentle path), or simply a long breakfast and a book. Afternoon: the Cameron Highlands Butterfly Farm, home to over 250 species of tropical butterfly in a walk-through greenhouse.

Morning drive back to Kuala Lumpur for the included flight to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Sarah Ooi meets you at KK Airport — the start of the Borneo adventure. Dinner at a waterfront seafood restaurant with views over the South China Sea.

Drive to Kinabalu National Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site and home of Borneo's sacred granite mountain. The Mountain Garden at Park HQ (1,500m) houses a superb botanical collection including the extraordinary Rafflesia (the world's largest flower), and the lower forest trails are exceptional for endemic birds and orchids. Overnight at the park lodges in the cool mountain air.

Morning scenic drive east across Sabah to the Kinabatangan River floodplain. Arrival in time for the evening boat safari — the first glimpse of the Kinabatangan wildlife: proboscis monkeys in the riverside trees, kingfishers, herons and — with luck — the first wild orangutan sighting.

The definitive wildlife day. Dawn safari at 05:45 — mist on the river, the forest waking, proboscis monkeys returning to feeding trees — followed by a mid-morning rest. Afternoon nature walk in the riparian forest with Sarah, identifying the extraordinary birdlife: hornbills, kingfishers, broadbills and the endemic Bornean bristlehead. Evening boat safari in the golden hour.

Morning on the oxbow lake adjacent to the lodge — a separate water body rich in false gharials, freshwater turtles and wading birds — followed by Gomantong Caves, home to millions of swiftlets and cave-nesting bats. Evening boat safari.

The 10:00 morning feeding at Sepilok — where semi-wild rehabilitated orangutans descend from the forest canopy to the feeding platform. This is among the most moving wildlife experiences in the world. The adjacent Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre follows. Afternoon at the Sepilok Nature Resort.

Morning flight from Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu. Afternoon at the Rasa Ria resort, where the resident wild orangutan programme in the resort's own nature reserve offers one final encounter with these remarkable animals. Optional boat trip to the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park islands for snorkelling.

A full day at leisure at the Shangri-La Rasa Ria — the beach, the pool, the spa, or the resort's own forest nature reserve. Sarah joins you this evening for a farewell dinner.

Final breakfast at the Rasa Ria. Private transfer to Kota Kinabalu International Airport.