Pandaw River Cruises Pulls Out of Borneo

The latest newsletter from Pandaw River Cruises announces that its ship, Orient Pandaw, will leave Borneo as of March 2012. This is sad news. Borneo is a rich vacation destination with the key draw being the island's orangutan population. Traveling the rivers, as Leonard and I did last month with Orion Expedition Cruises, is an excellent way to see how the Indonesians and Malaysians live and to get as close as possible to the animals, which include the red ape, proboscis monkey, macaques, Borneo bearded pigs, crocodiles, kingfishers, and more.


Here's what Pandaw had to say about its departure from Borneo:

It is with immense sadness that we are pulling out of this fascinating destination. The logistical and operational difficulties of working in so tough an environment have made the project commercially unsuccessful. Despite these challenges the Pandaw Borneo team have a well-run operation and levels of comfort and service on board up to top Pandaw standards. The river and jungle really are amazing and a must for keen river explorers.

There is still some space left between now and March and we highly recommend a stop off in Kuching and even a trip to the Mulu Caves. Visit Pandaw.com for further details.

Despite the challenges of the region (shallow rivers making travel by boat difficult during low tide, the heat and humidity, and availability of Western-style amenities on land), I highly urge you to get to Borneo soon. The people are endearing and the opportunity for animal sightings is amazing!


I'm sorry to see Pandaw leave the region, but hope Orion Expedition Cruises makes a go of it from this point forward.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxuryCruiseBible.com