KAMPUNG ABAIWDT 22, 90200 KINABATANGANSANDAKAN, SABAH, MALAYSIA

This village is situated 40km from Sukau and 50km from Sandakan, at the estuary of Kinabatangan River; that stretched for 560km, makes it the longest river in Sabah. Kampung Abai is in a confluence where the Kinabatangan river splits into two rivers where one flows towards Sandakan and the other flows to far east side of Sabah. You can get here by helicopter, but the best way will be by boat. That way you will have a chance to enjoy the sanctuary of Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife. Built on a 70.8 acres of land with the population of 250 residents approximately and Sungai as the major race. Most of the villagers here involve in fisheries activities and a few of them work as a public servant, while others have migrated to Sandakan and not less to Kuala LumpurWhat makes Abai an interesting village is the environment itself which is surrounded with a diversity of forest such as mangrove forest, nypah forest and swamp forest (peat, seasonal, riparian). Located in between two of the biggest wildlife sanctuaries along the Kinabatangan river ( Lot 1 & Lot 2); this village is also the nearest human community to the biggest RAMSAR site in Malaysia. Apart of that, this village was once referred as Johnsonville; a base camp for a filming of Borneo by The Johnsons back in 1935-1936. All that makes Kampung Abai as a uniquely strategic and highly potential for eco-tourism and conservation activities.When certain areas surrounding Abai were first gazette as the RAMSAR site and Wildlife Sanctuaries, the community found it limiting their daily activities. Other than that they also had depletion in numbers of catch on fisheries and river prawns due to pollution. Homestay activities were not active at that time due to lack of knowledge in the tourism industry and less promotion. But with the encouragement from the Government and NGOs towards remote communities, the community themselves finally formed Community Abai Project (CAP) and currently has been helping the community in generating a sustainable income through eco-tourism and conservation programme. Bird lovers, wildlife admirer, botanist, culture geek, fishing addict : Abai is a place you should think about of spending your time not just alone, but with your whole family.