Hanging with the Orangutans in Borneo

Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center, Borneo, Malaysia

I’ve wanted to go to Borneo and see the Orangutans for ages.  Something about those furry orange creatures just called to me!  So when it finally all came together I was really excited.  So excited that I took off for another solo adventure because Todd couldn’t get the time off work!  Sorry Todd. :o)   I flew for about 20 hours from Los Angeles through Hong Kong to get to the island of Borneo in Malaysia.  It was well worth the trek!

City Life in Kota Kinabalu – Borneo, Malaysia

Kota Kinabalu, Borneo

My first stop in Malaysia was Kota Kinabalu (aka KK).  It is much more of a modern town than I expected.  I had envisioned Borneo to be some sort of frontier land with dirt roads and poor infrastructure.  Quite the opposite!  They have bright and shiny new stores like Quicksilver and Esprit that you’d be hard pressed to know that you weren’t in the states when you’re wandering through them.  I must confess that I did stop at the Quicksilver store, not to shop, but oh that air conditioning felt so lovely!  I also thought the prices in these modern stores would be less expensive than at home, but not the case.  Oh and of course, they have the prerequisite Starbucks, McDonalds, and KFC.  I didn’t stop at any of those places – even for the AC.  I just felt like those modern conveniences shouldn’t have been available in my picture of a frontier town!

Kota Kinabalu also has a really nice little waterfront promenade that was quite lovely.  Perfect for a nice stroll to work on getting over that jet lag!  You can also take a quick boat ride out to visit several of the islands that you can see from the promenade.  I will have to fill you in on that adventure later, or ask me if you’re interested.  The accommodations in KK are quite affordable and can be quite modern as well.  The local food is fantastic, and I’m a picky eater.  I had a wonderful shrimp fried rice which looked like it had little tiny minnows in it – strange, but tasty!

Tip:  One thing to keep in mind when you’re looking for a room is that having a window is not standard.  If it matters to you, you need to look through the room description or ask when making your reservations specifically for a room with a window!  And, of course, a room with a window always costs more!

Explosions?

For my first night in KK I had a room without a window, which definitely takes some getting used to.  It’s really tough when you are trying to adjust to a totally different time zone to have no idea whether it’s dark or light outside!  During my afternoon nap, I heard this really loud booming that just kept going on and on.  It sounded like explosions and honestly I was a bit worried!  As I couldn’t look out the window I had to go ask the front desk what it was – was there some turmoil going on outside? They laughed at me!  It was thunder!  We sure don’t have thunder like that at home.  Next time I think I’ll get a window!

Next stop –Orangutans!

I headed to Sepilok, which is a well known Orangutan Rehabilitation Center outside of Sandakan.  It was set up to care for baby Orangutans rescued from the wild or captivity, with the intention of bringing them back to health and releasing them back into the wild.  Twice a day during feeding times, they permit tourists to come see these wonderful creatures.  They have an observation deck out in the rain forest and then feeding platforms where they leave bananas, watermelon, and milk. I actually went on two different days because it was so fantastic!

Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center, Borneo, Malaysia

Both visits I arrived early and found a good spot adjacent to the front railing.  It really is peaceful and I really enjoyed just relaxing and listening to the sounds of bugs and birds.  Every time a tree shook or a funny noise was made, I was sure it was one of the orangutans.  Eventually it was!  They have these ropes connected from tree to tree that connect up with the feeding platform.  You start to see the rope bouncing a bit before the orangutan, so of course, the excitement is building!   Finally a young orangutan comes cruising along hand over hand to the platform.

Baby Orangutan, Borneo, Malaysia

As I was sitting on the railing watching the little one eat bananas and watermelon a male orangutan and his girlfriend starting coming down the walkway.  I actually had to move out of the way because he decided to walk on the railing that I was sitting on.  They were so close I could have reached out and touched them.  It was amazing; they are so human like it’s crazy.

I actually spent close to an hour within inches of the baby and then separately the male and his girlfriend.  The little baby one was playing and swinging on branches and I had to duck several times to not get wacked in the head – she was such a show off!

Another priceless moment, was the big male orangutan laying on the walkway, feet kicked up on the rail, hands behind his head.  You can’t believe how human he looked.  Just give him a remote and a beer and you can’t tell the difference between him and a lot of other men!  Needless to say, I had a fantastic time with the orangutans.  It substantially exceeded my expectations of how amazing it would be.

Leeches!

After the orangutans moved on, I went on a several mile hike at the center.  It was supposed to be a nice little out and back hike on a nice little trail through the rainforest.  I; however, missed the part that said out and back and thought it was a loop trail!  Oops.  I thought that stairway missing all of the slats was a little strange in such a popular destination!  So after clambering up a slope (adjacent to the broken stairs) that I shouldn’t have gone down in the first place, I looked down to see a skinny little worm stuck to my leg!  Oh yuck, really, I was not happy about having a leech on me.  Not only had I gotten lost, gotten filthy, but now a leech!  :o( So fortunately I had done research previously on the best way to get them off of you.  I put my fingernail under his lips to break the seal, which worked, but then he grabbed onto my finger!  Tried to dislodge him again, and he suctioned onto another finger!  Fortunately I was so sweaty from my hike that he actually was never able to latch on enough to draw blood!  So after about 4 tries I finally got rid of the little monster.  I had been really dreading being “attacked” by leeches, so I was very happy that it wasn’t too bad!

Interested in hearing about my jungle lodge adventure and seeing Orangutans in the wild, check out my next post!

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What have been your favorite wildlife encounters?