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Published: March 13th 2010
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From downtown KK took the public bus to Wawasan bus station, 50 ringgit cents, then a van to Inanam station where the bus for Sandakan leaves. The bus is on it's way out and I just made it by a hair, 9am so i should be in Sepilok by 2pm. the bus ride was uneventful apart from an accident we passed along the road, a turned over car but everyone seems ok, am still thinking about the massive quake in Chile, i have so many friends living or travelling there at the moment, Chile is one of my favorite countries in Latin America and hopes the devastation is minimal. Anyway back on the bus, I was left off at the mile 14 roundabout, I was instructed by Paganakan Dii, the place I am staying to call them from the Chinese store nearby the roundabout for a free pick up but it was shut , i saw some cars on the side of the road heading towards the sanctuary, how much for Paganakan? I asked 5 ringgits, I took it.
The place is within a park with animals, deers, ducks, , the taxi left me at the foot of a steep
path where i hiked and found the place, the room is very cool! It's longhouse style and am the only one there at the moment, very clean and quiet here, loving it already! Chilled in the main house where they have wifi, thank god i lost the signal otherwise I won't do anything else, went back to my huge dorm and washed some pieces of clothing and put them out to dry in the hot sun even at 5pm already. Walked down to the park below the Paganakan, actually we are within this park called Taman Jalil Alip. I can hear and see lots of birds perching themselves at top of trees for the night and you hear their calls, really great place and so quiet. went back to Paganakan, I tell you that hill to get there is a killer, the place sits on top of a hill, beautiful landscape looking out to the forest, as I went to investigate and snoop around the place, I could not help but look atop tree branches whenever am under them for snakes! damn that snake in Maliangin island left me paranoid for good. Dinner was ok, this place is not cheap
, $9 for dorm bed and average $3 for meals and $2 for Tiger beer( too expensive for SEAsia!) but love it.
Fell asleep quickly, the dorm room is huge I can waltz inside it without hitting the beds, slept listening to the sounds of crickets and what not insects in the forest. Got up early and got ready for the free breakfast before heading out to the orangutans. Free drop off and pick up yay! First drop off time is 9am, we are only a good 5 minutes from the Sepilok Orang utan Rehab Ctr. $10 entrance and $3.5 for camera fee, tickets good for 2 feedings at 10am and 3pm. I got to the feeding area at 9:30am and already 4 orangutans are making the rounds setting themselves close to the feeding area in anticipation for food, people were taking fotos already, the crowd got bigger and bigger but everyone had the opportunity to take a shot, there is a gentleman with a "silence" placard, apparently the apes get ticked off when it's too noisy, well tell that to the Chinese tourists, they don't seem to care, loud and noisy a couple tourists shoosh them to no
avail. They don't know how to shut up! Only 4 orangutans came to feed but entertained the crowd with their antics, hanging in ropes while eating posing then going off in the forest.
I have so much time to kill now, I wanted to stay for the 2nd feeding so I went to the reception and asked what trails I can do, the Bird's trail is still open there are maybe 5 trails but they are only open from 9am to 12pm! Ridiculous, they know people come to view the feeding and it finishes at half past 10am, you have no time to do the other trails as some are 5 kms long! Annoyed I registered and was given this ticket stub thing that says "Birds trail". No security guy to collect the stub at the trail head so I kept on, only 1.2 kms long but it's damn humid inside the forest, a few people were there too we did not see a single animal but the trail is nice. Then head off to see the movie at the visitor center then checked out the exhibit about the apes and other animals in the area, like the rhinos.
Had a good lunch at the cafeteria then at 2pm the gates opened again and i was one of the first ones at the platform, along the way i saw black squirrels feeding on flowers i think, i took a few shots before they ran away when 2 annoying English dudes walked past having a conversation at the top of their lungs. At the feeding platform, there were already 2 orangutans feeding the left over form the am, I sat there and took fotos for a good hour and a half, hardly anybody in the beginning apart from the Chinese family who again just talking away out loud, I have nothing against them, I love their food but for crying out loud they have no tact! More of them came and the gringos gave them a nasty stare as they make all kinds of noises to no avail. I managed to block them out, a female tourist approached me and asked me why I am using flash in daylight, she has a point and shoot so it wont work properly, i have a 300mm lens, better color and clarity with flash, one of the orangutans eventually covered it's face
while eating i think it is sending a message at me that he/she is being blinded by the flash so i discreetly turned it off embarassed. After the feeding the 2 orangutans slowly left and we followed them as they disappeared in the forest. We got picked up and I had a good shower and laundry, I sweated so much my shirt stunk!
The accommodation here in Paganakan is so nice I am sad to leave, the dorms are big and the toilets are clean, you hear lots of birds chirping, you really feel like you're in commune with nature, beer isn't cheap and food as well but it's ok the serenity and tranquility more than make up for it. I had a good breakfast before leaving, I shared the van with an annoyed backpacker, she wanted to do the Proboscis and orangutans the same day and she is confused on what the staff is telling her about pick up times, the staff's English is not the best but they speak slow and if you are patient enough you can get your message across, but she wouldn't have it, so goodluck to her, I got dropped off at the
roundabout and I waited for a bus to the city center of Sandakan.
Sandakan is not attractive to me, just one night at a nice hostel called Winho Lodge then make my way to Semporna the next day. There are lots of Filipinos here being so close to Tawi Tawi.Nothing much to do here though so moving on.
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