'Im the king of the swingers' : Sepilok Orang Utan Rehab Centre

6 hours after leaving KK we arrived in Sepilok, 6 hours on a bus talking to the most boring Dutch couple in the world! This is suprising because all the Dutch people we have met have been absolutely fantastic.

The journey was a reminder of the extensive logging going on in Borneo, all you can see fro miles are palm oil trees in place of virgin forests. It so sad and really has to stop.

Anyways we jumped off the bus at the junction near to the 'jungle resort' we were staying at, had an arguement with a taxi driver who was trying to rip us off and finally made it to our room. The Jungle resort has a beautiful gardens and is surrounded by virgin forest, its a lovely location, and has the added advantage of being 5 mins walk from the Orang utan Rehabilitation centre.

the following morning it was time to go and visit the Orang utans. I was really excited to see them as we had heard so many people saying how amazing they are! There are two feeding times at the centre that you can go and observe in the morning and afternoon but you get kicked out in between! The Organuatns at the centre are those who have been recued either from being kept as pets or orfaned. they are then given medical treatment and rehabilitated. After which they are released into the jungle and still have the option of being fed twice a day. It is mainly the young and newly released organutans that attend the feedings as the food is kept boring to encourage them to fend for themselves in the future.

we arrived at the centre just before feeding, it was raining heavily as its monsoon season and we were all wearing rain coats. The first orangutan to appear was alone and we watched her arrive swinging from the ropes. She was waiting for her friends and was focused on looking into the jungle for them. It started to rain again and she began making herslef an umbrella out of leaves! she was so human like, waiting for her friends with an umbrella on her head!! As the food was put out, the others began to turn up. They were all young,and there were 2 pairs who clung to eachother throughout, even when they were swinging! it was like watching children in the playground! they were hilarious and were posing for us the whole time. we stayed for a couple of hours watching them, at the end there were only 3 of us watching them, it was fantastic.

It was still raining at the afternoon feeding session. The organutans hate getting wet and they were all trying to get shelter from leaves and under the trees. watching them eat was amazing, they look like humans. they have milk and bananas and looked so silly with milk dripping from their chins! After a while a mother with a tiny baby clinging to her back swung onto the feeding platform. it was lovely to watch them.

we eventually got asked to leave at 4pm, we didnt want to go but the orangutans need their peace!

we took lots of picture but unfortunately as it was so dark in the jungle it was hard to get good ones.

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