The City of Cats

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I came to Borneo expecting to be greeted by orang u tangs, fighting off hornbills, avoiding the snakes and pulling off leeches. All this I thought would have occured as soon as I stepped off the plane - I was of course to be disappointed and instead of an abundance of tropical creatures I was greeted by your common old garden cat. Now don't get me wrong, I haven't actually seen many living, breathing felines but I have seen cat statues and monuments of every shape, size and description. It seems that the people of Kuching - the capital of Malaysian Borneo's Sarawack region have gone to the point of obsession over the moggy with large 10 foot cats, in the middle of roundabouts, and on pretty much any object that locals feel could benefit for additional decoration. They even have the world's first and only cat musuem.

Having been to the cat musuem I can now say I am one step closer to fulfilling my bucket list! But being in Borneo I thought it proper to make an effort to see something other than cats, so Tom and I headed out to a wildlife rehabiliation centre, where semi - wild orang u tangs and other creatures are supported to live in a natural environment. Having got up extremely early we were disappointed to see bus loads of locals who had come for a day trip - but not to dampen our spirits we listened to the wardens telling us that we could watch feeding time but to have any chance of seeing orang u tangs we must be very quiet. So off we and the hundred others tramped to a prime spot of jungle where we were positioned 20 feet from the feeding platform.

While we held our breath in an effort to be as quiet as possible the crowd behind us made noise akin to Oxford Steet on a Saturday afternoon. Needless to say an hour of this brought forth nothing more than a squirrel.

While trying to be pleased that these jungle inhabitants were obviously rehabilitated to the point that they could reject the rangers food and forage by themselves - I was secretly very disappointed. Trudging back to the bus stop, we were interrupted by a rustle which demanded further investigation. Much to our delight we came across five of what I am told are mankinds closest relatives and there was not a cat in sight.

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Photos

baby
This one was just over a year old

Comments

[amy]

im going to print out that picture of you with your head on the cat body and frame it - hilarious! You look like you are both having a wonderful time - we love getting your postccards and reading about your adventures. Hope you both have a lovely and exciting christmas! xxx