Apes and Monkeys in Sabah, Borneo


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July 8th 2009
Published: July 8th 2009
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Sapi was a wonderful island for our final beach day for a month. It was quiet, still wonderful snorkelling and a decent but not too expensive café. There were also water activities and the boys went for a banana boat ride. Jake loved it, although Elliot was not too sure and we had to call the boat in for him after a bit. He too loved the finale, which was jumping into the sea from the boat while the guy tied the banana boat back on the roof.

Speeding back to the island we spied a totally private beach in a cove just around the headland from where everyone was sitting and wandered back there for our final couple of hours on what now felt like a proper deserted island. Jake and Elliot hauled huge bamboo poles up the beach and began a shelter they were loath to leave. But leave we did, once again just before the rain set in. Our crab and red snapper was a superb final feast in KK, and the boys completed their Transformer collection.

As an aside, one observation is how different the priorities in education must be here. People’s mental arithmetic is appalling, we have seen people use calculators to work out how much change is needed from a 20 Ringit note when the bill is 18 R. Some appalling errors occur, and we have to get them to check often when we know the maths is wrong. I suspect this is a pragmatic decision- maths is not important, as long as you know how to use a calculator. On the other hand languages are an absolute priority. Most people speak some English, and many bits of German, French and who knows what oriental languages as well. Whereas in Britain with English as a native tongue we attach little importance to language, in other parts of the world it is perhaps the most important thing. If you cannot communicate with people you can get nowhere.

Our next destination was Sandukan whose architecture made KK look inspired. It can best be summarised as an ugly concrete jungle. We found a half decent place to eat, down by the waterfront, and then somewhat surreally wandered into what we thought was a fair but soon discovered was a sort of agricultural expo. It was interesting and strange. This was also true of the hotel we stayed in -May Fair. It was a fairly standard budget hotel, much more 60’s or 70’s in terms of décor and facilities except for three things. It had the best free wireless we have come across, large flat screen tvs in every room, and dvd players, and a huge collection of free dvds - only 5 per room at a time! Given how little there was to do here the boys settled down with Harry Potter DVDs, and a Mr Bean one before bed, and we sought accommodation on-line for the rest of our trip, and watched the final Lions test (I’m sure you can work out which of us did which!). The owner seemed to live in the lobby, watching various films, and at night putting out a bed and sleeping in front of his telly. He was a friendly helpful fellow though, and helped organise a very good value taxi for the next stage of our trip.

We have loved Borneo, but the whole reason we came was to see Orang Utan. The easiest place to do this is Sepilok rescue centre, and we headed there early arriving at our hotel - Sepilok Nature Resort - before 10 am. It was gloriously hot and we spent the day in the resort reading, working, and meandering about. The grounds are beautifully tended with wooden walkways weaving over ponds, between a huge variety of tropical plants including hundreds of Orchds, many of which only bloom at night. Our cabin is spacious even with 4 in it, and the back door looks straight into the jungle. We have fallen in and out of love with it several times, it is the most beautiful place we have stayed (which is saying something) and most of the staff are friendly and helpful; they charge a huge amount for wifi (though we have probably got our money’s worth); the food is good; Jake tripped and lost our room key in the pond falling through the slats in the walkway which cost far more than a replacement key should; we have seen various insects, a snake swimming and (another) water monitor; they let us have free bikes; they have been generous with food and drink orders - eg boys had cereal and waffles for breakfast and only got charged for cereal. Overall it has been fantastic and the gripes look minor. Cannot help thinking that Annie would love it here.

We made a major mistake though. Having spent our first day trying not to do everything to keep stuff for our second, we woke in the night to the most dramatic of thunderstorms; the cabin was shaken by a couple of peels. The rain was torrential. After breakfast we headed off to the jungle to see the Orang Utan, with it still raining. The first feeding was crowded with people but only one soggy orange forest man turned up for his bananas. Seems extraordinary that a rainforest creature would be put off by rain, but that seems to have been the case. Worse, the jungle trails that looked dry now looked like rivers, and even off the platform we had to flick a leach from Elliot’s raincape. With our only footwear being sandals the jungle trails here will go unwalked.

Luckily the second feeding went better. We arrived early and were first there. As meal time approached one came walking along the hand rail, before grabbing a piggy back from a keeper to the platform. 2 more Orang Utan turned up as did a troop of pig tailed macaques and a couple of long tailed ones too. We saw the languid style with which the red haired great apes swung along ropes, and saw them play, wrestle and feed. It was amazing how human they are, veering between seeming like orange rug clad children, and old men playing chess. We stayed to the end, and with the other stragglers were treated to 2 of them swinging back to us, playing on the closer platform, before heading off into the jungle. The boys learnt how good things come to those who wait. Elliot bounced home, via a coconut stall exclaiming “That was Fan-tiddly-tastic!” and we all agreed it was a highlight of the trip. They are an astonishingly charismatic and endearing creature, seeming playful and gentle, engaging and sagacious. It is hard to believe our actions are bringing them to the brink of extinction. What a tragedy if Jake and Elliot tell their children of how they saw them in the wild, but can only show them pictures.

The proboscis monkey is a less close relative than the Orang Utan, but is even more endangered. We knew very little about the animal nicknamed the “Dutch Man” by the locals on account of the big nose and large pot belly (a side effect of the diet of mangrove leaves, which are poisonous, and so need multiple stomachs to digest, and produce gas). Proboscis monkeys exclusively inhabit the mangrove forests of Borneo, mangrove forests in which the trees grow to over 20 or 30 feet, far higher than other mangroves. They live in large Harems, with one dominant male in each, with up to 30 females. The large nose is linked with mature sexuality, something which needs little signalling as the males seem permanently aroused. Mature males live together in bachelor groups, again with the most dominant in charge, but permanently on the lookout for an opportunity to gain “wives”.

They live relatively peacefully and most of the sorting out of rank is done behaviourally rather than in actual fighting. We saw 3 family groups and the bachelor boys and witnessed some amazing behaviour in our brief visits, including one bout of pre-prandial mating, males leading their families in to feed, grooming, astonishing acrobatics including leaps and swinging both through treetops, and young from the adults tails, and a male fighting off an approach from a macaque to its feeding platform, harem huddled behind him for protection and to egg him on. The males looked particularly impressive, graceful power and musculature shimmering under gloriously coloured and patterned coats. They shared the caring of the young between the females and the mothers carrying them seemed unhindered leaping through the treetops. The male alone carried out the important work of dominating the food and posturing and showing off (we are sure he dominates the internet as well!)

Elliot again proclaimed the day fan-tiddly-tastic and the boys were lured briefly out of the world of their imaginations to engage with the primates. These monkeys were a huge and unexpected bonus - we had reckoned, indeed planned the Borneo leg for, the Orang Utan, but these were an afterthought. Not only that but we also saw macaques, beautiful silverleaf monkeys (with one few days old baby, a striking orange contrast to its black and grey parents), and impressive hornbill birds. Our accommodation was again chalets - this time we and the boys had separate halves of the same chalet - this time built on stilts on the tidal mangrove swamp. It was over water when we arrived and mud as we left for the second feeding. As we are reading Secret Water at the moment the boys are fascinated with the movement of the tide, the Red Sea, and why there are no mangroves in Britain.


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8th July 2009

big birds
I saw two crows at the bins in town today and thought they were big but your toucans win by a mile! All looks amazing.X
9th July 2009

Hi Joe and family I hope you are all enjoying yourselves and having a fantastic time. No doubt you are looking forward to coming back in September!! Ope yow am ok an am glad ow ay got Coral an Courtney next year! Take care Best wishes Jane xx

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