Gomantong Caves & Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary

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We arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 9.30am and to take us to the Gomantong Caves and then to Paganakan Dii, Sanadakan, were we would be stayiing for 2 nights. The caves were a 30 minute drive from TLFL followed by a 10 minute walk through the rainforest. The Gomantong Caves are an intricate cave system inside Gomantong Hill. The main cave system is divided into two parts: the more accessible Simud Hitam (Black Cave), and the larger Simud Putih (White Cave) which lies above. The names refer to the main type of nests produced by swiftlets in each cave. The cave system is home to many other animals, including massive populations of cockroaches and bats. The caves have been renowned for their valuable edible swiftlet nests, which are harvested for bird's nest soup. The most valuable of the nests, the white ones, can sell for very high prices. The birds' nest collection is an ancient tradition, and the trading of these nests has been done since at least 500 AD. Twice a year, from February to April and July to September, locals with licenses climb to the roof of the caves, using only rattan ladders, ropes, and bamboo poles, and collect the nests.
The cave was discusting, thousands of cockroaches and the stench...quite horrific! It's a shame that we don't have smelly-vision!! Ange seemed to have an obsession with the cockroaches and took more phographs of these than the birds nests!! There were even beds in the caves for the workers to sleep...how on earth did they manage to sleep in there?...all I can think is they must get extremely well paid!!! The drive to Paganakan Dii from the caves was pretty uneventful (apart from stopping at a wooden shack for fuel, were a little lady came out with a plastic container full of fuel!), passing field upon field of Palm oil with the occasional village. Paganakan Dii literally translated means ‘The Family’ in the language of the largest indigenous group in Sabah, the Kadazan-Dusun communities. The concept of ‘Family’ became the foundation on which everything at the retreat was created - from the layout of the compund, to the room configurations, to the intimacy of spaces created and ultimately the desire to build something that would bring people together, even if for only a short moment. Set on a narrow ridge, Paganakan Dii is a development of 3 duplexes (6 rooms) and 3 longhouses (36 beds), laid out along the perimeter of a hill top. Just a few hundred feet below the rooms are the communal pavilion-cum-restaurant and dewan multi-purpose hall, both built on the hill slopes and offering beautiful views of the compound and surrounding foliage. Reaching the remote retreat is but a short steep road (of about 150ft), discreetly hidden within the compounds of Taman Jalil Alip. This was by far the most luxurious/breathtaking place we had stayed so far. We arrived at Paganakan Dii at 12.30pm and was greeted by a very cheerful Nikki who wanted to know our plans as soon as we had arrived! We arranged with her to be collected at 1.30pm to go to Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary that afternoon. The Labuk Bay sanctuary was created in 1994, whilst embarking on Oil Palm Plantation development near the mangrove swamps of the present sanctuary, the owner of the site came to know of the proboscis monkeys living there. Fascinated, he learned more about the monkeys and their predicament. Although the 400 plus acres of mangrove forest were initially bought for commercial development, the plan was quickly dropped so that these monkeys could continue to survive there without fear of losing their natural habitat. The proboscis monkey known as the bekantan in Malay, or simply the long-nosed monkey. It is a reddish-brown arboreal Old World monkey that is endemic to the south-east Asian island of Borneo. The monkey also goes by the Malay name monyet belanda 'Dutch monkey', or even Orang Belanda 'Dutchman', as Indonesians remarked that the Dutch colonisers often had a similarly large belly and nose. The sanctuary was a 20 minute drive from Paganakan Dii, at 2pm we would be able to watch the semi-wild monkeys being fed. The viewing area was a short work along a wooden platform through mangrove trees. At 2pm a ranger came to the feeding station and started immitating the sound of the monkeys, suddenly there was about 50-60 Proboscis monkeys and macaques waiting to be fed. There was a huge commotion and lots of screaming from the monkeys and banging on the roof of the viewing area (making most of the visitors shelter for cover!) The reason for this, Jonathan the most senior proboscis of the batchelor troop was joing the audience! I think he only came to pose with visitors for photographs! Later in the afternoon at another feeding station we were also able to witness a Sea Eagle, 2 Hornbills, Monitor Lizard and Silver Bearded Monkeys being fed. One of the hornbills seemed over friendly and tried pecking Anges' camera.
Our taxi driver was supposed to take us back to our lodge for 5pm but we got a little carried away taking photos! We apologised for being a little late, at least it was only a 20 minute drive back. Arriving back at the lodge we ordered our evening meal and went to our room. We rested for a while, went and ate our meal and then went straight back to our room as Jane had started to get the infamous rash. Hopefully an early night and some rest would make it all better in the morning.

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