Sepilok and Orangutans

---

The next morning we departed early and collected our main bags from Sandakan and headed to nearby Sepilok to stay at a jungle resort and see Orangutans! We left our bags and the resort and the Orangutan rehabilitation centre was nearby. These Orangutans had been rescued (many were illegal pets) and are brought to the rehabilitation centre for exactly that – rehabilitation and nurturing until they can be let back into the wild. The expansive centre is a giant rainforest and there was a nursery for the baby orangutans and we sat behind glass watching them play and swing around on the jungle gyms and trees. Then it was feeding time in the main area (which was all outdoors) and we saw so many orangutans they really put on a show for us! Later me and some of the girls shared a taxi to the Proboscis monkey conservation centre. Similar to the Orangutan centre but not as lush, we still got an excellent show with feeding time and despite the relentless heat we loved just watching these fantastic primates in their element. Once we got back to Sepilok we went to the Sun Bear conservatory which was next door to the Orangutans. The same concept as the rehabilitation centre, the sun bears were rescued and many were found in cages as pets. The Malay sun bear are the smallest bears in the world and are approx 150cm in height (just a couple cm’s shorter than me!). We only saw about 3 but they were very worth it – we even spotted a red monkey in the tree via telescopes. After that, 3 of us continued back to the Orangutans to catch the afternoon feeding. To our surprise and delight the afternoon was much better, less crowded and we went to the nursery in time for feeding time! We saw so many more Orangutans than before and others popping out of the bushes to get in on the action too. Then this HUGE Orangutan came stomping out into the nursery he was so big but seemed so gentle (we later learned his name was Mallim. We must have spent half an hour in the nursery we were having such a great time. We the went back out to the main area and got to see the feeding there too but only saw a mother and baby this time. But it was still wonderful and then it started to rain and cool things down. I rounded off the day by adopting a 3 month old Orangutan named Zorro (which has significance for me as when we got our puppy Pintxo him and his brother were left in the litter and had we got the brother we would have called him Zorro due to his colouring). So I filled out forms and paid and should receive a pack in the mail when I get home. What a perfect end to the day – and the trip! We had our final group dinner that evening and parted ways. We had an excellent time in Borneo and saw a whole lot of Sabah and thanks to our leader Felix who helped market his home state to us!

---