Blogs from Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, Asia - page 22

Travelled back to Kuching - due to downpour on Sunday morning at Damai! Walked along the riverfront, looked at the waterfront stalls and main bazaar. Then went to pizza restaurant in evening before returning back to a surprise a Matang - unfortunately one of the cats had spent the weekend in our chalet! However Daisy had helped herself to some of our food supplies. We both spent the evening clearing up after this occurrence!... read more

One of the best ways to enjoy nature is to take to the water, so today we decided to go Kayaking with Kuching Kayaks.KuchingKayak After being picked up at 8.00am we were taken further out from Kuching to where the river meanders through the forest. Ellie and I had a two man kayak and after safely putting our camera in a watertight box we set off. The journey was fantastic with the river interspersed with logs and stones creating small currents for us to navigate around. After about 45 minutes we stopped for a refreshing swim in the cool waters before heading onwards. Looking up you could see the clear blue sky, between the tree canopy and occasionally the odd bird darting across the sky. On the banks the limestone rocks had been worn into all ... read more

It has been another eventful week at Matang Wildlife Centre. We have continued our work improving the Sun Bear enclosure, making platforms and building steps. We have also been decorating the orangs indoor enclosures. Nick has rediscovered his artistic talents and has painted rainforest flowers, a beach/rainforest scene and some modern art, whilst Ellie has focused on the more funky designs. Orangs see in colour so painting their sleeping quarters adds extra interest to their environment when they are not in their enclosures. Unfortunately when painting an orangutans den, it is not as easy as it seems. We had a little help from Doris who kept on flicking mud at us and from baby Mamu who was climbing above us and occasionally decided to release herself on you if you happened to be in the wrong ... read more

It's Friday night and we're off out tonight to a local restaurant owned by an Englishman which serves western food and tapas - a nice break from rice and noodles! It has been a rewarding and challenging but we have both learnt a lot of new things and hopefully we have made a difference to the animals' wellbeing at the centre. The days normally start at 8.00am with cleaning out the Sun Bears and monkeys in the quarantine area. This is normally followed either by babysitting 'Gus' the baby orangutan or helping Lisa with the environmental enrichment programme. This may involve collecting grass or leaves for the cages, preparing food parcels & hiding them, or placing balls in the cages with corn or seeds inside so the animals have to work a bit harder to obtain ... read more

Took Air Asia this morning across to Kuching, Borneo - Cat City - the place to be if you like cats - there are statues everywhere! We arrived at a boutique hostel in the city centre - very nice rustic furniture & wooden floors. Then we walked alongside the muddy coloured river, lined with cafes and stalls, to see the sights, with magnificent mountains acting as a backdrop. The architecture is a mix of colonial buildings, Chinese temples, mosques - all very beautiful & not as expected! The city is composed of numerous tribes, who all live in harmony alongside each other, with a population size of approx 500,000 within Kuching itself. It started to pour down with rain - a welcome relief as this caused the temperature to become more comfortable. In the afternoon we ... read more