Encounters with "men of the jungle"

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After the comforts of an air conditioned apartment and the hustle of city life, Sara and I opted to go back to our roots.....

We flew from KL to Sandakan (Malaysian Borneo) and checked into a bamboo hut in a jungle resort metres away from the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. Very similar to our Mexican jungle experiences - only marginally cooler. That afternoon we ventured along the jungle floor on the elevated board walk to the feeding station for the orangs. Here wardens provide a basic fruit diet for many of the recently released orphans. And we waited.....

Ropes began to sway in the distance and we caught our first glimpse of these amazing creatures swinging their way towards us hand over hand and foot over foot. Silence reigned over the small group of onlookers who had gathered to watch. It is not difficult to understand that they are 97% similar to humans. In fact we actually wondered at some points who was watching who!! Sara and I had to be asked to leave the feeding station as we could have easily spent the rest of the day awestruck. Although our recent encounter at Singapore Zoo had let us see them up close it was so much better to watch them in their natural environment. In all around 14 juveniles had come to take advantage of the buffet including a cheeky intruder - a gibbon!! Their acrobatics matching that of those in the Cirque du Soleil!!

The noises of the jungle gave us an early start to the day. We returned to the centre to recapture the magic of the previous day as well as being educated in the exhibition centre.

www.orangutan-appeal.org.uk/

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