Advertisement
Published: October 2nd 2009
Edit Blog Post
Getting up at some ridiculous and ungodly hour we rushed to get ready, get across town and catch the 7am bus to take us to see the Orangutans at Semengoh. It was pretty difficult as usual to find the public bus but we got good information and found it after asking a few people in the bus station.
The bus was soon mixed with people of all nationalities, all looking tired and weary and a few very sweaty!!
We made our way to the park and I think after about one hour we arrived and had to walk the twenty minutes of so to reach the actual Orangutan feeding station. We were advised that feeding only happens twice a day, once in the morning and then again early afternoon. The first feeding was at 8.30am so we had made it just in time for that, actually we were the first people there so we were very lucky to find out that the orangutans had been avoiding the feeding station( as the fruit in the jungle had started become available, obviously that would mean that they didn't take the food suppied by the rehabilitation centre)This meant we didn't expect too
much.
But then these two babies came swinging through the trees from the jungle and we follwed them as they headed for the feeding platforms. We spent about an hour there watching these two going crazy and we also saw a mother who we thought was massive and her tiny newborn which was so interesting and a bit scarey when she moved close.
We were given lots of information, but mainly we had been told how lucky we had been to see so many, it was a real rarity, more visitors to the centre don't see anything. We had already seen about 6 so we were happy(we had also seen some whopping crocs warming up in the sun in cages just to the left of the feeding station(yuk!)
As you come into the feeding station you are presented with a rather gruesome photo gallery, containing evidence of just how strong and brutal the orangutans can be if they are after something you are holding. They will just go mad, I've never seen anything like it and it serves as a lesson to remind us how powerful they are and that they are wild animals to be feared
and respected.
So after seeing this, most people were clever enough to put away their drinking water and smacks!
The other thing we were warned of was always to look up as we walked through the jungle and try to be aware of where the orangutans are. They see us before we see them in their vantage point in the trees and these guys can move pretty fast even as they get older. You also have to watch out for flying missiles they like to break stuff and throw in down from the canopy!! Bear in mind this could be big branches, watermelons or coconut husks, we were very careful!!
When we had pretty much had enough a message was relayed to the ranger saying that a massive adult male had just arrived at another feeding platform further in the jungle, we were told again to tread carefully, to be quiet and watch out for falling objects as we made our way to the observation tower.
As we arrived there we found a huge giant male pacing around, I mean massive and we were quite a way away! We watched him for some time smashing open
coconuts and melons with one move and some cheeky younger ones interacting with him by trying to snatch watch he had opened when he looked the other way, hilarious! I think the most frightening time was when the giant male decided that it was time to go, seeing him launch himself up onto to this tiny looking tree and then seeing it battle with his weight and completely bend into a semi circle under the duress. There were gasps from onlookers sure that he would end up falling, but surely he knows what he's doing?!!He did give up on that tree, but it wasn't long before we saw his huge and incredibly long and hairy arms swinging through the tree tops above us , and these were tall trees, trees you cannot see the tops of at least 80 metres high.
So after he buggered off we decided to do the same!!!
As usual we had been told 3 different times for the local bus (remember they are very unreliable) I think the bus driver himself had said 10am and then 11am and the people working at the centre said 11am, well we got there for 10.20am as
did most of the people who were on the same bus in as us. We waited for 1.5hrs and none of the buses that were meant to come turned up!!! In the ended we were so desperate not to waste the rest of our day that we clubbed in for a minibus with everyone , so I think it was an eight seater but we got twelve of us in, but the guy was laughing when we wanted discount he knew he had us over a barrel. Hate public transport here, its so pointless!!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.138s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 10; qc: 51; dbt: 0.05s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb