Sabah, Malaysian Borneo: A frenzied journey made worthwhile by our closest brown-eyed relatives...

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'But I have to get this bus or I will miss my flight to Borneo'. I tried not to cry as soon as the bus driver said my ticket was valid for Saturday night, not Friday night as I'd specified when I bought it, 'I asked for Friday. I said I had a flight saturday morning'. The hot wetness of panic filled my eyes. Sleep deprivation makes for volatile tearducts. 'Don't worry' said the small bus driver 'I will help you'. I told him I'd gladly sit on the floor and he suggested I sit on the fold-out seat at the front next to him. The other passengers were now staring at me probably assuming I was a crazy white girl. Due to some miraculous twist of fate one passenger didn't show up and so one seat was free, and it was now mine. Wiping the tears away, I sat down and breathed a huge sigh of relief. That sigh would turn into one of disbelief, however, when I reached Johor Bahru airport at 2am for my flight at 6.30am. It was all closed. The tazi driver carried my backpack around looking for somewhere for me to sit, 'this is not suitable' he muttered. All the available seats were taken by sleeping passengers. I told him I'd be fine and he left me with the worried face of a man who has a daughter. I managed to find two chairs within the luggage scan office area and made myself a makeshfit bed for some kind of dozing. At about 5.30am the first worker arrived, laughing under his breath at the bodies strewn about trying to sleep.

We flew over a sea of greenery to land in Tawau. I quickly latched onto the only other traveller I could see and we shared a taxi to the bus station. Bob, the Canadian backpacker, was heading to Semporna and so was bundled into a minibus immediately whereas I had to try and negotiate getting dropped off at Sepilok Junction on the bus to Sandakan. Easier said than done when the locals don't speak good english and find going round in circles with the white girl highly amusing. A Indian man with perfect English came over to translate and confirm my route. Turns out the Malaysians also have a penchant for Kareoke and I was serenaded for at least two hours of the journey by 80s Malaysian rock kareoke. The rain receded by the time I was dropped off at Sepilok Junction. The car that my hostel said would be waiting to pick me up wasn't there, so as it was growing dark I decided 2.5k wasn't too far to walk. After 2 minutes I decided it was too far and stuck out my thumb into an empty road. A car then pulled up beside me and the man opened his door and asked where I was going, he lived on the same road and offered to give me a lift. As his other passenger was his baby son I decided it was unlikely he'd be a homocidal rapist. He gave me a lift right to the door to my accommodation - a hostel/hotel beautifully surrounded by jungle - and I thanked him profusefuly whilst waving goodbye to his gorgeous little son and his big brown eyes. I slept soundly, the only noise from the rainforest and its inhabitants.

Excitement meant I awoke early the next morning and after breakfast I bounded 5 minutes down the road to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre to see our closest relatives up close. The centre is set in Sepilok Rainforest and after the early phases where rescued Orangutans are given basic care and the early stages of rehabilitation they are introduced into the rainforest. As they become wild again, they head deeper into the rainforest or are relocated elsewhere to surivive completly on their own. The work they do is incredible and essential; the increasing Palm Oil production means massive parts of rainforest are being deforested in Borneo to make way for Palm Tree plantations. Drive anywhere, just in Sabah, and you will see palm trees further than the eye can see. So the Orangutans are being driven out of their natural habitat, and the decrease in size of their habitat also means smaller groups of Orangutans and in-breeding that produces weaker generations of Orangutans that cannot survive.

The centre has a feeding platform near the public base of the centre where two times a day they leave bananas and milk for the Orangutans to come and eat, if they choose to. The majority crowds of tourists and families waiting to see the beautiful creatures don't understand the concept of 'wild' however, and after waiting for five minutes children start wailing 'where are they monkeys?!' and after 20 minutes many start to leave. About 4 showed up, despite the noise, and were highly entertaining; they greedily gobbled banannas whilst twirling in contorted poses along the ropes only stopping momentarily to chew the 5 banannas in their mouth. The way their elongated feet and hands can climb made me wonder if it is them who are the 'less-evolved'. After they had left the majority of the crowds left too, but I stayed to survey the quiensence of the lush surroundings. Wandering back down the path to the base I came across a group of people staring at the trees above: two orangutans were making their way down the trees. They came within a few feet of us before walking down to the feeding platform. We followed them slowly, excitement and curiosity giving way to voyeurism. It was fascinating to see them so close.

I ended up seeing the afternoon show too as the buses to Sandakan weren't running. A british girl and german couple said I could share a taxi with them on the way back to Sandakan, so I had a full day at Sepilok. The afternoon feed brought even more Orangutans as it qas quieter, it also brought many greedy little Macaque Monkeys who successfully stole most of the banannas and scared away the Orangutans. Such typical antics gave the nickname of 'Cheeky Monkey'. Definitely very fitting. It was amusing to see how tenacious they are in their pursuit of an easy meal.

After being further entertained by the beautiful Orangutans, we headed back to get a taxi. No taxis, unless we wanted to wait an hour. So we started walking down the road with Frank graciously carrying my backpack for me. A taxi pulled up half way and said he'd take us for a rinngit each, even cheaper than the public bus we were going to attempt to catch at the junction. Thank goodness for that.


PALM OIL: After going to Borneo and seeing in person the sheer amount of palm tree plantations that are decimating the natural landscape and wildlife there I have decided to try and avoid palm oil where possible. It's not easy to do as it's often listed as vegetable oil and as suggested here: http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/faqs/questions/palm_oil.html a total boycott won't stop it's production. It is also being used as fuel for diesel engines. But the production of palm oil needs to be done more ethically and responsibly. A palm tree has twelve harvests a year, that is a lot of palm oil and so where the need for so many plantations comes from is questionable (obviously it means more money though). These plantations are destroying natural rainforest and its wildlife though, all in the name of profit, which is what these poorer countries are seeking. However the profits are ending up in the pockets of multinationals, not the local people whose land is often used. Some companies know where their palm oil is harvested, many don't. I'm going to try and only buy from companies that are using ethical palm oil, this is going to be incredibly difficult though as it's hard to find out.

I just wanted to draw this issue to people's attention because it's so important that we try and preserve our beautiful world. In poor countries, however, this is a complex issue as development is crucial. This development needs to be done ethically and responsibly though and not only benefit the minority whilst decimating natural beauty and wildlife and leaving the majority just as poor. So next time you are buying food (it's usually in junk anyway, so we should all be trying to eat less of that!) check the ingredients and look where the vegetable/palm oil is from. Do you really need that packet of biscuits?! Or if you have a diesel engine, find out about the fuel you use and its production roots.

For the sake of making our lives easier, we are ending the lives of others, especially the beautiful Orangutan's.

More info: http://www.films4.org/palmoil/

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