Hairy Man of the Forest

I made it to the city of Sandakan in the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo (yup, its confusing....Borneo is partly the Kingdom of Brunei, partyly Malaysia and partly Indonesia).  I was able to send my luggage through to my next port (Kota Kinabalu) which meant I was able to carry just a day pack.  Huge for my life.  I headed straight for the main attraction on this side of the island: The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre.  It is flirting with 35C/93F and has got to be 100 percent humidity. This is serious tropical jungle and there seems to be a cycle of sunny, hot and humid followed by brief downpour followed by sunny hot

Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary

and humid.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  Side note: Why does shampoo tell you to do that?  Who in their right mind repeats every time they wash their hair?  Maybe everyone and I am now announcing to all of you that I am dirty and unhygenic.  Speaking of dirty, I am pretty disgusting at this point since I am rocking pants and hiking boots out of fears that my bags will get lost by the airline.  Knowing that everything is that I have for my upcoming hikes is replaceable EXCEPT for a pair of broken-in boots I've decided that over-heated is better than huge blisters for 40 days. My goal of trying not to look like a minger by wearing hiking boots and shorts has left me soaking wet (think man that just jumped in a pool fully clothed) and the act of trying to avoid the ML (minger look) may have resulted in a far worse outcome.

Yup, its the Jungle....Giant Leaf

Back to Semilok.  One key piece of info about this area is that the orangutan park does not have any orangutans that you can see except during the scheduled feeding times (10am and 3pm).   Well, they are there, they are just really shy and take off into the jungle and stay hidden in the trees.  You can hear them crashing through the canopy but rarely see them.  I think you know where this is headed.  I got there about 20 mins after the morning feeding and the woman told me I really should leave because there was nothing to see for another four hours. I was not

about to take another 40 minute cab back into Sandakan so I watched an educational video about the park, then an educational video about proboscis monkeys, then one about the reefs around borneo and then had time to read the description of every photo-exhibit in the information centre and then had time to read every informational pamphlet as well. I can say with about 90 percent confidence that I know more about the

Chilling Orangutan

centre, orangutan biology, threats to the species, why the mangroves are important and what I can do to help (shocker...give money) than just about anyone that works here. I also had enough time to type this

whole email on a blackberry (ie using only my thumbs) so as the afternoon feeding approached I was crossing my fingers that I would see at least one orangutan, or I feared I would go David Koresh on the staff and all visitors to the park (note: going David Koresh either means I would kill all of them or start a cult where I convinced them that I was their God...thats the thing with rage, you really don't know which way it will go).

On the Move

But they did show up in the end!  Borneo's famous "Hairy Man of the Forest".  First to hear them and then to see them was completely over the top.  My four hours of boredom when I kept repeating the mantra "it will be worth it, it will be worth it, it will be worth it" paid off.  They were incredibly playful, making all sorts of faces, eating food, spitting water out of their mouths a la any child pretending they are a fountain while in a swimming pool circa age 6.  We share 96.5% fo the same DNA (thank you information wall) and the way they played was eerily similar to children.....children and drunk adults.

Feeding Time

Mom and Baby

Hanging out after eating

Swinging Alont

Cracking himself up