Borneo
Trip Start
Mar 15, 2008
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28
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Trip End
Jul 15, 2009
Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah,
Malaysia
Saturday, June 21, 2008
After a few nights in Kota Kinabalu, or KK as the locals call it, we jumped on a bus for the orangutan sanctuary in Sepilok. Ana had just completed her open water diving course while I waited patiently and hung out in our air conditioned hotel room. We planned on staying at Uncle Tan's B&B then going to the center in the morning.
Most people were disappointed upon arriving at the center. Lots of people in tourist buses wielding cameras like samurais. They bring you to the feeding area where you get to watch the orangutans eat and defend themselves from the Macaques, known as cheeky monkeys. It was a tourist Zoo with very little taste, just as I expected. However, many people come to Borneo just for this and walk away disappointed. It's very unnatural, but it's a great place to get up close and take some photos. If you want to see them in their natural habitat then you need to trek into the jungle for days fighting the environment and the insects. Furthermore, you will have a hard time finding them and most likely they will be too high up in the canopy to get a good look at them. People think they want to do this, but be careful what you with for. It was fun to watch the other monkeys come to the feeding area and steel the bananas from the orangutans.
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Macaques are natural born cat burglars with a penchant for sweet food. They would later stalk our campsite for cans of condensed milk,Later that day we began our jungle cruise where you can see numerous kinds of birds, orangutans, Proboscis monkeys(only found in Borneo), Pygmy elephants, the ubiquitous macaques, alligators and other rare delights. After only a few minutes on the boat we had seen numerous birds, monkeys and a giant alligator.
The next two nights were filled with boat rides and treks through the jungle looking for wildlife. I enjoyed the nighttime activities the most. The guides whizzed us around the jungle and through the swamp spotting various creatures. They are quite skilled at finding animals. They could spot some tiny bird behind a leaf from a hundred yards away, I kid you not. They used their spotlight like a scanner, I guess they were looking for the glow of eyes at night. We saw tons of beautiful birds, insects and giant lizards. It was a wonderful experience that I fear will come to an end due to deforestation. Most of Borneo is turning into Palm Oil plantations to fuel the cravings of the west. Most of the natural habitat is being destroyed, but at least Palm plantations are pretty.
We stayed in a jungle bungalow and were fed 3 meals a day. The food was fantastic, except you had to watch out for the monkeys, who would stalk the area during feeding time. They would wait with zen like patience to make their bold move. Then they would attack from the roof and into the kitchen, with one hand knock off the giant lid covering the food, grab it with the other and put it in its mouth to free his hands for the escape up the pole and back on the roof, quite skilled and daring. They were a joy to watch.
