So from Australia we headed north to the island of Borneo, via a layover at Singapore (more on that later).
Now ever since I first watched The Jungle Book, I have wanted to see an Orang-utan (Man of the Forest) in the wild... and lets be honest with his monkey obsession Mike was unlikely to object, so there was one reason and one reason only we chose to visit Borneo.
Before we arrived we had little idea about the geography of one of the world's largest islands. That is, it is split into three parts. The two north states, Sabah and Sarawak are Malaysian where as the larger majority Kalimantan is Indonesian owned.
We arrived in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah, and while it retains some British colonial charm it is a pretty, gritty city. We were immediately transported back into the world of the Asian traveller though - night bazaars, street food and hawkers galore. Great we thought - after three months of western living - it was good to see and feel a different culture again.
We spent our first few nights in KK, which as I mentioned has none of the gloss of Bangkok or grandeur of Singapore, it does offer up a few gems. Our favourite was a trip to Tanjung Aru beach where we watched one of our most beautiful sunsets over the South China sea with a few beers.
From KK we headed to Sandakan by local bus to reach Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre - our main reason for the trip to Borneo.
Sepilok is unique in that it is funded by the Malaysian government and receives donations to animal facilities and care from the Orang-utan appeal UK. It is the largest rehabilitation centre in the world and focuses upon conservation and public education.
The Orang-utans here are all orphans that have been rescued from captivity or from the threat of their shrinking natural habitat. They are protected in the 43km of Sepilok rain-forest which becomes their home once they have gone through the rehabilitation programme. There is no encouragement to return to the centre once they have been released back into the wild.
We stayed at a nearby lodge for three days and visited the centre four times, twice daily at feeding times.
During our visit we were lucky enough to get up close and personal with a few juveniles going through the rehabilitation programmes as well as some adults that chose free-willingly to return to the feeding platforms. In particular Ann took an interest in us as she walked alongside us on the platform. We were also luckily enough to see Mariko twice, a female Orang-utan born in the wild to a rehabilitated female. She had with her, her new-born baby, yet to be named and together they represent the success the rehabilitation and conservation programme is truly having.
Aside from the Orang-utans we got to experience a rainforest 'thunderstorm.' True to its name it rained in the forest every afternoon we were there and I have never seen rain like it. Topped only by the thunder and lightening that ensued - very scary.
After our visit to Sepilok we headed back to KK to board our flight to Bali. Before we left we spent our last day at the Sunday market on Gaya Street. It was fun to check out the local wares.
More disturbing though was the emphasis on selling of animals for pets and even more sadly for food. Having seen similar markets in South America we were not as shocked as we might have been, but still saddened to see kittens, puppies and full grown dogs, rabbits, birds and all types of pets stuck in cages without water and very little protection from the heat. Aside from buying all of them, all we could do was demand they were all given water, fans and shade while we were there. We took the following pictures to help raise awareness of the cruelty taking place.
Luckily we are pleased to say there are some movements to improve the situation. We are a fan of SPCA Kota Kinabalu who work to try and educate and improve the treatment of animals generally in KK. It would be great if you could support there work too on Facebook.
After experiencing the highs and lows of all the 'animal-related' sights in Borneo we headed out with mixed feelings to our next destination - Bali.
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