Borneo Orangutans!

So the next leg of our adventure began with our transportation from Kinabalu National Park to Sandankan, where our accommodation was booked for that night. Sandankan was a 4-5 hour drive and we had planned to catch a bus from the Park HQ. However, the bus did not show up. We met two other Malaysian guys who were waiting for the same bus, so the four of us hitchhiked to Ranau… bad idea. The bus to Sandankan did not show up until 8pm and we couldn’t find any taxis that would agree to take us because they were all too tired. This was the moment Courtney and I took advantage of the “we’re pathetic, blonde, American, girls… please help us!” play.  So we convinced a taxi driver to drive us all the way to Sandankan… It was a trade off though because we were honestly concerned that we were going to die on this drive, because he drove like a bat out of hell! We were driving on a very narrow road with huge potholes with ginormous trucks coming at us from the other direction… not to mention the fact that we were both EXHAUSTED and sore from the hike that day.

 

Getting to Uncle Tan’s B&B was an amazing feeling. Not only was it nice to get out of this insane taxi, but also it was nice to be greeted by friendly faces and a warm bed. We checked in, showered and crashed. We awoke the next morning and grabbed breakfast and then headed off to the Sepilok Orangutan Center! 

Sepilok was definitely one of the highlights of our time in Borneo. We got our tickets and headed in. On the way we ogled over some baby orangutan pictures. We want to adopt one! 

We walked out to the viewing site where they feed the mother orangutans. Sepilok is a rehabilitation center whose goal is to reintroduce orangutans back into the wild. Many of them were injured or orphaned and brought here to heal and be prepared for release. The center is huge and the best time to see the orangutans is at feeding time for the mothers to help balance out their diet and make sure they’re getting enough to feed them and their baby. We waited for a bit and finally the first female arrived. 

Soon after, the second female and her baby arrived.

At first we throught they were greeting eachother, but no. It turned out that the second female was the dominant one and chased the first female away. The poor thing just hung around for half an hour waiting for the second female to finish so she could get some more food… 

 

She was so patient!

The sun broke out of the clouds and allowed me to capture this gorgeous moment... 

 However, just as soon as it came, it disappeared and began to downpour. Most of the crowd dispersed but Courtney and I were so in love, we had to stay and watch. Lucky for us, it allowed us to capture another incredible moment: the orangutan umbrella!!!!

After it stopped raining, we also caught her on film traversing one of the tree lines… 

 

kissing her baby… 

 

and scratching her back!

 

By far, this was one of the most amazing days of our entire trip. We fell in love with these unbelievable animals and had a blast exploring and learning about the center and it’s residents… the beautiful orangutans!