sepilok and sandakan, sabah, malaysia, march 1-4

We were beaten and bruised, having ascended 7500 feet and descended 7500 feet in 28 hours. We limped onto the bus heading east for the 5 hour ride towards Sepilok and the orang-utan sanctuary. We told the bus to stop in front of Uncle Tan's Guesthouse, but they seemed to drop us off in the middle of nowhere. I asked the bus conductor where Uncle Tan's was, and he pointed to a decrepit warehouse with a single light shining on one side before he threw our bags at us, jumped back into the bus, and left us in a puff of exhaust and dirt. So with our increasingly heavy backpacks and a 3rd bag with broken wheels in hand (that we just bought one week ago) and in the dark, we walked down the dirt road towards this place. Well, he was right - that was Uncle Tan's!

Our dorm room had a window, a very lazy fan, and two cheap aluminum-tube bunk beds. The lack of hot water or even towels didn't matter - the cold shower was great. After scarfing down some food, we were ready to sleep. Madh hopped up to the top bunk of her bed while I took the bottom bunk of mine. But the fan was pathetic and I was boiling, so I got up and started dragging my 15 pound double-decker towards the center of the room. I moved it maybe 1 foot when the top bunk collapsed and crashed onto the bottom one. We were so exhausted that frankly we just didn't care. Madh stuck to her trusty top bunk like a rock and I jumped onto my new two-mattress open-air bed and we slept within 3 seconds. During the night various pieces of the bed continued to fall off as if I were Wile E. Coyote at the end of a Road Runner cartoon.

Now on to the purpose of our visit. We came to Sepilok to see the orang-utans, a wonderful and unfortunately threatened species of great ape. Logging and palm oil plantations have destroyed most of the primary forest in Sabah, resulting in the destruction of their natural habitat. As a result many orangs are orphaned and die. The rehabilitation center retrains them to be in the forest environment, a process which can take up to 10 years. In order to raise awareness about their plight, visitors are allowed to watch them during two daily feedings.

One glimpse of the orangutans and we were hooked. They are so cool! Years ago in Uganda we had seen the other famous species of great ape, the mountain gorilla, who are actually more social than the solitary orangs. But being uncannily human and adorably charismatic, the orangutans are captivating. We stood and watched them swing effortlessly to the feeding platform, often stopping to gaze at the crowds while posing in hilariously contorted positions. I was so happy for Madhavi whose original inspiration to come to Borneo was to see these guys.

It was pretty interesting to see the macaque monkeys sneaking in from various hiding positions to try to steal some food. The sanctuary allows this competition to teach the orangs to eventually fend for themselves. In fact they only arrange these feedings for the more recently orphaned apes - the more mature ones are weaned slowly and eventually learn to find the multitude of berries and such that make up their natural diet in the wild part of the reserve. The rehabilitation center has released one dominant male orang-utan into the wild. Sadly, when they are released there is no way to know what happened to him - the staff that forms quite a tight bond with these beautiful animals simply say goodbye forever. We were very impressed with the integrity and purpose that this sanctuary demonstrated.

We then headed to the relatively untouristed seaside town of Sandakan for a 1.5 day break to organize some plane flights, do what we're doing now (writing the blog), and to recover from Mount Kinabalu. Poor Madhavi, despite her bravery, was sidelined due to the incredible leg soreness she had from the mountain climb. She actually needed major assistance to even get up a flight of stairs (despite a horribly injury-prone musculoskeletal system, for some reason I rarely get sore, though even I was feeling it that first day). Madh was reassured when we ran into other people who required the same recovery time.

In Sandakan we finally got to try roti canai, a flat bread composed of multiple super-thin layers prepared over a hot oil pan. We sat at a table next to the warm-spirited chef and got to watch him stretch and spin and fold the dough into its final shape. He did this all night, as this is a very popular dish and for good reason - it's so deliciously warm and buttery.


As we usually do, we found one good internet spot with a fast connection and kept coming back. I should take a detour and tell you that it takes quite a bit of time to keep up this blog, though the hours we spend every week writing and choosing pictures are really satisfying to us. And for the first time in my life I am writing a personal journal as well - it's never too late, and I hope to keep it up indefinitely (Madhavi of course has kept one since she was about 9 years old - I'm very jealous). Anyway, we got to know the owner of the shop pretty well and he recommended a good seafood place on the bay where we ended up having a great dinner -we've learned that almost ANY suggestion from a local is more reliable than the most recommended restaurant in a guide book.

Soon enough it was off to the jungle.