Sepilok Rehabitation Centre to Abai Jungle Lodge - Sandakan, Malaysia

April 5 - morning

We had our last breakfast at My Nature Resort and while waiting for the van to pick us up we were entertained by some Pigtailed Macaques and some bird watching. (not great photos of any of them)

Pigtailed Macaque

Black Flying Squirrel

breakfast buffet

supplies to be loaded on the boat later

Our morning started with the Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre. Established in 1964, Sepilok was the first center in the world to dedicate itself to the rehabilitation of orangutans. Their primary mission is to rehabilitate and provide a safe haven for orphaned and injured orangutans, one of the world's most endangered primates. Around 60 to 80 orangutans live independently in the rainforest reserve and approximately 25 orphaned orangutans are housed and cared for in the nurseries. They are free to roam the rainforest and the food is purposely monotonous no encourage them to forage for themselves.

We spent quite a bit of time watching the Orangutans come to the feeding and viewing area. They were behind glass so not great photos. As we were watching them we secretly hoped we would see them in the wild this week or in Sumatra. (spoiler alert – WE DID!)

arrival at the center

old orangutan nest

We left the rooms and took a boardwalk through the rainforest to have a better look at them.

fist full of leaves and a watermelon in his foot

one of the workers showing fruit to the baby (she was still nursing)

baby nursing

me in the middle - I forgot to do the hands

Next, we visited the Sun Bear Conservation Centre.

nice claws

which bear is Greg?

After our visit to Sepilok, we drove to Sim Sim Jetty to board the speedboat that would take us to Abai Jungle Lodge for 1 night. The Jetty itself is pretty interesting as it is a fishing village with stilted houses over the water with mostly Chinese inhabitants and a small Muslim part. We walked between the houses on the wooden walkways.

roundabout on the way

family waving to us

roundabout

roundabout

Chinese restaurants across the street from the jetty

the fishing village

walkways between the houses

Greg

Sim Sim Jetty - The Sea Garden

Arapaima in a tank

pretty walkway to the boat

leaving the jetty

inside the boat

views along the way

as we got closer to the lodge, we slowed to look for wildlife - our first sighting of the Proboscis monkey

we passed several villages

more Proboscis monkeys

small croc that the captain pulled closer to see

magnets from Sepilok

We arrived at Abai Jungle Lodge which will be my next post.

For larger photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Jeu1upvbL8MUbBsc6