Monday, April 10, 2017

Kellyrstravels: Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre


I woke up in the night to absolutely torrential rain, so we were obviously very lucky to have such a nice day yesterday!

It was still raining when we got up at 6, grabbed our bags and headed over to the main building for breakfast.

Another very western breakfast - toast, scrambled eggs, sausages and baked beans.

It was time to leave after breakfast, and we were on the boat at 7.

It was a slightly quicker ride back, and we arrived back at the jetty at 7:50.

Then we walked back to Hotel Sandakan, grabbed our bags and hopped on the bus to Sepilok.

We dropped our big bags off at the accommodation and then drove back to the Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre.

Orangutans are rescued from the illegal pet trade and other situations and brought here to rehabilitate and be realised back into the wild.

We put our bags in a locker, paid our 'camera photos' fee, and headed down the path into the jungle.

By the time we got down the path a way, it was 9:45 and the first feeding time was at 10, so we headed around to the feeding platform.

At just after 10, one of the park rangers brought a basket of fruit up to the platform, followed by a mother orangutan and her baby.

Another swung his way across the ropes strung through the trees to the platform.

These orangutans are 'semi-wild', as their diet is supplemented by the rangers, but the reserve connects directly to the rainforest, so they are free to range as they want.

After tipping out the food, the ranger disappeared and we were free to the watch the orangutans eat.

There were also a few cheeky macaques pinching the food. We were standing against the barrier, and you're not allowed to bring bags so I was carrying my phone, tickets, camera and key to the locker.

I'm not sure what I did but I somehow managed to drop the key to the bag locker over the edge of the boardwalk.

So that was not ideal. Jeffry told me not to worry and that there'd probably be spares and we'd worry about it later.

After observing the feeding platform for about 15 minutes we headed over to the baby orangutan outdoor nursery.

There was a building with big observation windows that looked out over a playground-like structure that the babies could play on.

We sat and watched the babies for around half an hour, and they were very cute.

There were a few mothers with tiny babies, and around 5 babies by themselves.

After we'd finished watching we walked back over to the main building for a video about the centre.

They gave a general overview about how they look after and rehabilitate the baby orangutans through their life span.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Kellyrstravels: Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre
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