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Walk -- Can't Walk!
We rose about 7:30 am to find that we could hardly
walk. Going up and down even just a couple of steps unaided was
extremely difficult! This was all the result of going down the
mountain, not going up (the day after going up to Laban Rata, none of us
had any stiffness in our legs!).
It was hard work to get everyone up for breakfast at
8:30 am and to keep the momentum going to get us to Sepilok Orang-utan
Rehabilitation Centre for 9am, but we made it.
Sepilok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre
The Centre was only 5 minutes walk away, but given the
state of our legs, we were glad of the car. In the end, we got there
about 9:15 am. Time enough to pay our entrance fees (For
non-Malaysians: RM 30 for adults, RM 15 for under 18s, and RM 10 for cameras)
and walked along the boardwalk to the feeding area.
As the boardwalk was narrow, we got stuck behind a party
with a guide. However, his commentary was really quite
interesting. If you are ever attacked by a troupe of macaques --
which if you have seen macaques in action is a frightening thought!
-- it is the dominant male that you have to deal with to stop them.
Waiting Hopefully …
We arrived at the feeding area about 9:40 am and settled
down to wait for the feeding to begin at 10 am. This is a sanctuary,
not a zoo. The orang-utans are ranging free in the jungle and there
are no guarantees that they will turn up at any particular feeding
time. In fact your entrance ticket says on it: "Sightings of
Orangutan Not Guaranteed." However, the orang-utans know when
and where there is food to be had and they usually come. [Tip: If
seeing orang-utans is very important to you, plan to go back again in the
afternoon. There is another feeding at 3pm and you don't have to pay
admission a second time]
Orang-utans
We were not disappointed: after a short while a lone
orang-utan showed up and sat up a nearby tree waiting. When feeding
began at 10 am, he moved in and started scoffing bananas.
For a while, it looked as though he/she was all we were going
to see. Then, about 10:15, a group of four more orang-utans arrived.
There is a long rope hanging between the trees that goes off out of sight
into the jungle to the left. The sight of them swinging along it as
they come towards us and the food was magnificent to watch.
More Monkeys
As the orang-utans were finishing feeding a troupe (or
gang?) of macaques turned up. They ran amok, fighting over the food,
and frightening the watchers. At one point, one actually climbed on
someone's shoulders -- a very worrying moment for him and those around him.
While the macaques fed, frolicked and fought, an old
monkey looked quietly on. He looked very much like a rather elderly
macaque, but we learned later that he (or she) was probably a silvered
langur.
After the monkeys had all dispersed, we walked back to
the visitor centre and watched a short audio-visual presentation about the
work of the sanctuary.
A Muddy Walk in the Jungle
After that, we decided to take one of the walks in the
jungle. We chose the shortest one, which was to the Bird-Tower
Trail. Distance just 1.4km. The lady at the from desk warned me
that it was "muddy." She then added, "very
muddy!"
Undaunted we set off, but it was indeed "very
muddy" and Rebecca and Anne-Marie didn't have the right shoes and
decided to turn back. Peter, Michael and I carried on for a
while. However, it steadily became clear that the distance that we
had been given was the one-way distance, not the return distance and there
was no way we would be able to make it there and back (a distance of 2.8km)
in time for lunch, so we also had to give up turn back. We found
Anne-Marie and Rebecca and got back to Sepilok Jungle Resort at
12:10pm. Just 50 minutes to pack and eat (RM 55) and be ready to be
picked up by The Jungle Sanctuary at 1pm.
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