Day 76: Sepilok

We had a bit of Griswold's day planned today, but if it all worked out, it could be a good one. This was the only full day we have together with the Versly in Sandekan, so we wanted to make sure we did the must-dos together. Fur us, the must-dos were to see Orangutans and Probiscus monkeys up close.

The kids had a great night last night. When we checked in, we decided to check on altering our original booking from two family rooms to two double rooms and one family room for the kids. We totally did it for the kids... Yup. Strangely, the three rooms were slightly cheaper than the two family rooms, so it was a no brainer. When we got up to the third floor, we told the kids they'd be sharing a room and they were quite happy.

This morning, Beth and I woke them up, gave them their marching orders and headed down to the breakfast area. Five minutes later, the kids marched into the restaurant - all packed and ready to go for the day! They'd beaten Kim and Alex to breakfast by 10 minutes.... Very impressive. It's almost like they had put together a plan to show how organized they could be so they might be able to continue having a kids only room! Hmmm....

We'd negotiated a private mini bus (a quote unquote "14 seater" which was predictably laughable) to be our transport for the day, rather than booking a group tour. Our first stop was about 45 minutes away: Sepilok.

When we got to the parking lot, we were not surprised to see a ton of tour buses - we'd read that the hoards arrived in the morning for the 10am feeding, so we planned on going to both fedings today - 10am and 3pm. We got our tickets and started out on the boardwalk for the 10 minute walk to the feeding station. There was nobody there, and a park,ranger told us to proceed to the nursery, another 10 minute walk through the jungle. When we got to the nursery, I was immediately disappointed. The crowds, though expected, were jammed up against the glass and were being completely disrespectful of the oft posted rule of being completely silent. I could see the looks on Abby and Robin's faces and they seemed a little down to.

There were 4 Orangutans in the nursery area - all fairly young and pretty entertaining. However, the fact that we were behind glass and being drowned out by really annoying tourists (2 older Aussie women, dressed in khaki, full body and hat safari outfits were stand outs who would end up haunting us all day - laughing and talking really loudly, even after a normally shy ranger shouted for everyone to be quiet...), it seemed no different than the Toronto Zoo.

Like clockwork, the hoards exited, on their way back to the feeding platform. We arrived back there in 10 minutes, and waited for some action. The crowds were very loud again. I found a slightly open space and tried to make my elbows stick out as wide as they could to save room for and Tyndalls or Versly who wanted to squeeze in. After a few minutes, a ranger came by with a basket of food. Shortly after, we saw the ropes in the background starting to bounce up and down - a telltale sign of one of the Orangs coming to the platform out of the forest.

All in all, three teenagers came out for the feeding. They were very playful and totally entertaining. It was really cute to see them interacting with the Rangers - one hung upside down and stared at a ranger from 6 inches away from his face, another was doing handstands on the food basket.

At about 10:45, we walked back to the parking lot and hopped in the van. Our next destination was to visit the private Labuk Bay park which had a Probiscus Monkey sanctuary. The monkeys in the "true" wild, are very shy (as we'd witnessed in Bako National Park), but this reserve was a huge enclosed forest where they've apparently got the monkeys on a regular feeding schedule. We had the same discussion with the kids that we usually did when we visited zoo-like places: is it good or bad for the animals. There is no definitive answer to that question, but we were going with our eyes wide open to see what Labuk Bay was all about.

We got to the first viewing platform for the 11:45 feeding. The staff were making monkey calls and dumped foods on three different platforms. Twenty minutes later, we saw a dozen Probiscus monkeys moving through the forest canopy - probably 40 meters in the air. They would expertly jump from tree to tree, then sit motionless waiting their turn for the monkey in front of them to be on. The last in the line was a mother with a baby clinging to her stomach. She made the last jump, maybe 3 meters wide and Kim got a great shot of them with her super zoom lens.

That first group we didn't see again - they passed us in the canopy, about 100 meters away from us and that was it. Then we saw another group on our right, also approaching the platform. They got closer than the first, but then they just sat motionless, seemingly watching or waiting for something. Beth eventually asked one of the Rangers what was going on, and I guess they'd had a scare with a dog in the morning and the monkeys were being ultra cautious.

The Rangers let us know that they were trying to get other monkeys at a different platform, so we got back in our mini bus and drove the 3km to platform B. When we arrived, there were monkeys already in action.

The Probiscus Monkeys have very interesting faces - they kind of look like trolls, or very elderly lifelong alcoholics that have suffered nose elongation.

The monkeys got really close, often jumping up on the viewing platform to cross over to the other side. The Rangers were feeding them some kind of thick sweetbreads - I'm not sure if this has become their primary diet here or if it's just a snack, but I don't think it resembles young leaves and berries that are their diet when they are in the "true" wilderness.

The way they talked to each other was pretty funny. I think Alex got a video of them talking and I got this short vid to remember....

This guy was very close - about 3 feet away from Abby and I. He was eating s big piece of bread while almost nervously looking around. I told Abby that I thought that he wasn't looking at humans but rather keeping an eye out for other monkeys. Sure enough, a minute later, we heard a huge slapping noise and another huge monkey charged through the crowd of people and went at our eating monkey. The skirmish didn't last long, as the Rangers make sure both got fed, but the sounds and close action made our hearts jump.

Our next stop was back to Sepilock for lunch. We had a few options as some wanted to see the Sepilock video before the second Orangutan feeding and others wanted to go to a Sun Bear display that was nearby. We all ended up with watching the video, and we were glad we did.

The 20 minute documentary explained how Sepilock works. They're main goal is to raise orphaned Orangutans and give them the skills they'll need to get back into the rainforest. Keeping or killing Orangutans is very illegal, but it still happens all the time. Typically they will get a call from a village with a tip that a baby has been found. They travel to collect the baby, bring him back and put him in isolation for up to 4 weeks to make sure he is not carrying diseases. Then, they slowly integrate the baby with the other orphans. It's a long process before Orangutans can be released to the wild - some 6 to 10 years and it involves everything from teaching them how to move and swing with their arms, to nest building, to finding food.

Our second time at the feeding platform was a little quieter from a crowd perspective. There were also long and pig tailed macaques in the area that added to the entertainment - they even quasi attacked our group wile walking to the platform (I'm sure after a few beers, the story will get duly embellished to a full on scene from Planet of the Apes).

A mother and baby slowly made their way to the feeding platform, and we were in awe just watching them move. The baby, for the most part, clung to her mother and the mother was very cautious and protective whenever she came near the Rangers. When the monkeys came close, we thought she would get aggressive with them, but she actually grabbed a rope above her head, and backed up and away from the platform while the growing group of monkeys attacked the food. The Rangers did nothing to deter the macaques, as I guess would happen in the wild. The viewing this afternoon combined with the documentary really made the day worth it.... We were happy we left with a positive impression of the Sepilock Orangutan Rehabilitation Center because it did not start off well.

Overall, Beth and I were really happy to have seen both Semenggoh and Sepilock - one of the reasons we came to Borneo was to see the Orangutans in their natural habitat. The girls and boys really enjoyed themselves which was great to see.

When we got back, the kids sequestered themselves in their room, while the four adults went to the waterfront to look for beer and potential foot massage places. We found both, so after a few Tigers, Beth, Kim and Alex went to the massage place while I headed back to do some blog stuff and recharge.

We have a pretty big, long anticipated day tomorrow - not like that's going to influence the kids getting to sleep any earlier, but hey - that's up to them!