Malaysian Borneo – Visiting the Orangutans

Amanda and I used Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia as a jumping off point in the Malaysian state of Sabah to go see the orangutans and proboscis monkeys. After a six or seven hour bus ride, we arrived in Sandakan or Sepilok, we never could tell when we were in which town, checked into the lodge and made our plans for visiting the main attractions the next day.

orangutan in Malaysian Borneo

The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center is one of only four orangutan rehabilitation centers in the world, and orangutans can only be found in Borneo and Sumatra (Indonesia). The rehabilitation center aims to help injured or orphaned orangutans eventually return back to the wild. They show a 20 minute video explaining what they do, and it was a lot more interesting than I expected. The center also has feedings twice a day, which is the main draw for tourists. The current price for non-Malaysians is RM 30 (about US$10) plus another RM 10 (about US$3) for cameras.

We arrived for the 10AM feeding (the second one is at 3PM) and found the viewing platform, and we eventually saw about six or seven orangutans, more than we anticipated. I took so many pictures, I had to stop and clear off older pictures from my memory card. Here are some of my favorites:

Malaysian Borneo - Visiting the Orangutans

Malaysian Borneo - Visiting the Orangutans

Malaysian Borneo - Visiting the Orangutans

Malaysian Borneo - Visiting the Orangutans

Malaysian Borneo - Visiting the Orangutans

Malaysian Borneo - Visiting the Orangutans

Malaysian Borneo - Visiting the Orangutans

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