Catching up with the relatives!

Orangutans and humans share about 97% of their DNA so they are one of our closest relatives. Today we went to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre where they focus on conservation of orangutans. We went for a walk through the rainforest and watched the keepers feeding some of the locals. This centre has been going for a long time now and have been very successful in supporting orangutans.

They are very clever animals and will steal soft drink cans from cafe or non secured items from tourists. They eat mostly fruit but also some small mammals and insects as well. They rarely drink water on the ground as they are vulnerable to attack from crocs and snakes and they usually get enough water from their diet.

After checking out the orangutans, and taking a break in the cafe’s air conditioning as the humidity is 100%, we walked across the road to the Sun Bear Conservation Centre.

Sun bears are the smallest species of bear and have been extensively hunted. Like the orangutans this park focuses on conservation and education.

The bears are very cute. They are named after the orange coloured patch on their chests. We watched the keepers feeding them and learned a bit about the bears.

Next stop was the Rainforest Centre. There is not a lot of original rainforest left in Borneo. A lot of it was logged extensively during British Colonisation before WW2 when the state of Sabah was known as British North Borneo. This centre lets you walk through the forest on elevated walkways so you can get up into the canopy.

Our last stop was at the Sandakan Death March Memorial Park. This is where the POW camp was set up to hold a lot of Australian and British prisoners captured on the fall of Singapore in February 1942. The park has a great memorial and gives lots of information about the history of the site. We cover the death marches more later in the tour.

Dinner was back at the same restaurant we went to last night. The food here really is excellent and very cheap. Beer is also pretty cheap but wine is about what you would pay in Australia.

Tomorrow we head up into the jungle!Read more