IT is almost 6pm and we have just arrived in Sandakan, Sabah. After checking in at Best Western Sandakan Hotel and Residence, photographer Surianie Haniff and I are told we’ve got an interesting two-day itinerary mapped out.
“Oh... it is going to be both exciting and fun,” says tour guide Lym Pongo of Discovery Tours (Sabah) who sounds Indonesian when he speaks Malay but Filipino when he speaks English.
He tells us that our first stop involves some monkey business. “You will find out what people are referring to when they talk about the ‘red chili of Borneo’,” he says, smiling.
LABUK BAY SANCTUARY
It’s an hour’s drive to Labuk Bay Proboscis sanctuary in the mangrove forests of Semawang which houses Borneo’s indigenous proboscis monkey.
And since it is privately owned, we’ll get a chance to get up close and personal with the two types of monkeys living here.
The first is the silver leaf monkey which is silver in colour, the proboscis monkeys are light brown.
The male proboscis has a big dangling nose, reddish flat-top hairstyle, white tail and a pot belly. The female is much smaller and has up-turned noses.
These monkeys treat the house as though they own it. One minute they are on the floor and the next they are swinging up a tree in the nearby forest. They walk past us without fear.
I also spot a hornbill and a squirrel.
“That is a harem,” says Pongo, pointing at a group of proboscis females with a male (red chili of Borneo) in the centre. The lucky devil!
It is feeding time. What do these proboscis monkeys eat? Fruit and pancakes, with no sugar!
After watching them enjoy their lunch, I wander around but before long, Surianie and Jasvin of Best Western Sandakan Hotel and Residence are calling out excitedly, telling me to rejoin them as the monkeys are putting on a show.
I run as fast as I can but when I get there, the show is over.
“You just missed seeing the monkeys making out!” says Jasvin, laughing. Pongo admits that it’s the first time he’s ever seen anything like it. Oh, well.
SEPILOK FOREST RESERVE AND ORANGUTAN REHABILITATION CENTRE
THE journey from the hotel to Sepilok takes 45 minutes by car. We are going to see the orang utan. Known scientifically as Pongo pygmaeus, orang utans are gentle and shy by nature as I am about to find out.
The Sepilok orang utan sanctuary is a rehabilitation centre, especially for abandoned babies which are sent here to prepare them for life in the jungle.
At a specific spot at 10am and 3pm every day, the sanctuary rangers will bring the orang utan fruit and milk.
Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Going ape in Sandakan
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