Sandakhan & Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary
Let me first just say that i have alot to update you on. So on Sunday I caught a bus to Sandakhan. It’s about a 6 hour ride through the center of the state of Sabah. I swear the Bus drivers in Malaysia are absolutely insane. I couldn’t begin to tell you the number of times that I braced for impact only to open my eyes and realize i was still alive. They pass other coach buses on blind corners at over 60mph while beeping their horn to warn oncoming traffic.
So I arrived in Sandakhan in the afternoon. I was traveling with a brother and sister, both from Sweden. We arrived at Uncle Tan’s adventure Lodge then headed into the city to get some cash. What you need to understand is that people here have neve really seen westerners or white folks. We walked through some of the markets and shocks and just got some of the craziest looks. The swedish guy i was with was very tall and had very blonde hair so they were just looking at him with their jaws to the ground. We had little girls following us around. Anytime you made eye contact with them they laughed and looked away. It was very very strange. I’d have to say that I felt very out of place. I can only think of a few instances where one would feel so out of place. Here are a few:
-Shopping in Wal-Mart without a mullet and not beating your kids.
-Walking down the strip in Hampton Beach and NOT having a mullet, and not wearing denim jeans and a tanktop and not holding a brown bag with a keystone light in it and most importantly not wearing high top velcrows. For those of you who don’t know Hampton Beach…i’m sorry!
-Perhaps walking into McDonalds and ordering food and not supersizing would also get you similar looks.
-Maybe a skinny kid walking into an arcade while eating an apple would also get the same result.
So the next day I went to the Orangutan Sanctuary. The Sanctuary basically takes orphaned orangutans and tries to rehabilitate them so they can go back in the wild. I’d have to say it is very tourist but still pretty amazing to see them. You walk through the jungle to the feeding platform and just before feeding time the Orangutans come out of the forest. They are given bananas and milk. They are basically wild as they do live in the forest and have the option of wether to feed or not. I figure it’s probably the closest thing i’ll ever come to a wild orangutan so I should be appreciative, and i am.
Tags: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, Sandakhan, Sepilok
Gagnonius
hi
i am looking at working at the Orangutan Sanctuary you went to visit – do you have any contacts there like phone numbers or email addresses so i could contact them.
thanks
nicky