There’s a SCORPION in my hand; why do they not sell DEET in this country?
Next day I take a six hour bus ride east to the town of Sandakan. From here we’ll be heading off to Uncle Tan’s Wildlife Camp. But first it’s a quick visit to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, one of only 4 in the world, and funded by a British charity. Here you can see oranguatans in the second stage of their rehabilitation being fed every morning, which is great fun. Though the centre does good work, logging and replanting of rainforest for palm oil plantations may make it pointless in the years to come.
A few hours by road and along the Kinabatangan river is the basic and very muddy jungle camp. http://www.uncletan.com/wildlifetour.html
We’ll be here for the next three days, and go on river safaris and walks at various time of day. In between times there was loads of excellent food to be had, a game or two of volleyball, or for me lazing in the hammock getting eaten and stung by pretty much everything that walks and flies… Why do they not sell DEET insect repellant in this country? I have the bites to prove that nice fragrant smelling, hippie, natural stuff really doesn’t do much good…. We saw various birds, bats and frogs. Civit cats come into the camp at night; macaques come and steal anything not bolted down by day. There are crocodiles lurking in the river, and floppy nosed Proboscis monkeys playing in the trees. One night safari we see a huge tarantula up a tree (a new species, they don’t know how poisonous it is yet:no-one has volunteered to be bitten), and I now know how to handle a scorpion. We didn’t see orangutans, but smelled them (like horses), found their nests (yes, really) and heard them one day from the river. All in all, a good couple of days.
Tags: Travel
Nick