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| Orangutan |
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| Proboscis Monkey |
Kinabatangan River Lodge: Once back on land from a fabulous morning boat ride from Turtle Island, we piled into the mini van towards Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center. Many believe that only 20,000 orangutans remain in existence today, that of which they can only be found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra (Indonesia). Orangutan translates to "man of the forest" and with my first sighting you can see the resemblance to man as they have a 96.4% DNA match with humans. As one orangutan leaned back on the feeding ledge with one hand behind his back and one scratching his belly, it seemed like it could even be a higher match. At 10 am on the dot the orangutans were waiting on the feeding platform for their first meal of the day consisting of bananas and payapa. Once the ranger dropped the fruit, the four orangutans went to town. I'm talking one banana in each hand, a papaya slice in each food and one in the mouth. Just when you thought they were full they took one more piece of fruit in each limb and cartwheeled themselves across the rope in search for a perfect branch for a midday siesta. It was hard to pull ourselves away from the adorable manlike creature with the fiery orange hair and ear to ear grin, but we were promised by our guide Wan that this would not be our last siting of wildlife for the day and he was right. We headed back to Sandakan and hopped on another boat towards the Kinabatangan River where would be staying the next two nights. Surrounded by dense trees and stifling humidity we took an afternoon river cruise in search of wildlife. We spotted crocodiles, silver langur monkeys, pig tailed macaques, enormous monitor lizards, colorful kingfishers, long tailed macaques and more--all of which were only feet away. Although all of these animals were amazing, it was this first night on the Kinabatangan River that I was able to declare my new all time favorite animal--drum roll please..............the proboscis monkey. Found only on the island of Borneo, the distinctive trait of this adorable creature is the male's large protruding nose. The large size of the nose, up to 7 inches, is used not only to attract the ladies but also to regulate their body temperatures. Their large noses also allow their warning calls to amplify --this deep moan that carries hundreds and hundreds of feet. Make sure you ask to hear my probosics monkey call when I get back--I promise to delight you with my newfound skill :) After further research, I have also learned that the nose enlarges and turns a bright red color once angry or excited. The rainforest video we watched prior to our departure describes the fur on a proboscis male "as a male wearing a bomber jacket with ballet tights". In addition to their unique look, they are quite playful as they hop from branch to branch looking for food or a mating partner. Google the proboscis--I guarantee it will put a smile on your face :) We finished the animal filled day with a beautiful sunset cruise back to the lodge.
We hit the water bright and early in an attempt to see the Borneo Pygmy Elephant, a smaller subspecies of the Asian elephant. Technology and luck were on our side as our guide's cousin texted him that morning that he had seen elephants crossing the river. We headed to the crossing point, but no elephants :( Wan, our determined guide, hopped off the boat at the sight of fresh tracks. We waited patiently and within minutes he was back with a direction to get out of the boat. By the horrendous smell of the elephant poop and wet tracks, I knew they had to be close but never did I imagine I would turn the corner and be within 10 meters of the imposing animal! We caught a quick glimpse and the first elephant was out our sight. After the group settled down from the excitement, we began to hear the plants rustling behind us. Our guide emphatically motioned for us to back up and the girls took it as a cue to head straight for the boat. The rest of us tested our luck a bit longer and within seconds saw three elephants (one adorable baby) emerge from the grass. Our common sense finally kicked in and we left the animals at peace to finish breakfast. It was truly an adrenaline rush to start our day--and quite an amazing sight!
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| Strangler Fig Tree |
The excitement continued as we finished up our morning coffee and biscuits in the boat and tied up our leech socks. Yes, you read it correctly, leech socks! Our guide giggled as we asked question upon question about the tiny creature.."Where do they bite you? Do they carry diseases? Can they get through your socks? Why should we tuck in our shirts? How do you get them off?". We jumped off the boat and set foot in the rainforest for our first jungle trek. No path, no signs, just us and nature baby. In an attempt to alleviate our worries, our guide quickly pointed out a leech--tiny little suckers that once detecting the warm body temperature latches on and moves to a warm spot by attaching on with the two suckers at each end of their body. One feeding lasts them up to 6 months and enlarges them up to 8-10 times. Unfortunately, all of this information from our guide did not make them any less creepy. Within minutes Sam let out a tiny yelp and one little sucker had somehow found its way into his armpit and latched on. I think we all screamed more than Sam as he remained calm and our guide removed the pesky leech. I ended up with 3 leech encounters throughout the 45 minute walk--all pretty harmless. Although the one that got down my back was definitely an acrobatic workout to get off of me. We all continued to provide "leech checks" to each other every few steps. We made it back to the boat alive, minus a little blood, and headed back to the lodge for dry, clean clothes and an afternoon canopy walk. The fabulous day was completed with Wan teaching me how to play the local game "Carrom", a combination of table shuffleboard and billiards. One more night at this place and I would have been running the table on all of the locals :)
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