Into the rainforest

We dragged ourselves out bed before dawn to catch the boat going to Borneo mainland. Lazying on the beach was over, we were now headed to the serious stuff, the rainforest. 

We arrived in Sandakan and went to see a sun bear rehabilitation centre. Sun bears are what you would consider as small bears but they have a special meaning in our family. My great grandfather lived for a while in Borneo and we have been fascinated by his stories (told through my grandmother) for the longest time. One of the best stories involves a sun bear that he had picked up as a baby and was raising as a pet. That bear wreaked havoc in the home and really liked to hunt for honey pots inside the kitchen cupboards. Eventually, the bear became too big and he slapped our great grandfather, at which point he was sent back into the wild. We had always imagined some giant bear living in his house and were a bit relieved to see that they’re actually quite small, but damn cute. I know it’s bad but I can’t blame him for wanting to keep one for himself. 

We moved on to see an orang utan rehabilitation centre. When I arrived at the centre I suddenly remembered I had seen a documentary on the lady who had started it. She’s done some wonderful work saving babies and preparing them to be released into the wild. If I had it my way I would also have an orang utan at home. It’s probably a good thing I don’t. 

tourist cliche did you say?

As fun and interesting as the centres were, for me the ‘real’ Borneo, or rather what I had had in mind, only started in the afternoon when we reached the rainforest in Sandakan. It was a mission getting there, on bumpy roads in the middle of never ending palm oil plantations, but it was completely worth it. We based ourselves on the side of a river for a few nights and spent every day going on exploratory missions on a boat. It’s so hard to spot animals in that jungle but the guide seemed to have super powers and thanks to him we saw plenty of wold orang utans, proboscis monkeys, macaques and some wonderful birds. A few animals surprised us at the lodge, including a snake just outside the door and a few wild boars. It’s quite funny how locals casually tell you ‘Oh yes, that snake is poisonous.’ They are so used to living around them. 

macaques are actually very friendly, a few of them came to say hi

they are also very good swimmers

i look miserable don't i?