Borneo part 2
Our next stop was just a
short distance away, in Sepilok. It was
a rehab facility for orangutans and Bornean sun bears. We started the
afternoon at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center http://www.bsbcc.org.my/. They were started in 2008 to rescue and rehabilitate
sun bears. They try to rehabilitate and
release as many as possible back in to the wild. There are currently 42 bears living in the
center in huge forest enclosures and we only saw a few of them. As you walked
around the elevated platforms, you could see these habitats were densely forested
and they gave the captive bears a very natural environment. The bears were quite well hidden, in fact, I
walked past one several times before someone else spotted it asleep in the
tree.
After lunch we went to
see the orangutans in the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. Founded in 1964, the 43 sq km park is protected
land next to the Kabili Sepilok Forest Reserve. Currently there are about 25 orphaned
or rescued babies in the nursery, but another 40 or 50 adults live free in the forest
around the center and in the reserve. It
can take about 7 years to teach the babies what they need to know to survive in
the wild.
After dinner we went for
a night walk. We saw flying squirrels and a lot of bugs. At the entrance to the
facility was orangutan sitting on the porch, eating a plastic bottle. I'm surprised
at how pliable he got it, we thought he was eating a leaf. He managed to get
the whole thing in his mouth and then spit it out, look at it, and chew it some
more. He would also spit it out and lick it. It looked like a water bottle so I
don’t know tasty it was. I’m not sure who was watching who, because as we stood
there looking at him, he seemed just as interested in us. As we finally moved off, he followed for a
while, still chewing on his bottle.
Our last stop was to a turtle sanctuary on Libaran Island. It’s a 45-minute boat ride from Sandakan, in the Sulu sea, just south of the Philippines. On our trip out, the sea was very choppy. Ron and I were sitting up front and the boat would go up a swell, then would slam into the water on the other side. It was very jarring, and we eventually gave up trying to talk as we were afraid we might bite a tongue off. My ribs actually hurt from so many hard impacts. In the distance we could see a nasty storm brewing and thought for sure we would get drenched but eventually we made it to the island, dry and in one piece.
The island was beautiful, it had a nice sandy beach with mangrove trees jutting out of the water. We followed a path that was lined with upright plastic bottles, and passed a gazebo also made out of plastic bottles. I read in a blog that it’s a 300 sq-ft plastic house which took 5 weeks to build from 3,500 one-liter plastic bottles What a great way to recycle. We made our way to the camp and saw a group of large Coleman tents, a pavilion with several tables, and a row of beach chairs facing the sea. The water was very warm and inviting, but the pending storm made an afternoon swim less appealing. I did a little exploring with my camera and barely made it back before the deluge. As we were all sitting under the pavilion watching the storm, the camp dog suddenly took off up the beach. We looked to see what he was after and saw a huge monitor lizard crossing the path toward the beach. I know I should have gone to get a picture, but it was raining. I foolishly thought I’d have another opportunity, but that was the only one we saw.
We were lucky, the afternoon storm didn’t last long. At dusk we made our way to the turtle nursery. We were fortunate enough to be on the island on a night when they had baby turtles to release. We got to talk to the ranger, who had just taken over the post 6 months before. He explained that this and other nearby islands are a favorite nesting ground for 2 types of endangered sea turtles, the green and the hawksbill. They lay eggs year-round, so the hatchery almost always has eggs incubating. The females come ashore, dig a hole and lay a clutch of between 80 to180 eggs. They cover them up and head back to the sea. The ranger carefully collects the eggs and reburies them in the nursery where the nest is surrounded by a mesh fence to keep out predators. They are marked with the date and number of eggs. It takes abut 60 days for the eggs to hatch.
The ranger then gathers the tiny babies and wait for sunset to release them, so predators, mostly birds, can't see them and the turtles all make it to the sea. Of course, there are more hungry mouths such as sharks waiting for them in the water. Only about 1% of these baby turtles will live long enough to come back and lay eggs. Turtles live about 100 years but reach sexual maturity between 18 and 35 years old. Once at the water’s edge, the ranger turned the bucket over and most of the babies immediately scramble towards the sea. It was amazing to watch them. Some were little disoriented and headed back up the beach. We quickly blocked the path and herded them into the water. It was a really cool thing to watch.
That night we had another storm, complete with thunder and lightning. Call me crazy, but I love tent camping, especially in a storm. Coleman tents are the best, we stayed snug and dry. This was truly glamping; each large tent had carpet, 2 twin beds with nice bedding, a dresser and a clothes rack. I would have liked to have stayed for a few more days and explore the island, but we had to leave early the next morning. At breakfast it was pouring rain, again, and we knew the boat ride back would suck. We had to take a small boat out to bigger boat because the tide was out. In fact, it was so low we had to wade out even to the little boat, which only held 6 people. The rest of us had to wait on the beach, in the rain, so we were drenched by the time we got under way. But the skies cleared, and we had a dry ride in at least. In fact, it was a lot less bumpy. Or maybe because I was sitting in the back this time.
We made our way back to Kota
Kinabalu, where our trip began. We spent
the last night in our original hotel. I
was coming down with a bad cold and it was of course raining, so I opted not to
go to dinner with the group. I would
like to have said good bye, but I felt pretty bad and just wanted to go to bed.
I ordered room service, but after an hour it still hadn’t arrived. I called
down to see how much longer it would be. The guy sheepishly said I'm sorry I
didn't have your room number, it's been sitting here. Luckily, I just ordered a
salad, so it wasn't like it got cold.
I really enjoyed my trip with G Adventures, and Ron was amazing. He's very passionate about the wildlife and conservation and delighted in pointing out things of interest for each individual in our group. I’ve been on tours where the guide certainly knows the facts and is friendly enough, but Ron really was part of our group. The places we went were a bit off the beaten path and would have been challenging to get to on my own, so I think the group tour was the way to go in this case. This is now the 3rd or 4th small group organized tour I’ve been on and I have to say, I love it. I’ve met some wonderful people and it’s much more fun to have someone to share the adventure with.
It was a really strange trip for me, I'm usually very social and would normally have been right in the middle of the group. But for some reason, this time I stayed a bit on the outside. Everybody was super friendly, and I enjoyed talking to every single person, but this time I didn't feel the need to be constantly surrounded by a group. It was really interesting to be able to watch the interaction between people. I was very happy travelling with them, but it was a nice change to be able to sit back and relax in my own little world. I got to enjoy a lot more of the experience, without constantly being focused on socializing.
Link to pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1RWT43LW1Y0cs2cu2
Great blog on Libaran Island: http://www.mysabah.com/wordpress/libaran-island-turtle/
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