Another Busy Day in Malaysia
After spending a final comfortable night at the Borneo Rain Forest Lodge, we arose early to another incredible sunrise over the magnificent Danum Valley. Our guides were ready to drive us to the Malaysian Meteorological Department's Global Atmosphere Watch Station, where we were to meet a helicopter, which would take us on our next adventure. Because we had become so used to heights, a brief climb on the tower, before our flight, seemed only natural. Our destination was the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Center, located in the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve. This is where injured and sick orang-utan are brought to be cared for so that they can, hopefully, be returned to their natural habitat. Volunteers from all over the world come to the rehab center for a two-month stay, assisting in the rehabilitation process. You can find out more here. After Sepilok, we visited the Rainforest Discovery Centre, where we had an informative presentation on current programs to help control and reduce deforestation in Sabah. We toured the incredible gardens and, of course, ate lunch!
1 This is the Malaysian Meteorological Department's Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Station. Sophie and Denny got a head start before I started the climb up.
2 We felt so lucky to spot a child orang-utan with her mother.
3 The mother became very protective of her child.
4 After descending the weather tower, we made our way to the research center. I spied these elegant pinnate staghorn ferns.
5 And beautiful orchids thriving high in the treetops
6 This is the research center - http://www.searrp.org/danum.cfm - where we met the helicopter, which took us to Sandakan, to see the Sepilok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Center.
7 Our helicopter
8 Waving goodbye to our wonderful guides and friends from the Rainforest Lodge
9 The clouds were just clearing as we left the research center.
10 A beautiful view
11 After leaving the conservation area, we soon encountered palm oil plantations. The patch of red is the processing plant.
12 Palm oil being processed
13 With the clouds just lifting, the views were spectacular.
14 Vast stretches of palm trees
15 We had clearance to fly right over this river, allowing us to be very close to the canopy tops.
16 The big 'muddy'
17 We loved how the river snaked around.
18 This barge is evidence of the closely regulated forest clearing which is going on.
19 The reason the river is so muddy is from all the silt run-off from irrigating the palm tree plantations.
20 There's our shadow upon the river!
21 Sandakan is located near the coast. The geography changed quickly from forests to marshes.
22 Very marshy, indeed!
23 This framework is actually a large fish net.
24 Along the way, we flew over many villages built upon stilts over the sea.
25 Productive farm land and the beautiful Celebes Sea
26 That is the city of Sandakan, the second largest city in the state of Sabah, located on the northeast coast. It's a rather busy port.
27 Another view - Sandakan is a major hub for eco-tourism.
28 More waterside homes
29 We arrived at the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Center. This is the feeding platform for orang-utans old enough to roam freely through the large center.
30 A better view - there are currently 60-80 orang-utans living at the center.
31 Another has come to eat.
32 A look of satisfaction
33 Like all orang-utans we saw, this one was very flexible! While hanging, he was eating a carrot held with his foot.
34 The rope 'vines' create a path for the orang-utan to travel on throughout the reserve.
35 Another way to eat a carrot.
36 Perhaps he'll share it with me?
37 Their acrobatic skills are astounding!
38 After visiting the feeding area, we went to see the younger orang-utan - mostly under 7-years of age. This female is actually a teen-ager, who remains with the youngsters because she is partially paralyzed from a past case of cerebral malaria.
39 This one was so playful on the ropes!
40 We were concerned for a moment!
41 More acrobatics - Part of the test for when the youngsters are released into the rest of the reserve or into the wild is their climbing proficiency. This fellow is doing quite well!
42 More playing and learning
43 These volunteer were in their final week of a two-month stay at the center and were sad to soon be leaving.
44 The volunteers form a very close bond with the young orang-utan.
45 Very, very close!
46 The Sepilok center also protects and rehabilitates other endangered species, such as this Borneo sun bear.
47 Here are two volunteers putting this little fellow in the group playpen.
48 This orang-utan is about 3 years-old.
49 Memrie made quite a connection with this small baby.
50 Here we are with Noredah Othman and a group of volunteers.
51 At the Rainforest Discovery Centre, we toured the incredible gardens and found these vibrant birds of paradise flowers.
52 The director of Forestry, Datuk Sam Mannan, gave us a wonderful and educational presentation about Sabah and forestry.
53 Figs grow everywhere.
54 The lush gardens have many lovely, colorful bromeliads - their flowers are extraordinary.
55 A beautiful open lotus bloom revealing its distinctive yellow seed head. When dried, the seed heads are sold for dried flower arrangements.
56 Licuala Peltata var Sumawongii - Ultimately, the leaves of this plant grow to be 5 - 6 feet across
57 Every section of the garden was wonderfully labeled for identification purposes.
58 They had a section devoted solely to the some of the many orchids of Borneo. This is a beautifully patterned slipper orchid.
59 And the pretty flat faces of phalaenopsis orchids
60 We spotted a bright green fence lizard.
61 He was just basking in the sunlight.
62 The Rainforest Discovery Centre recently completed construction of this beautiful canopy walk.
63 There are a few tall observation towers, like this one.
64 A view from the canopy walkway - we were quite high-up!
65 We took the canopy walk to one of the observation towers, where they served us a delicious lunch - it was spicy! This dish is local fern shoots.
66 And chili prawns
67 We all loved this nutritious seaweed salad.
68 Morsels of chicken wrapped in bamboo leaf and grilled
69 The oxtail stew was very flavorful.
70 As was this fish cooked in a bamboo leaf
71 With the staff from the Rainforest Discovery Center. The taller man to my right is Datuk Sam Mannan.
72 Here I am signing their guest book.
What an adventure you had! As usual the photos were fabulous! The Sepilok Orang Utan Rehab centre is amazing. They are doing a great job. I felt very emotional looking at the orang utan photos. They look wonderful. Can't help but thinking of those unfortunate birds at the Mexico Gulf. Thank you so much for sharing.
Posted by: Phillippe | June 22nd, 2010 at 2:23 am
The orang-utan look like family members of mine!! LoL! What a fun time.. and I did notice through all of this, that the people of malasia and borneo, are very gracious. Great food and accomidations. Such friendly people! http://www.meandmartha.net
I hope that they continue to do well with thier tourism.
Thank you for the great views!
Dan Viger
Hollis Center, Maine.
Hollis 5 corners
Posted by: Daniel Viger | June 22nd, 2010 at 7:23 am
Beautiful fotos as usual
Dear Martha and my American friends
Foto 50: Birds of Paradise flower.
There are many varieties and it is commonly grown in our house yard.
Orchids: I think we have the most species of Orchids, mostly found in the jungle.
I wonder whether you have visited our Orchid garden.
We export our Orchids world-wide.
Posted by: Idzan, Kuala lumpur | June 22nd, 2010 at 9:20 am
Keep up the good work. These photos inspire all of us to better things. We have called the Missouri River "THE BIG MUDDY" in times past. Nowadays, many dams and projects have altered the lay of our land and we must go ahead with what Dakota has now..
Posted by: ann | June 22nd, 2010 at 10:26 am
You said “a brief climb on the tower, before our flight, seemed only natural”. Haha, I don’t think so – if I can’t see it from the ground then I don’t want to see it but I sure am glad you aren’t afraid of heights!
~
Your blogs are always informative and I like that. I visited all the links you provided and was really interested in those Global Atmosphere Watch Stations. It makes a person stop and think about air pollution in general when you realize those stations can only be set up in low pollutant areas which of course would be near rain forests. It was also mind-boggling to do some reading on rain forests which I actually haven’t done in some time. The first line of one article stated that ‘Rain forests took 60 to 100 million years to evolve and contain over 30 million species of plants and animals.’ I agree that public awareness is so important for conserving the rain forests so the RDC definitely has the right idea of educating people.
~
Thanks for such a great blog Martha. You certainly got me to thinking and Googling! Of course the orang-utans were amusing and kudos to the staff and the volunteers at the rehabilitation center for their generous and caring hearts. Malaysia is amazing! Trish
Posted by: Trish | June 22nd, 2010 at 11:25 am
It's heartwarming to see photos of Borneo. I was born in Borneo and spent the first 17 years of my life in this beautiful island. Your travelogue brought back wonderful memories. I've also visited all the places you've mentioned too. I hope you'd enjoyed your adventure in Borneo
Posted by: Chocolatecookiesandcandies.blogspot.com | June 22nd, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Hi Martha,
Great to see you at Trade Secrets. Your Borneo trip must have been great. I am glad you got to see some Paphiopedilums in bloom, such as the P. lowii you showed in picture # 58. Did you get to see Paph. rothchildianum at the Mt Kinabalu reserve like the one we had in bud at the show? As well, Licuala peltata is one of the most interesting understory palms and does well as an interior palm if you can provide good humidity. Thanks for the inspiration, we hope to go ourselves next year.
Rob Gennari
Glendale Botanicals
Posted by: Glendale Botanicals | June 22nd, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Hi Martha, You and your group certainly did have a fabulous trip to Malaysia! All of the beautiful countrysides are fantastic and your photos have been absolutely stunning! These have been some of your best trip blogs so far! I love the orang-utan rehab center. I remember seeing a TV program about it. All of those volunteers certainly do a fabulous job! The aerial views were spectacular. The orchids and other beautiful flowers were spectacular, also Thanks again for sharing this terrific trip! Love, Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | June 22nd, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Oh what great photos -- the orangutans are so flexible! Beautfiul flowers are so inspiring. Thanks for sharing...research centers are key!
Posted by: E. Teresa Touey | June 23rd, 2010 at 6:37 am
The color of the river is amazing!
Posted by: Wendy | June 23rd, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Awww!! what wonderful creatures Orangutans are!
Don't they just remind you to think out of the box and be more creative about mundane things? Thank you for sharing your pictures with us. They really brightened my day 
Posted by: Jah | June 23rd, 2010 at 10:57 pm