Day 170 - Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre

We woke up at 7am and grabbed a taxi to Sepilok and ended up arriving at the Rehabilitation Centre around 9am in time for the 10am feeding.

As we walked down the boardwalk to the orangutan feeding station there were already orangutans on the platform waiting for their feeder. They knew it was almost time to be fed. They all started to arrive more quickly as it came closer to the time of the feeding.

All these orangutans were once kept as pets and their mothers were killed and they were taken into the illegal animal trade. It's nice to be able to observe them free. There were a couple of mothers and babies which is quite a good sign as it means they are reproducing in the wild.

At exactly 10am, the feeder came up to the platform with a bucket of bananas. He started to hand them out and a few of the orangutans started to pull bananas from the bucket. About 10 minutes into the feeding, wild macaques started to come out of the forest and were stealing bananas from underneath the platform. They were so sneaky! A few were sneaking behind the feeder and started to steal bananas with such stealth it was extremely entertaining. The macaques the feeder saw would be nailed in the head with a banana. They were screaming and running around. As time past, more and more started to appear.

The macaques were the real entertainment of this experience. They went freaking nuts when the feeder left the platform and all descended on it to eat what was left. The orangutans left and it became a free for all. Crazy stuff!

We decide to take the bus back to Kota Kinabalu at around 1:30pm. When we arrived, we basically ate and slept in preparation for the 2 day mountain trek up Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak in SE Asia.