BORNEO – MALAYSIA – SANDAKAN

JANUARY 10-16, 2026

Many years ago someone had given me a travel magazine with a feature on Borneo and the orangutans. The bug was planted! Now here I am!!

Borneo is the world’s third largest island. It has flora and fauna found only on this island. It is divided into three nations: Indonesia controls the southern 2/3, Malaysia has two states in the north with Brunei on the north coast stuck between the two Malaysian states.

It straddles the equator and is known for lush rainforests and rivers. I am sure the weatherman recorded his evening broadcast in 1972 and then retired. The forecast is the same every day: 30-32 degrees Celsius during the day, 24 at night, with a chance of showers in the afternoon and evening.

We stayed at SEPILOCK JUNGLE RESORT, only because it was close to the SEPILOCK ORANGUTAN REHABILITATION CENTRE, and my only reason for coming here. The resort was a bit outside of our normal budget, but at only $75 a night with free breakfast, a swimming pool and huge room, it was a steal.

The next day we headed for the SEPILOCK ORANGUTAN REHABILITATION CENTRE. It was only a $10 entry fee and we could go back for all 4 feeding times, if we wanted.

Orangutans spend most of their times in trees. They have reddish-brown hair, very long arms (up to 2 metre span) and short legs. The adult male can weigh 75 kg (165 lb), while females weigh about 37 kg (82 lb). Dominant males have big cheek pads or flanges. They can live over 30 years in the wild, and more in captivity. I suppose in this setting, their lifespan would be somewhere in the middle.

The centre was founded in 1964. It is dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned and displaced orangutans.  Wild baby orangutans stay with their mothers for 8 – 10 years learning the skills they will need to survive on their own. The centre provides a natural rainforest environment where rescued orangutans are trained at a “school” and taught by human “mothers” to survive in the wild before being released. Staff members often demonstrate skills for them, teaching them how to climb, find fruit, build a nest (which they do every night) and be afraid of snakes (their only predator other than humans). We share 96% of our DNA with orangutans and therefore we can spread human diseases to them. We were told to keep our distance for this reason, as well as they are wild animals and unpredictable, especially when they have a baby.

The rescued babies go through 5 stages to prepare them for independence. Groups 1 & 2 are the youngest and need the most care. Group 3 is for juveniles starting to build confidence and interact with others. Groups 4 & 5 train in the canopy to prepare them for eventual reintroduction to the wild.

We went to the OUTDOOR NURSERY for the 9:30 feeding. This is where the juveniles hang out. Like typical kids, they played while they ate. They swung from ropes, did somersaults, and play wrestled with each other.

A mother and baby were there, as was a big male.

It is important to point out that this is not an enclosed area. The animals are free to come and go as they please. The young ones may not know any better, yet; but some wild ones show up for the free food, then go back into the jungle.

We went to the outdoor 10:00 feeding platform. There were fewer apes there as these tended to be the wild ones who came for the free breakfast. There was a different mother and baby at this feeding. The little one was playing with a coconut while Mom ate. Then he sat on the food basket and was trying to play with the keeper, who kept moving away. Finally, the little guy snuck around the basket and pulled on the keepers boot lace. He behaved so human-like it is incomprehensible how anyone could harm these beautiful creatures.

I went back another day. A different mom showed up with her baby. Normally, the little guy grabs onto Mom and hangs on while she swings through the trees and does whatever moms do. This little guy fell asleep waiting for her to finish eating. She raised her leg to support him and carried on eating until she was full. She grabbed some fruit with both feet, tapped him to wake up and disappeared back into jungle.

On the same site was the BORNEO SUN BEAR CONSERVATION CENTRE. The sun bear is the smallest bear species, standing only 70 cm (28 in) at the shoulder and weighing 25–65 kg (55–143 lb). It gets its name from the yellowish ‘necklace’ on its chest.

It is an excellent climber and actually sleeps high up in trees.

It does not hibernate like other bears, but is an omnivore. It has a very long tongue (up to 12 inches or 30 cm) to lick honey out of honeycombs and finding termites.

We walked along a sky-walk above the enclosures which allowed us a good look at their backs, but not their chest.

Another day we hired a car to take us to LABUK BAY to see the PROBOSCIS MONKEY. The monkeys have very large noses and long tails. They are one of the largest monkeys species native to Asia. Males are 66 – 76 cm (26 – 30 in) tall and weigh 16 – 22.5 kg (35 – 50 lb). The females are smaller standing at 53 – 62 cm (21 – 24 in) tall and weighing 7 – 12 kg (15 – 26 lb). They live in coastal mangrove forests, which may account for the webbed feet.

The sanctuary is privately owned. In the mid-1990s this 400 acre site was going to be cleared for a oil palm plantation when the owner discovered that proboscis monkeys were living in the mangrove forest. It was during a drought and the monkeys were breaking into his worker’s huts stealing food and water. He decided to retain this relatively small pocket of forest as a sanctuary for the monkeys. Today Labuk Bay is home to around 150 free ranging proboscis monkeys.

The male’s comical large nose can exceed 10.2 cm (4.0 in) in length, and hangs lower than the mouth. Theories about the large nose suggest it may be sexy to the females. Also, it may increase the volume of their call. Maybe the girls like a booming voice. I only heard them make a chirping sound so I am not sure on that theory.

The females have smaller noses, and the young ones have little upturned noses.

The male has a red penis which he always seems to have sticking out! While we were watching them eat, there seemed to be some kind of dynamic going on between the male and another monkey. As she passed in front of him, he jumped up and proceeded to mate with her for a minute. Then they each went their way, but not before causing the rest of the troop to jump up and whoop.

We went on a night walk near our resort. We saw

I saw another mouse-deer a few days later. Despite the name, they are not closely related to true deer. They are, however, the smallest hoofed mammals in the world. They are only 30-45 cm (12-18 in) high and weigh 1-4 kg (2-9 lb).

One morning, while we were having breakfast, a worker pointed out a Stork Billed Kingfisher sitting over the pond beside the dining area.

There were lots of pig-tailed macaques everywhere we went.

On our last day we went to the RAINFOREST DISCOVERY CENTRE. We took a walk along the many paths and skywalks looking for any sign of wild life. We are either bad at spotting them or they were hiding well; because, although we could hear some birds, we did not see any.

Our new friends, Debbie & Michelle said they saw an orangutan and a few hornbills. Oh well, it was still a pretty walk in the jungle.

I had come to see the orangutans and ended up seeing proboscis monkeys, mouse-deer and sun bears, too. It was a very good trip!! But it was time to move on. Brunei is next.

QUIZ: How many orangutans and proboscis monkeys do you see?