Sarawak, Borneo - land of the Orang-utan

And now for something completely different.......

We said goodbye to Tasmania and flew to Sydney, then onwards to Singapore. A day spent travelling.

Next morning we flew to the Malaysian State of Sarawak, arriving at the capital, Kuching, in time to stroll through the city and along the waterfront. The heat (32 degrees) and humidity were in stark contrast to the early Autumn climate in Tasmania.

Next day we joined a tour visiting first the Semenggoh Nature Reserve, a 642 hectare unfenced reserve where 27 semi-wild orang-utans live in their natural jungle habitat. Twice a day Rangers put out food on to platforms in the hope that the orang-utans will visit, but as this was still the fruiting season when plenty of food is available in the rainforest there were no guarantees they would arrive. Sadly no orang-utans came to visit.

We drove for another 30 minutes to a small village deep in the jungle where along with one other couple, and a guide, we started an 11km trip kayaking downriver.  Water levels were low and

occasionally the kayak scraped the bottom, but at other times the river flowed across rapids and care had to be taken to avoid the rocks.  We stopped briefly to trek a short distance to a waterfall, and later for a delicious lunch of typical Malay foods that the guide and driver had provided.  After lunch we

travelled downriver for a further 7km of sometimes strenuous, sometimes exciting, but always enjoyable kayaking.  At times the trees of the jungle hung out over the river and creepers fell from the upper branches almost to water level. At other times the limestone rocks along the river banks had been sculpted into fantastic shapes by years of erosion.  Mountains covered in trees rose up all around us. Bamboo grew to heights of 10-15 metres along the banks.  By the end of the journey our arms ached, our backs ached, and we were tired. But we hadn't capsized as others had been known to.

Our guide had pushed us so that we had time to revisit the Nature Reserve for the afternoon feeding.  After the disappointment of the morning we were not optimistic, but we were to be surprised.  As soon as we arrived there was a disturbance in the trees and a pair of orang-utans came swinging in,

using ropes and creepers, to a landing platform where bananas had been put out by the Rangers.  The animals were magnificent - long-haired shaggy chests, powerful limbs, and almost human-like expressions on their faces.  It got better! Another pair  appeared in the trees to our left and these were joined by a youngster. Finally the dominant male appeared and impressed us with his abilities by crossing at speed from tree to tree by "walking" the ropes like some efficient tightrope walker but without the use of a balancing pole. He passed over our heads oblivious to our presence, then paused

to smash a coconut against a branch in order to get to the flesh. One of the females had a tiny baby clinging tightly to her chest; another walked past us with a youngster in tow, the youngster walking upright with it's arms draped around it's mother's neck, providing an almost comical sight. It had been an amazing experience, and a privilege to observe these animals in the wild.