{"id":6171,"date":"2019-02-04T03:59:53","date_gmt":"2019-02-04T03:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.whatfionaeats.com\/?p=6171"},"modified":"2019-02-18T14:49:29","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T14:49:29","slug":"one-week-in-borneo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.whatfionaeats.com\/?p=6171","title":{"rendered":"One Week In Borneo"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we were planning our travels there were a few things we wanted to see more than anything. One of those things was to see Orangutan’s. I have been obsessed with them ever since watching Monkey World when i was small – I love primates and Orangs above all are my favourite. So Borneo was on the map.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Kota Kinabalu – Sepilok (Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

We flew into Kota Kinabalu, stayed overnight in an Airport Hotel. It was pretty basic but it suited our budget and it was only for one night! \u00a0In the morning we took a short internal flight out to Sandakan. From there we got a Grab (Uber) and drove to Sepilok. This is where the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre is as well as the Sun Bear Conservation Centre is.<\/span><\/p>\n

We stayed at the Sepilok Forrest Edge Resort – It was less than a ten minute walk to the Oragnutans & Sun Bears. I highly recommend this place if you were planning on visiting here – the rooms were gorgeous, the staff were amazing and the food.. the FOOD – it was excellent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our first afternoon we spent just relaxing in the communal \/ restaurant area playing games and having some lunch. They did the most amazing drink at Forrest Edge – a Lemon grass water with cinnamon – Sounds weird but it was so refreshing! We got ourselves an early night. Grabbed breakfast in the morning (they made the most amazing fried eggs, cinnamon and apple cake and the coffee was excellent) and made the short 10 minute walk to the Orangutans & Sun Bears.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> Stir fried Tofu and Mango Salad at Forrest Edge<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Orangutans & Sun Bears<\/span><\/h4>\n

The Orangutan sanctuary was nothing short of amazing. Here they rescue orphaned Orangutans and teach them the skills they need to survive themselves in the wild. We went to the outdoor nursery and watched all the young ones playing, swinging around and eating – I could have happily stayed here and watched them all day. We also learnt about how many of the Orangs became orphans – a lot of the mothers were killed because of logging (for building and PALM OIL, illegal hunting and deforestation) \u00a0The work they do here is incredible – We were very lucky because we saw the dominant male of the area, he was HUGE and we also got very close to an adult female orangutan. We were just walking along and she swung through the trees right next to us. It was very special.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sun Bear Centre is right next door to the Orangutans so we wandered back the our hotel for lunch and came back here for the afternoon. Sun Bears are the smallest bears in the world and are only found in South East Asia. In Sabah they are threatened by deforestation, illegal hunting for bear parts and poaching. Sadly there is a big demand for Sun Bear cubs as pets because they are so cute – The result of this is that these young bears are kept in unnatural and usually very small captive conditions with zero access to outdoor pens.<\/span><\/p>\n

The centre rescues captive bears and bring them to their facility which has massive outdoor enclosures \u00a0just like their natural environment – from here they rehabilitate\u00a0them for their release back into the wild. \u00a0The bears looked like they were having a blast playing with each other and exploring their natural habitat. We met a British girl who had been volunteering at the centre for the last six months and she had some great information about the bears and the behaviour they were displaying.<\/span><\/p>\n

I highly recommend a visit to these centres – the entrance fee is pretty small but every penny goes towards reducing and rehabilitating other Orangutans and Bears.<\/span><\/p>\n

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