20 years ago: after Kinabalu

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At Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge

Three days after our mountain adventure we flew to Sandakan, still in Borneo, to spend two nights at the Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge. On the way there we experienced the highlight of our whole trip, a visit to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. We lost our hearts to these gorgeous creatures.

Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre
Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre

Sepilok was established in 1964, since when its primary mission has been to rehabilitate and provide a safe haven for orphaned and injured orangutans until, where possible, they can be released back into the wild. The reasons why rehabilitation becomes necessary are many, but the main one is deforestation. Orangutans become isolated and vulnerable as a result of logging and forest clearing, often to make way for palm plantations – always check the ingredient list of anything you buy for ethically sourced palm oil!

Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre
Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre

On our return home I “adopted” my first baby orangutan, Sue, and I am now on to my seventh. Sadly, Sue and one of the others died but the rest have been successfully released and my current baby, Nami, is not up for new adoptions so should also be making her own way in the world soon.

After Sepilok we continued to the Lodge and embarked on the first of several boat trips to see wildlife which were a great way of relaxing after our exertions on Kinabalu. The pygmy elephants were particularly adorable.

Kinabatangan River
Kinabatangan River
Pygmy elephants
Pygmy elephants
Pygmy elephants
Pygmy elephants
Proboscis monkeys
Proboscis monkey

We also visited a Jungle Nature Trail and Gomantong Cave, although photographs of the latter weren’t good enough to use. Finally, we were invited to wear sarongs to dinner one night. I think we might even still have these at the back of a cupboard somewhere, but they haven’t seen the light of day since.

Jungle Nature Trail
Jungle Nature Trail
Jungle Nature Trail
Jungle Nature Trail
Anabel in sarong
John in sarong

After Kinabatangan we flew back to Kota Kinabalu for two more nights before flying on to the final leg of our trip – Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur. In two days, we barely scratched the surface. Here’s a flavour.

Anabel in Kuala Lumpur
Petronas Towers
Colonial District
Colonial District
Colonial District
Anabel in Kuala Lumpur
Street scene
Chinatown
Chinatown
Hindu temple
Hindu temple?
Hindu temple?
Temple
Temple
Temple
Toucan in Bird Park
Symphony Lake

From KL we flew home, arriving back in Glasgow on 23rd July 2005 having had three weeks of very varied experiences. Would I visit Malaysia again? Possibly – but never, ever, would I go to climb a mountain!

Malaysia , , ,

64 Comments »

  1. I loved Sepilok and Kinabatangan, so I really enjoyed reading about your experiences and seeing your photos. The pygmy elephants are adorable!! I wasn’t lucky enough to see them when I went. It’s fantastic that most of your adopted orangutans have been successfully released!

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  3. Hi Anabel – I quite understand your thoughts re the mountain climbing – not me, either. Sounds like you had some wonderful experiences though … one of our U3A guys’ daughter lives in Kuala Lumpur and he waxed lyrical after a brief visit to her … thanks for the update – cheers Hilary

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  4. A great trip. Just noticed this post was a new one as having Kinabalu in the title I thought it was still the mountain post I’d already commented on. My mistake. Sorry for that.

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  5. We visited our daughter Anna at Christmas during her year abroad in Singapore, and were able to see a bit of Thailand and Malaysia while we were there. Kuala Lumpur was a building site at the time, so a bit of a struggle to get around. Anna went to Borneo on another trip but we didn’t get that far. I’m sure I would have adopted a baby orangutan too! I wrote a story about one, but it was never published. The title was “Go Home, Gerome!”

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      • I thought an orangutan picture book would be lovely too, but it wasn’t to be (at least not mine). Thanks for sharing the photo of Oran the Curious Otter – I’m very pleased to see that title on shelves as I think the illustrations by Abigail Hookham are fantastic!

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  7. I’d love to observe the orangutans on Borneo one day. Such a special experience and I’m glad you have been able to support their preservation efforts by adopting babies.

    I visited KL in 1998, I believe, when they were finishing the build of the Petronas Towers for that building to become the tallest in the world at that time. I wasn’t too impressed with Malaysia, so I probably won’t ever go back. The entire country smelled like smoke as well during my visit. It hurt the eyes and the nostrils.

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  8. Well, what an adventure you had! love the fact you ‘adopted’ orangutans, those pygmy elephants were adorable, love the sarongs that you’ve never worn again and the temples look fascinating

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  10. With hindsight the time on Kinabalu could have been better spent, Anabel, but you made the most of the rest of your stay. It must be lovely to receive information about ‘your’ orangutan and know you’ve helped save them. xx

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  11. I can see why you’d fall for those pygmy elephants—adorable, indeed. I liked the photo of the pitcher plants (and orchids), then seeing the fountain of pitcher plants, very cool! Good on you for adopting the orangutans. I’m sure the organization requires a lot of support. Too bad they can’t all be rewilded. I understand habitat is disappearing rapidly. I try to avoid palm oil altogether.

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    • Yes, the fountain echoing nature was amazing! I try to avoid palm oil too but get caught out sometimes when it sneaks in somewhere unexpected. And as Margaret says further down the comments, the print on ingredient labels can be so small! I don’t think they want us to know what we are eating sometimes.

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  12. an amazing adventure to look back on. Those orangutans and Pygmy elephants were so adorable. How lovely to adopt them. We traveled through Malaysia, so hot and humid. But loved the country.

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  17. Fantastic experiences and wonderful memories – apart from that mountain! The orang utans look like they were having fun and I like the pygmy elephants. The photos of Kuala Lumpur are great, that Hindu temple looks amazing, I love the mural and the vibrant reds of Chinatown.

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  18. What a magical experience! Orangutans are my Dad’s favourite animal. I wish I could have paid for him to go and see them in their own habitat, such as you did, but we do fund adoptions as an annual gift to him. They are such amazing animals and very adorable and engaging.

    My Granddad was born in Kuala Lumpur but I have never been (indeed, I have never been to Asia) but it is on my travel bucket list and hopefully I will make it there some day.

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  19. What a rewarding adoption. I can watch great apes for hours on end. My wife and daughter had a similar experience recently visting an orangutan sanctuary in Bali. I must visit South East Asia again as a hiker. I only passed through in my late 20s.

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  23. Sounds like an amazing adventure. I couldn’t cope with Asia now, too hot and humid. (BTW John seems to have morphed into Anabel… but I do like those sarongs!)

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  24. Borneo, and Sepilok in particular, is very much on our radar, with thoughts of a possible trip next year, so I loved seeing all these photos and reading about your highlights 🙂 But no, I won’t be climbing any mountains!

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  26. How wonderful to see those orang-utans! And you’re right about palm oil. It’s ubiquitous, even among firms you’d think would know better. And in an Asian suprrmarket the other day, I was horrified to see a whole couple of shelves full of immense bottles of the stuff. It had never occurred to me that anyone used the stuff in a domestic (or possibly Indian restaurant?) context.

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  27. Goodness…another wonderful adventure with so many sights and an amazing opportunity to see the animals in their native surroundings. Well done being an adopter!

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