Hi everyone, this is my first official travelling blog. I arrived in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia on Saturday and met the other 11 volunteers doing the orangutan programme. I was supposed to be greeted at the airport by a travellers worldwide rep in a tshirt however I was greeted by a malaysian women in full malaysian dress. We stayed in a hotel for 2 nights all together which smelt really badly of damp and my room had curtains but no window behind it. We were given two free days in Kota Kinabalu to relax after the long flight. However it isnt the most exciting of towns and not really a place I wanted to hang around in. However, our first night we all had dinner together on the promenade and started to get to know each other a bit better which was lovely. On sunday we all got up and had breakfast together and then went to the Sunday market where I tired a malaysian fruit...a mangosteen I think. It was purple and black in colour and the segments were garlic shaped but extremely sweet and delicious. Walking around the market gave us out first experience of real malaysia. The rest of the afternoon was spent chilling out and doing my first lot of washing...I know it seems I have not been away long enough to have done washing already but it is so hot and humid that I have to change so often. Monday morning came and we were finally able to leave Kota Kinabalu and head 45 minutes to a 5 star beach resort...Rasa Ria. This was no comparison. On our 2 month placement we work for 9 days at the Rasa Ria nature intepretation centre, with the baby orangutans so they wanted us to get to know the hotel first. We were greeted at the hotel with ice tea and cold towels which was amazing. Once checked in to our gorgeous rainforest view rooms, we had a 3 course meal for lunch and a few hours to sunbathe before a buffet dinner on the beach. The buffet had about 6 different food cuisines to choose from and a chocolate fountain for dessert :-). All we seem to have done so far is eat. Later that night we had an introduction by our volunteer rep - Albert. He spoke for hours about the programme, telling stories of what not to do and giving examples of previous volunteers. Unfortunately if you take any pictures whilst with the orangutans - you get sent straight home which happened to a girl on the last group so sorry guys but you wont be seeing any pictures. I received my work itinerary for the next eight weeks. For the first 9 days, I am jungle trekking and taking out orangutan surveys as well as doing nocturnal surveys - this is where my leech socks will come in handy. Then we have 3 days off. The next 9 days I am back at Rasa Ria hotel however this time not as a guest but as staff, we are given a very basic apartment in town and cycle to work every morning at 7.30 but here we are hands on with the orangutans, bathing them and doing enrichment activities. Then we have another 3 days off. The following 9 days I will back in the jungle but working in the clinic with the little little baby orangutans, feeding and taking care of the sick ones. With a final break, we have out last 9 days where I will be working in the outdoor husbandry where I get the grand job of telling tourists to back away from the orangutans. Apparently when we are in uniform we can tell off the tourists which should be fun. They also mentioned that we will have the chance to stay at a malaysian families house for the night, and can also volunteer to go camp in the jungle and pick up wild, orphaned orangutans and bring them back to the rehailitation centre...the kind of thing you see on orangutan island. On my free days, I will be doing different excursions like climbing mount kinabalu. So back to today, we got up extremely early for a big breakfast before an early morning jungle trek up to the summit which was a gorgeous view but was so hot and humid. We were all drenched by the end of it. This was only 100m above sea level and i am climbing over 4000 up kinabalu...getting a bit scared. I spent the afternoon so far body boarding in the sea and about to go on a tour of this nearest town - Tuaran. Tomorrow morning, very early, we leave for the jungle...where it all begins. Very excited. Just cant wait to cuddle an orangutan already. That's all for now folks...sorry for the rushed account...I am late for lunch. Miss and love you all xxx