Sepilok

(One week before work)

After a few days hanging around (in a 5* resort!!!) we arrived at Sepilok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre. 12 very excited volunteers were excited about meeting their first Orang-utans. So we dumped our bags and rushed to the feeding platform - just in time to see the afternoon feeding. There were 5 Orang-utans (2 babies – so cute, 2 females and 1 very big male). We stayed for about 1 ½ hours before 12 very happy people decided to head back to unpack before the mossies eat us alive!

That night we had an early night as we needed to get used to getting up at 6:30pm so we can be at work by 8pm.

The next day John (a tour guide) picked us up to go on a tour of Sandakan. First we went to a memorial park to remember all the Australian and British POW who died during the 2nd World War. The park was very nice, if a little somber. After this we headed to a temple at the top of a hill. It had great views of Sandakan bay and the water villages below, which was our next stop. However first we needed a group photo from the temple. Yes that means 12 people 12 cameras! Poor John was our camera man!

The water village was very interesting. Basically the houses are built on stilts out of the water with paths between each building. In the villages they have all sorts of facilities like temples, shops and restaurants. This particular village was very clean which the government insits upon. There are other villages that just discard their rubbish into the ocean or river below. After the village we went to an English Tea House, needless to say Jo was very happy. Last stop was the supermarket on the way back to Sepilok. We bought some wellington boots and supplies to keep us going during the days. No doubt the supplies will be eaten the first night. Tomorrow we have our induction at The Rehabilitation Centre. We are very excited.