Arrival in Borneo - Sandakan

Early in the morning, the shuttle bus took us to the airport. The flight started on time and about 2.5 hours later we landed in Sandakan. The taxi brought us to our accommodation, the Sandakan Backpackers. So, our Borneo adventure could begin.

We spent the first day in and around the city of Sandakan. It cannot really convince with its beauty. In 1945, Sandakan was completely destroyed by the British during the Pacific War, after the Japanese had previously occupied the area. More than a thousand Allies were captured by the Japanese. Only six Australians survived the march from Sandakan to the prisoner-of-war camp in Ranau - they are known as the 'Death Marches of Sandakan' in the history books. Unfortunately, we didn't learn anything about this on the Heritage Trail that we walked in the afternoon. We passed the old mosque, the government building, climbed a hundred steps to the viewpoint, and passed the house of the famous English writer Agnes Newton Keith. The rebuilt Sandakan consists of ancient timber houses and is relatively colorless and shapeless.

The next day, we took a taxi to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. The goal of the rescue center is to rehabilitate the monkeys and release them back into the wild. However, this attempt is not always successful. Some primates get used to the regular feeding and do not want to return to life in the wild. How similar these animals are to us - more than 95% of the gene pool matches ours. During the official feeding, we only see one orangutan. Otherwise, a family of macaques appear. They enjoy eating the fruits. Then we continue to the 'gym'. Here, the young orangutan monkeys learn and practice climbing. A terrain has been built with ropes and other objects for this purpose. We watch the young animals for a while behind a glass window. When the hall was almost completely empty, we also left the building. We were lucky. On the way back, we spotted three orangutans playing in the trees. From the observation deck, we had a wonderful view of the scene. And even better: all the noisy tourists were no longer present! We enjoyed the moment of tranquillity. The problem with these centers is that the animals quickly become accustomed to humans. So, the primates came closer and finally even climbed onto the observation deck. The gentle giants nibbled on a woman's shoes and explored her leg. A monkey pulled Mathias' T-shirt - they are incredibly strong. The situation was not dangerous. At most, for the monkeys, because they can get the same diseases as we do due to the genetic similarity. A keeper who was called over chased the animals back into the trees. A special experience.

We spent our lunch break with a Dutch couple and a British couple. In a run-down little hut, a warm-hearted elderly woman served us a delicious lunch. Before the actual meal, she also served nuts and sweets. Apparently, it didn't bother her that there were hundreds of ants crawling around in the pastries. We didn't want to offend her and obediently ate a few bites. They were surprisingly fresh and tasty. After lunch, we continued to the Bear Park. Numerous sun bears (also called Malayan bears) live here. We were able to observe some of them from the elevated walkways. They are the smallest bear species in Southeast Asia and are particularly skilled climbers.

We took a taxi back to Sandakan. We spent the evening together with our new acquaintances by the waterfront. The next day we continue into the jungle.