More peace and wild monkeys 🐒

Good afternoon, Good day!

My move to the new accommodation in Mantanani went well and I spent 3 more nights at the "GreenHouse EcoLodge". The accommodation has a maximum capacity of 12 guests and is very familiar. Besides me, there are three other guests in the beginning: a French couple and an Englishwoman who lives in Malaysia. Meals are eaten together at the family table and the atmosphere is really nice. We spend evenings sitting together and talking about everything under the sun.

The two owners live next to the accommodation and the lady cooks lunch and dinner. Finally, as a vegetarian, I am able to explore beyond the culinary world of "Fried Egg Rice", which I have enjoyed very often before...😅 Although my daily caloric intake doesn't necessarily shoot up due to lying in the hammock all day, I'm constantly surprised by how hungry I am. But the food is simply delicious.

Otherwise, the day consists of a bit of swimming, reading, and napping☺️ A highlight was definitely the kayak trip around the other Mantanani islands that Julie and I did at 6 am. The scenery was stunning😍

Now I am ultra relaxed and ready for some action! The Orangutan Center in Sepilok has been recommended to me several times, which is located between Kota Kinabalu and Semporna, where I will be going diving. So, I decide to fly from KK to Sandakan and make a stopover at the Orangutan Center. The super nice hostel owners offer to take us there the next day and visit some sights in Sandakan on the return trip.

The Orangutan Rehabilitation Center is only open in the morning from 9-11 am and in the afternoon from 3-4 pm, as feeding takes place at these times. Additionally, it is in the best interest of the orangutans to not have visitors in the jungle all day long. The "Kabili" jungle is a small part that has been left in the surrounding area and has not been replaced by large palm oil plantations (if you have eaten Nutella today, please take a moment to feel ashamed). There are 50-60 orangutans of all ages living in the center. The main purpose of the rehabilitation center is, of course, to care for abandoned baby orangutans and introduce them to older orangutans who teach them vital climbing skills. By the age of 6-7 years, they should have learned these skills and they will be released back into the wild. In some cases, this is not possible, for example, if the orangutans have been raised as pets (which unfortunately is not uncommon). The animals rely on human help for their entire lives. I have become quite critical of zoos lately, so I did some research on how the animals live there. They are free to roam in the area, there are no high fences, and contact with humans is only during feeding times. It is a Saturday and I am already worried about a huge crowd, but fortunately, the number of visitors is quite small. We see a lot of orangutans and gibbons.

In addition to the feeding platform, there is also an area just for baby orangutans 😍 They are naturally very cute and play/bother each other.

After the feeding, we visit the "Sunbear" Park, which is home to a very small species of bear. Most of the animals here have been rescued as pets from villages. They are incredibly cute, some have very wrinkled faces, like a pug🥰 But since it is very hot, they are just lying around and not very active.

We also visit the city, but it is not very remarkable.

The lunch at the Indian restaurant was definitely one of the best meals I have had on vacation.

My next destination is the island of Mabul, where I will go diving again. I have booked a complete package for 4 nights with a total of 12 dives, which I am really looking forward to🏝 I survived the 6-hour bus ride to Semporna more or less well. Apparently, it is common that all beings who could be counted as "children" do not need their own ticket. I am lucky to sit next to a mother with two children on her lap. The 57% remaining from my seat does not make the journey particularly comfortable, and on top of that, one of the children keeps smearing its bacon-covered hands, which are stained with satay sauce, on me (even I don't find that cute). That's just a little insight into a day of traveling😅

That's it for today and until next time😃

Goodbye, my dears 😘