Sandakan🇲🇾on Borneo: a day at the Sepilok Orangutan 🦧 Rehabilitation Centre, Sun Bear Conservation Centre, and Rainforest Discovery Centre 🦜

On April 14, we visited the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, Sun Bear Conservation Centre, and Rainforest Discovery Centre in Sepilok. We booked a grab from Sandakan to get there. Sepilok is about 12km away from Sandakan.

We first went to the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, where the first visitor buses were already parked in the parking lot. Unfortunately, it was crowded. The feeding of the animals starts at ten in the morning, and the centre is open in the morning from 9-11 am and in the afternoon from 2-4 pm. The entrance ticket is valid for both opening hours. We paid 30 RM per person for admission, 10 RM for my camera (phones are free), and 1 RM per person for a mask. We also had to leave our backpacks and shoulder bags. We were allowed to enter at 9 am. It was so hot, the high humidity plus wearing a mask was sweaty 😅 We followed the wooden path directly into the jungle. Everything was green, the insects were loud, and we walked with the other visitors for about ten minutes until a building appeared in front of us, and we were asked to go inside.

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Inside, we took our seats on the visitor seats, which were arranged like a grandstand. We looked through the glass and saw the first orangutans already eating. There were fruits everywhere on the wooden platforms in front of us: watermelons, sweet potatoes, coconuts, bananas, etc. The monkeys were hanging around, they could come and go as they pleased. I didn't expect to see so many of them at once. The grandstands around the monkeys' enclosure filled up. The visitors, including many children, stood right in front of the glass; everyone wanted to get the best view of the orangutans, and everyone was taking pictures, and the noise level kept rising. Even though there were signs everywhere asking for quiet behavior. No chance.. we still tried to enjoy the moment. Shortly before ten, an employee asked the visitors through the speaker to make their way to the outdoor enclosure for the second feeding. Slowly, people left the room, and it became quiet. Chris and I took a breath and sat with the monkeys for a while. But then we were also asked to leave, so we strolled leisurely to the outdoor enclosure. Of course, everything was already crowded there.. we were able to catch a glimpse of 3 more orangutans. But the crowd was too much for us, so we decided to go slowly to the Sun Bear centre.

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On the way there, we suddenly heard rustling above us. There was actually an orangutan sitting in the tree branches. We stayed quiet and enjoyed this unique moment. The monkey even looked at us. It was incredible. The next visitors approached and already took out their cameras, but the orangutan was hidden behind the trees and disappeared.

Now the admission even cost 50 RM per person. Really expensive! But we paid and went in. There were two visitor terraces, I'll call them that. From above, you had a direct view into the fenced enclosures of the smallest bears in the world. There are people who actually keep the Sun Bear as pets, and the helpers at the Conservation Centre rescue the bears from captivity and bring them here for rehabilitation. Just like with the orangutans earlier, there were also many monkeys here. 🐒 even here during feeding time, the monkeys took many fruits. There were really many. We watched the animals for a while and went back to the exit. It was time for a short break. We got ourselves cold drinks and took a break in the shade. The heat and humidity can really get to you.

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We continued to the Rainforest Discovery Centre, about a 20-minute walk away. Admission here cost 20 RM per person. (All prices as of April 2023) This park is famous for its skywalk through the treetops, and that's exactly what we did. It was spectacular, especially the view from above. You should already have a head for heights for this. There are signs all over the skywalk with information about the animals you can see if you're lucky. In the middle, you walk past towers again and again, where you can go up and sit and enjoy the view. We really liked it there, especially because we love to be almost alone somewhere, which was not the case in the other two centres. It wasn't busy around noon, and we hardly saw any animals, but we didn't mind. There is also a restaurant in the park, and since we were hungry, we had something to eat before we made our way back.

Conclusion: the paths were predetermined for the animals, it felt a bit like a "zoo". The orangutans and sun bears live in different-sized but fenced areas. Especially with the monkeys, there were incredibly many animals present during feeding time, which was different in Semenggoh/Sarawak. If the animals could find enough food on their own, they wouldn't need the feeding stations. But that's how it is. Nevertheless, it was nice to be able to observe these endangered animals up close. Especially the encounter with the orangutan outside the centre was a brief but unique experience. 🦧