I have been in Kuching, which is the capital of Sarawak the southern of the two Malaysian states of Borneo (the northern state is Sabah).
Good place, nice vibe, lots to see around and as ever eat.
Saturday 24th July - SEMENGGOH ORANGUTANS
Along with the primary (and primal) jungle one of the big pulls in Borneo are the orangutans. These red haired cousins of ours are fading fast (and not as a result of the regressive red head gene) due to the removal of their habitat, poaching and the like. Also known as same old same old. One of the best places to see them is therefore a rehabilitation centre, where foundlings and injured or imminently endangered orangs are cared for in their natural environment i.e. the jungle, but where they still get fed and looked after when required.
The Semenggoh rehabilitation centre is close to Kuching and while not as famous as the Sepilok centre in Sabah, it has the advantage of being a) cheaper and b) a damn site closer to Kuching.
To do it all you have to decide is whether to use the public transport option or to go on an organised tour. In this case public transport was a cinch and is well recommended (costing the princely of 8 ringitts for the return trip and entrance compared to 65 for an organised tour (the saved 48 ringitts would later pay for 4 bottles of export Guinness at the Latino bar next to the hotel). Job done! (only problem for me was getting up at 6am)
The bus left at 7.20 and arrived an hour later; it would have arrived at 8am spot on opening time if we had not had to wait for a french family outside a hotel, who's daughter had evidently got caught short or was picking her jungle frock.
A quick race a kilometre or so from the park entrance then ensues to take you to the feeding area, where the carers of said red heads put out food at 9am (and 3pm) on large elevated tables within the confines of the forest (but suitable for viewing of course too).
It is a natural environment and these are not pets, so there is said to be no guarantee of seeing any orangutans on your visit, so I was well happy when we got toward the feeding area only to find one of the guys high in the trees over to the right. They are large beasts and make a pretty impressive sight. At 9am we were given a talk on safety and general information on the park and its guests. The number of people had swelled from the ten or so on the public bus to well over sixty once the tours had arrived. They get to park in the car park right above the feeding area, so saving a kilometre walk; and hence missing the trees, flowers, birds and butterflies of the park.
We were then told to walk to the main feeding area deeper in the jungle some 200m or so and as we walked we saw two more of our fuzzy haired friends high in the canopy heading in the same direction. So it looked promising. At the feeding point there were three massive wooden tables or stages and a little standing area suitable for probably a hundred people. On the stage was a ranger geezer in wellies who made some calls to tell the orangs that it was breakfast, which he had in a bucket at his feet. Twenty fruitless minutes (bar the stuff in the bucket) later we were told to head back to where we had come from as it looked unlikely that they were heading to breakfast at this open air gaff, but that more had turned up where we had started. The two we had seen heading our way had presumably nipped of to a local KFC (there must be a local KFC, they are everywhere in Malaysia).
When we returned to the starting point we found there were five ginger types cavorting in the trees and generally feeding themselves silly on various fruits of the summer. Two of the five were youngsters, occasionally clinging on to their mothers back like novelty rucksacks but they were equally happy climbing off alone into the very top of the canopy.
The animals were amazing to see, their expressions, their nonchalance at the viewing public, their size (both tiny and large) and their fluffiness (especially the teeny weeny one). 1, 2, 3..... ahhhhhh!!!
Sunday 25th July - Gunung Gading National Park - 'the Hunt for the Red Rafflesia'
At various points throughout Kuching there were posters advertising that the Rafflesia, the worlds biggest flower was in bloom at the nearby national park. I decided it was an opportunity not to be missed. The bright red bloom is over a metre across, and at the same time as being quite ugly apparently stinks to high heaven with something akin to rotting flesh (hence a colloquial name of the Corpse flower) to attract the flies and other insects it needs to pollinate. Unfortunately (or fortunately if you live nearby I guess) it only flowers for five days before turning to a black mess.
To cut a long story short (for a change) I arrived on Day 6 of the flowering event of the season and could not even spot the thing with the forest background also being generally black, brown and dark dark green (that damn canopy). You could say I couldn't see the flower for the trees.
That said, it is a nice park and worth a visit whether the damn things are flowering or not. And you can get to swim or soak in the pool beneath a small waterfall near the park entrance (if you are not running around like a headless chicken in the walks above).
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