Monkey Business

Monday 27th July 2009
Day 30

We've experience a few no-shows so far during our travels. The Kinabalu sunrise, the bats and now it seems we could add orangutans to the list.

We crossed the river in a make-shift boat to Gunung Leuser National Park and paid the entry fee to watch the morning orangutan feed. Despite the best efforts of the ranger to entice the apes up to the feeding platform, they were having none of it. To make matters worse our friend Russell Brand turned up kitted out in full trekking gear complete with headband and football socks. He's a pretty 'in your face' kind of guy.

Our luck changd, however, as we were called down to the headquarters building where three orangutans were hanging out. We were so close to them and the two year old was particularly comical showing off in the tree right in front of us. This particular orangutan rehabilitation centre was started in the 1970s and have helped many orangutans back to the wild. In particular may orphaned orangutans. We also learned that if a baby orangutan dies, the mother searches for a new baby and will fight another mother for their child...a little disturbing. Maybe their cheekiness is just a facade and these seemingly fun-loving apes have a dark sinister side. At this present moment we didn't care though!

Thate evening I got speaking to the ex-owner of our accomodation over a Bintang who explained the impact of the flash flood on the town and also some of his anxieties over the new development taking place to the detriment of the jungle. In particular the work the guy we spoke to yesterday was doing.