After a night sleeping through the sounds of the jungle, our alarms and the roosters went off around 4:45 a.m. We got ready, had our coffees, knocked on the doors of the Germans who had insisted we go at 5:30 instead of 6 a.m. but who were still sleeping at 5:30, and at 6:00 a.m. got into the boat with Eagle Eyes for another river safari.
There are not nearly as many mammals to spot alongside the Kinabantangan River as I had though; however, there are tons of different birds. We spotted 4 different species of Hornbills (including some really rare white breasted one), 3 different types of King Fishers, Broad beaks, huge endangered Storks, some tiny bird that was smaller than two finger digits, etc. We saw 2 different species of monkeys. Then, Eagle Eyes spotted our first oranguntan!! I'm not sure what I expected, but this was beyond expectations. Unfortunately, one, this was a male and you only see males in isolation, not surrounded by a troop of orangutans and two, he was high up in the top of a fig tree eating breakfast.
It was amazing to watch. He is basically a big orange hairy thing on the top of the tree. A bit like how I imagined Big Foot's hide to look. He just sat there, in a more refined way, reaching with his long arms to pluck various figs & eat them. Sometimes he'd walk out on a branch to get the ones that were on the farthest limbs and then retreat back to his tree chair. Once he was hidden from view all we saw was his long arm reaching out beyond the cover of the trees to pluck figs, and then disappear.
Not only did we see this orangutan, but on our return journey, we saw our 2nd! I certainly have not had my fill of orangutans, but am still fascinated by them. We both want more! However, after our river safari, after much debate (and after the infamous Osman had a family emergency and wasn't taking people on his pygmy elephant safari), we decided lets just get out of dodge. We'll go to a (dare I say it) rehabilitation center, and hopefully we'll be able to see both orangutans and probiscis monkeys up close.
We trekked to town, found a car that would take us to 'The Junction' where lonely planet said we could stand by the side of the road and flag down a bus, packed up in 30 minutes, and went. The Junction is literally a tree-barren area by the side of a round about. My poor vampire skin can't take such intensity. Then I remembered something my friend Kim had given me. It was something that, upon leaving Melbourne, I had debated whether or not to bring with, and figured that although its slightly heavy, I'd carry it and see. It was a sun umbrella from China! Normally, I would have shied away from using it - white tourist who can't take it; however, I had seen some women using them in Sandakan a few days before. When in the jungle..... Out it came! Instant shade. It. was. amazing. Kim - THANK YOU! We took a picture, which we'll have to send you. This moment almost deserves an ode.
Ode to the Shade Umbrella:
Oh give me a home, where the sun mostly roams
Where the trees provide plenty of shade
But when burning outside, sweating and unmade
The sun umbrella provides plenty of shade
Okay - not my best. I'll work on it! But it deserves it! After standing there for an hour, we had no fewer than 5 people stop and ask us where we were going. Finally, a good Samaritan told us its hard to flag a bus here, he'd take us a bit down the road to a proper bus stand. We jumped in the car, and went about half the distance to Kota Kinabalu (our final destination). I swear, all we passed were palm trees for 200 kms. It was such a sad scene. I'm not a real protester or avoider of products, but seriously, no more palm oil. (Pallavi has since refused to eat Nestle ice-creams and says #SayNoToNestle).
On the way, we had passed one bus going to Kota Kinabalu. Finally, we reached the last point the guy could take us, and we got off, had lunch, found the bus station, and waited for another hour and a half. When the luxury bus finally came, it was the same bus we had passed before!
We finally reached Kota Kinabalu, got a cab, got off near where backpackers are, only to realize that my ukulele had been left behind in the cab! That is how we learned about how easy it is to file an insurance report at the local police station and all about different cab companies.
Such a up & down day. Loved the orangutans, but am absolutely exhausted and hot from the journey and a bit heartbroken about the ukulele. Hopefully we'll be able to find it tomorrow.
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