Sandakan - close to the creatures & the rainforest of Borneo
Sandakan is the second largest city in the Malaysian state of Sabah and located on the east coast in the north of the island of Borneo. It is one of the main ports for oil, tobacco, coffee, sago, and timber exports. Today this little city is growing again due to the success of the palm-oil industry.
The city with almost 160,000 inhabitants is known for its eco-touristic attractions, such as the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (about 25 km west of the city), the Kepulauan Penyu National Park (with its turtle islands) and the Kinabatangan River (the second longest river in Malaysia) where you could see tiny Borneo pygmy elephants.
Getting picked up by my CouchSurfing host
On New Year's Day I flew from Kuala Lumpur to Sandakan. My New Year's party went on until almost 6am. Thus I was very tired when I arrived in Sandakan late in the evening. The flight lasted 3 hours.
My CouchSurfing host Gordon picked me up from the airport. He is around 50 years old and of Chinese origin. We had a short dinner in a Taiwanese restaurant - they served vegetarian lamb - and he brought me to his house after that. The CouchSurfing amenities were more like a guest house for which I did not have to pay anything. I even had my own room with even 2 beds and the house was beautifully decorated and in a quiet location a bit out of town.
Meeting Orangutans
I visited a rehabilitation centre for orangutans in Sepilok, not far away from Sandakan. The centre opened in 1964 as the first official orangutan rehabilitation project for rescued orphaned baby orangutans from logging sites, plantations or illegal hunting. The orphaned monkeys are trained to survive again in the wild and are released as soon as they are ready. Orangutans live on the island of Borneo and also on the island of Sumatra. My host gave me a lift there before he started his work.
First I visited the nursery area where the younger Orangutans first learn to be outside and play on a large climbing frame. You can look at them behind glass. The orangutans can move freely in the large enclosure of the rehabilitation centre. In front of the building I saw some young ones fighting/playing with each other and a full-grown animal walked past me and showed me his butt.
I walked on to a platform where the orangutans are also fed at fixed times and I saw one of them doing artistic movements to eat his bananas.
Sun bears, the smallest bears in the world
Afterwards I visited a sanctuary for the world's smallest bear species, which only lives on Borneo. The sun bears or also Malaysian bears reach a shoulder height of 70 cm and a length of 100...140 cm. They are highly endangered. Cute little animals, which were looking for food with their snout on the ground all the time.
Canopy walk in the rainforest
Afterwards I went on a canopy walk in the lush rainforest of Borneo. In full splendour and height I had the huge green and diverse trees of Borneo in view. The sounds of the jungle gave me goose bumps - wild monkey cries and extraterrestrial crickets chirping. But I must admit that I am not suited for the jungle. I returned quickly after some insect gave me a painful sting. The mosquitoes practically raped me and I didn't see a single person there either.
My host wanted to persuade me to go on a jungle tour on the Kinabatangan river for 3 days/2 nights, but I didn't have time for that anyway. Maybe better that way, who knows what the insects would have done to me.
Getting back to Sandakan
Later I visited the botanical garden and had problems to get back to the Sandakan. Supposedly a bus was supposed to go back there, but I waited over 1 hour for nothing. I had to walk more than 30 minutes to the highway to take the bus from there. In the small bus with Boney M music in the background there were lots of German travellers. You can find them in every corner of the world. The bus took me to the center of Sandakan, which is not very interesting.
My host Gordon - an inspiring personality
The next day I left Sandakan for Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the state of Sabah. My host Gordon brought me to the bus station and even gave me food for the trip on the way and paid for everything.
Gordon is indeed an inspiring personality. He speaks five 5 languages and works as a manager in a bank, but lives modestly in a small house on the outskirts of the city and spends most of his money on travelling to faraway countries. He believes that if he does something good for others, others will do it for him.
