We had one day to enjoy the wonders of Sepilok and we didn’t waste a moment of it!

Hot off the car journey from the river, we left our bags at our hotel reception and walked to the orangutang rehabilitation centre.

The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre opened in 1964, as the first orangutang rehabilitation project for rescued orphaned baby orangutans from logging sites, plantations, illegal hunting or being kept as pets. The sanctuary covers 4,294 hectares of rainforest where the 60-80 orangutans can roam and the little ones learn to be orangutans!

Once you’ve paid for your entrance (which lasts all day) and left your bags (no food, drinks or bags allowed inside) in a locker, you follow a long wooden walkway through the jungle.

We had missed the morning feed at the outdoor nursery (where young orangutang aren’t ready to be released), but we’d made it in time for the morning feed at the platform… but so had many, many other people!

It was so hot waiting at the viewing spot; the heat of all the people pressed close together coupled with the heat of the day was pretty overbearing. We were very lucky though as two wild orangutang came to enjoy a bit of breakfast. Although the tourists obviously want to see wild orangutang up close, it’s a good thing to see none or a small number as it means that most of them have found their own food independently from the forest itself.

After seeing the wild orangutang, we headed to the nursery where we hoped we might see a few little ones. We were not disappointed, and we also didn’t just see little ones!

As we knew we would come back for the afternoon feeding (the centre closes between 12 and 2 for lunch), we didn’t stay too long but headed back along the walkway and out to the nearby Sunbear conservation centre.

The Bornean sunbear is the smallest bear in the world and is takes its name from the pale horseshoe shape on its chest, said to resemble the rising/setting sun. No two chest markings are the same, just like our fingerprints. Sunbears are at high risk of extinction in the wild due to habitat loss, commercial hunting (for their gall bladders and bear paws) and the pet trade (as the smallest bear in the world, the cubs are in high demand).

The Bornean Sunbear Conservation Centre is the only one of its kind in the world, founded in 2008. It’s mission is to promote conservation by rehabilitation, education and research. We were very moved by the videos and information boards at the centre – so many bears had such an awful start to life, but were on their way to successful release back into the wild.

Once we’d enjoyed the Sunbear centre, we popped in to the little onsite cafe for some lunch… lovely food and drinks but the serving of it was rather sporadic (Kate’s meal came after everyone else had finished eating and we had to ask three times for Sylvie’s extra chips!).

Just before 2pm, we went back to the orangutang centre to join the rest of the queues of people entering for the afternoon. This time, we went to the outdoor nursery area first thing to watch the young ones being fed.

It was wonderful to watch them play and interact with each other, so it was hard to pull ourselves away to see if any wild orangutang might come to the outdoor feeding platform, but we’re glad we did as we met this guy literally on the walkway…

Thankfully we did meet him as no wild ones came to the platform that afternoon… we waited for nearly half an hour but the fruity delights on the platform went instead to two large male pig-tailed macaques! Rather than wait any longer, we decided to go back to the nursery and just soak up the last orangutang viewing we could.

It was a great decision to go back to the nursery viewing area as it seemed that’s where all our hairy friends had gone… we loved watching them again. Big daddy even turned up again and had a fight with one of the babies – what a racket!

We were one of the last groups to be ushered out of the viewing area at 4pm when the centre closed – we could’ve stayed all evening. Back along the walkway we went, enjoying the sights and sounds of the jungle.

With wildlife-viewing over, we walked back to our hotel, checked in and went to our room – desperate to throw on our swimming cozzies and jump in the pool. Truth be told at this point Sylvie had a bit of a moment – she just got overwhelmed with tiredness and the heat and it all became a bit too much. She took it in her stride though, gave herself 5 minutes, and agreed to get into her swimming costume. As soon as she was ready Martin headed off for a run, while Kate took the kids for a swim. Turns out a body of cool water is the perfect tonic!

We even saw our friendly orangutang from the poolside – she was having a lovely time roaming through the trees above us.

Yet again, we were the last to leave when the pool closed – it was the first time we’d felt cool and fresh for days! Back to our rooms for a shower and a bag repack, and then we headed to The Banana Cafe for supper.

With bodies refuelled and thirsts quenched, we enjoyed a bit of chill time in the cafe with an ice cream and then it was off to bed!

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Now it’s time to leave the sweat-inducing wildlife-haven that is Malaysian Borneo. We have loved every minute of being on your shores – from beaches to jungles, from turtles to sunbears – thank you.

Two flights today, one back to KL and then on to Indonesia! Bali here we come!