semenggoh!

okay. gracious. i don't even know how to start this.

in fourth grade, we had a project where we had to make our favorite animal, using a shoebox as the base. for starters, i am not a crafty person. at all. and this was extremely apparent in fourth grade. that being said, i persevered and created a beautiful little orangutan. i wish my mom took pictures of it. i say beautiful, and i really mean "a box of fuzz."

orangutans have always been my favorite. they're just. so. adorable. i admire the way they bend and move and pick things up with whatever limb is closest - be it their feet or hands. SO OBVIOUSLY, when making my decision to accept a move to kuala lumpur, the fact that i would be one south china sea hop away from orangutans in their natural habitat was HIGH on the list.

semenggoh wildlife centre is one such place where conservation efforts are in place to keep the orangutans in their natural habitat. and, being that it was on the way between our longhouse and kuching, of COURSE we made the stop. we arrived right at the feeding time of 3:00, and all of the orangutans were out.



see the little piece of coconut gripped in this little one's foot? amazing.



this was 32-year-old mr. ritchie. named after a local reporter. he's a bit temperamental. in fact, at one point, when he was tired of eating here, he walked to the pathway which we were on. we were all then cornered into an area while he decided where he wanted to go. luckily, he wanted to go out on the path somewhere else, and not in the opposite direction toward us, as we had nowhere to hide from a moody orangutan!



so pensive.



such an interesting social interaction we saw, as well. this little one was clearly trying to sneak some food from behind mr. ritchie's back. apparently even the orangutans try to steer clear of him!



i just think they're beautiful



i believe this is at the point where we were walking back to the parking lot, and a group of people were stopped on the path. i asked meagan, "what are we stopping for?" only to have an american girl quickly retort "um, the orangutan above us." doh.



they're just graceful!



so fuzzy.



mr. ritchie thanks you for not smoking.



and i thought zip-lining while being hooked up was scary!



semenggoh is a pretty amazing place. we didn't explore any other parts of it, as we pretty strictly wanted to see the orangutans, but i believe they have a nature walk as well that is nice to see.

if i do nothing else while in malaysia, i'd consider it complete. i saw orangutans in their natural habitat. check.

Categories: animals, borneo, malaysia, orangutan, sarawak, touristy things