18th July - Sandakan - Sepilok -orangutans - sunbears - Rainforest Centre

Friday 18^th July

An early morning fishingboat whizzing past 2XS 

Yesterday we had an action-packed Sandakan day while John and Catherine flew all the long weary miles from Hobart, via KL.  They had breakfast at 4.30am and when we finally met up with them they were sitting in the yacht club, sharing a box of Pringles… No other food available…kitchen closed…They have recovered remarkably well.  After a short rest on board 2XS, lying in a cool(ish) breezed on the deck, they perked up and walked down to the waterfront for dinner, and then slept very well all night long in spite of the heat and the wind rattling the tarpaulin above their hatch.

Catherine and John

I am sitting in the yacht club while they have gone off shopping in the markets.  It has been very pleasant but I haven’t been alone… Many of our friends have been sharing my table, full of chat.  I actually have learned two very important things, from dear Janice (SV Zoa.)  I can now put photos from my computer onto facebook – before I could only do it from my iPhone – and she also showed me how to put waypoints onto the Navionics charts on my iPad.  This will, I hope, make me a whole lot more useful on 2XS…(and yes this would be A Good Thing.  I have visions of saying, casually, to Pete, Oh yes, if you need to know…there are several suggested anchorages within ten miles of here.  One has a sandy bottom and good holding in SW winds but there is a strong current.  The other is muddy and holds well but…blahblahblah – won’t he be impressed???  There is a lot of work to be done between now and this mythical hypothetical conversation, mind you.  Much research, much chart plotting)

More of downtown Sandakan

I met up with John, Catherine and Pete for lunch.  They had been VERY good for the local economy!  John liked the chilli sauce in our favourite little Chinese lunch restaurant that he bought a bottle of their chilli sauce.  They were thrilled to bits!

Chee joined us - he is taking us out to a rooftop restaurant tonight

Catherine has had her first swim..the pool at the marina is mostly ablaze with sunshine but this afternoon there is a bit of shade - bliss!

So…yesterday.  Sazli (Sail Malaysia)had organised a bus to take 30 of us to various touristy centres around Sandakan.  First stop –the original orangutan sanctuary, Sepilok.  It was very pretty and jungly, but…we didn’t get as good a view of the orangutans as we did in Sarawak, and we didn’t have Big Ritchie, the impressive alpha male, glowering at us from the platform.

But we did have a guest appearance by a most delightful green lizard!

We didn’t have time to visit the sunbear rehabilitation centre, at the other end of this park, but we did see a very nice videofilm, in a cool breezy room.

So sad…sunbear cubs are excessively cute, so they are in great demand as pets.  Not for very long… They are the smallest bears in the world but they are very agile, active, and quite aggressive, with long sharp claws.  There are many of them living lives of abject misery; I won’t go into details but thank God for sanctuaries like this one, where they are rehabilitated and given a happy life.

A big-leafed vine

Next stop, not far away, was the Rainforest Centre, with a very long high canopy skywalk.  Just beautiful. 

A small-leafed vine

I was a bit disappointed not to see dozens of birds, and maybe a monkey or two.  And then, at the very end of the skywalk, before we had to turn back, Pete spied rustling in the branches.  Monkeys!

And within seconds, a hornbill.

And another one; mostly black – we had never seen one like this.

We were HappyCampers!

Unfortunately John and Catherine arrived one day too late for our Sandakan rally dinner.  Such a shame; I am sure they would have been able to contribute mightily to the karaoke session!  We yachties were all mightily inhibited and reluctant to perform; Malaysians, on the other hand, LOVE karaoke.  The commodore of the yacht club sang many songs, as did his wife.  They put us to shame… Dave and Jacqui bravely got up to represent the UK with a boppy version of Summer (Sailing) Holiday.  And the Australian contingent got up and sang a rousing version of Waltzing Matilda, a cappella.  There was delicious food, and much dancing.  A good night.

The Brave Brits, Dave and Jacqui!

Especially good because I got second prize in one of the categories of the photo competition.  I was THRILLED TO BITS.  

#2!!!

The prizes were all very useful (well done Sazli!)  Soap, insect repellent, shampoo, that sort of thing.  Not melty chocolate or cluttery knickknacks.  Good thing he didn’t go shopping at Pretty Tinky Wingky, in the nearby mall!

We sat next to George and Lies, the only Dutch on this rally.  They are most admirable sailors, on their beautiful big catamaran, Isis.  It is, I think 53’ long (2XS is 46.)  All of the other yachties are deeply impressed to see the way George manoeuvers this very big long, wide boat in and out of tight marina spaces, as if it were no bigger than a VW beetle.  I tried to persuade them to represent Holland in karaoke; this suggestion was not well received.  Mind you none of us were keen to rush up to the stage to sing My Way

Lies and George

Speaking of The Dutch…I have been very worried about my father, about to turn 90 this October.  He had a large melanoma removed from his shoulder yesterday, under full anaesthetic, and he has to stay in hospital for five days.  No laughing matter!  Nicky knew how worried I was so she sent me photos of Dad two HOURS after the op…

WINNER!