Sarawak Malaysia with Kids: Visiting the Orangutans

We had left the hotel at 7 am in order to be at the Semengoh Reserve by 8:30 to see the morning feedings and we were ready to head back to Kuching and Damai Beach to get some lunch. The walk into the forest to see the Orangutans had been good, but the kids were tired and starting to get hungry. We were on a group tour, so we had to wait for one more couple who had not yet returned to the van, when we heard some sounds in the distance. A bit of brush rustling and shifting and we saw her. She came out alone at first and gave us the once over. She looked back into the woods and out came her young child.



Seeing a wild Orangutan up this close was a rare treat, but we were also a bit unnerved. The guide recognized this Orangutan and said she had a habit of being a bit protective of her young children and that we should remain calm and non-threatening. Okay I thought, I am able to do that. Jeff, on the other hand started to call our kids, who were very interested in seeing her up close back to a safe distance.



She kind of hung out for a while, not doing much or going anywhere, just looking at us. After about 15 minutes she piled her babe up onto her back and she walked down the hill. It was about this time the last members of our group started to walk back up to the van, ironically, they had walked further into the woods in an attempt to catch the apes up close and we had stayed back because of the kids.

The Semengoh Orangutan Reserve is about a 45 minute drive from Kuching on the island of Borneo and is open most days with a long lunch on Fridays. It is a great opportunity to see some of Asia's native aninmals in the wild and in a protected environment. It is a fun and safe day trip from your hotel and a great way to show the kids some of the attempts to save this majestic creature.

Getting there: You can travel by taxi or hire a “guide” through your local hotel. We did the latter and included a stop at a Crocodile Farm (a post for another day for sure!) From what we have heard, Semengoh is much smaller than the Sepilok Reserve and the chances of seeing Orangutans tends to be less in Semengoh, but we lucked out that day.

Would we go back, you bet, now it is just a matter of planning the next trip!

This post is part of Photo Friday over at Delicious Baby. For more great photos check them out here.