Our Borneo Orangutan Tour Blog will help you find one of the worlds most endangered ape. The beautiful Borneo Orangutan has had its home destroyed due to deforestation and the demand for palm oil increasing. The destruction unfortunately kills a lot of Orangutans, which results in orphaned babies not having anyone to look after them. This is where the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Borneo step in. Located in Sepilok, the jungle is protected land at the edge of Kabili Sepilok Forest Reserve, which has been turned into a rehabilitation site for Orangutans. 🐵
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Where can you see Borneo Orangutan
This sanctuary is in Sepilok, which is in the Western part of Malaysia Borneo. To reach here you will need to fly into Sadakan airport. From the airport, it is a short taxi drive to the sanctuary. We suggest staying at Sepilok Jungle Resort, which is next door to the rehabilitation centre. As this accommodation is so close, you can walk straight into the sanctuary without needing to book a tour.
What Is The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre
Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre is in the Malaysian Sabah District of North Borneo. The centre was founded in 1964, to rehabilitate orphan Orangutans. The site is 43 sq km of protected land at the edge of Kabili Sepilok Forest Reserve. Today around 60 to 80 Orangutans are living free in the reserve. There are no fences or cages, the Orangutans are free to come and go as they please.
In the wild baby Orangutan’s would normally stay with their mother until they are 6-7 years old. The volunteers teach them basic skills that they would have learnt from their mothers, to survive in the wild. Once the babies are strong enough, they are paired with a slightly older ape, in a buddy system. The buddy teaches them which plants they can eat and which they can’t. They can roam into the jungle and come back to the feeding platform if they want. Some never come back, some only come back when they have babies of their own.
Read more about exploring the North of Borneo in Sabah
Baby Orangutan 🐵
The most amazing element of our experience in Borneo was seeing the baby Orangutans. When we arrived at the sanctuary we were expecting the babies to be kept inside or in cages, but we were very wrong. The babies can roam the jungle and only come to the feeding platform twice a day. They often play around in the outdoor nursery and we did spend a few hours watching them play. It was amazing to see the freedom they clearly have here. Not only could we see each one’s different personality, but we saw that the volunteers are extremely professional with them. To reduce sickness in the baby Orangutans, they are taught to stay off the ground. At night, the smaller babies are taken inside as they can’t make nests yet.
We watched the volunteers slowly and kindly help them inside. They did not force the apes and it was so sweet to watch a baby try and trick the staff in giving them his hand and pulling it away. It made us want to adopt one so badly! Read how you can adopt a baby Orangutan here, to help these beautiful animals.
Borneo Orangutan Tour – Our Experience Seeing Wild Orangutan’s
A short walk from our accommodation, Sepilok Jungle Resort, we walked into the Orangutan Sanctuary. The entrance fee cost us $14 and they provided a free locker for our bags. For the safety of the Orangutans and us, they do not let you carry anything into the sanctuary except your camera.
We highly recommend completing a Borneo Orangutan Tour yourself rather than paying a separate tour company to take you into the jungle.
How ever if you are looking for a Borneo Orangutan Tour which includes seeing other wildlife, over a period of a few days. Then we would recommend booking a tour with Borneo Eco Tours.
First Feeding Time
We walked around the path into the jungle for the first feeding in the outside nursery. There is a small indoor seating area, which you can wait and see if some babies come to eat. The glass is one-way so the babies will not be spooked by everyone watching them.
Several babies came and played with one another and it was amazing to sit and watch them. After we were done watching, we walked around the sanctuary to the main feeding platform. While we were walking there a huge Orangutan walked straight passed us along the walk way. The rangers are always around making sure they are safe and that the public keep a safe distance. They advised us to keep walking as this Orangutan was very playful. This is when we were told they are 4x stronger than us and couldn’t probably pull our arms out the socket if they wanted !
We watched them from a far and saw lots of Orangutans swinging in the trees above. There was quite a lot of tourists around and it was slightly hard to get a good view of the closet Orangutans. We had read online that the second feeding time, in the afternoon, is less busy so we decided to head to lunch.
Lunch time
We headed down the road to Sepilok Nature Resort for some delicious lunch and relaxed around the lake. This hotel is next to the sanctuary and to prove that the Orangutans are wild, this is what they posted on their social media!
Image from Sepilok Nature Resort Instagram
Second Feeding Time
After lunch we headed back into the sanctuary to get a glimpse of the second feeding time. This occasion there were much less people and we got a much better view of the apes. We stood just before the platform and two Orangutans walked right passed us and stopped to play. It was the most incredible thing being this close to these beautiful creatures. This moment was what we had only dreamed of and we were squeezing each others arms in excitement.
When heading back to Kuala Lumpur, check out our 1 day itinerary
How you can help the Borneo Orangutan
There are two main ways you can help these animals. If you wish to make a donation to the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, check out their donation page here. Another way of helping is to adopt a baby Orangutan at the centre. To adopt a baby, check out their adoption program here.
Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre Travel Information
Opening times:
09:00 to 11:00
and
14:00 to 15:30
Feeding times:
10:00 + 15:00
The centre is closed for lunch from 12:00 to 14:00.
Tickets are valid for the whole day.
Where to stay to see Wild Borneo Orangutan
Sepilok Jungle Resort $. It is a very basic accomodation but absolutely perfect for seeing the Orangutans + Sunbears. We had a large room with great wifi. The decor was slightly outdated but we only stayed for one night so it was perfect for what we needed.
↠📍Location | Trip Advisor Reviews
Sepilok Nature Resort $$$. Slightly more of a luxury resort, this accomodation is beautiful. Located a 5 minute walk from the Orangutans + Sunbears, that is to say it makes it a great choice for you to stay.
↠📍Location | Trip Advisor Reviews
To get all the best deal and up to date prices for accommodation in Sepilok click here.
Where To Eat In Sepilok
The Lake Bistro and Bar is inside Sepilok Nature Resort and open to the public. The food was great and the decor is beautiful
↠📍 Location | Trip Advisor Reviews
Banana Cafe is inside Sepilok Jungle Resort and open to the public. Submerged in the jungle its got a great vibe to the place. The food is good and very cheap! Just be careful of mosquitoes as it is right on the water.
↠📍 Location | Trip Advisor Reviews
How To Get To Sepilok, Sandakan
We would suggest flying from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan. The flight time is 40 minutes and is an easy transfer. From Sandakan airport, a taxi will take around 20 minutes to reach Sepilok.
Drive time from Kota Kinablu to Sepilok is 6 hours.
Borneo Orangutan Tour or Sumatra?
After doing some research we came to the decision to visit Borneo rather than Sumatra. We looked online at photos of each Orangutan sanctuary and noticed a lot of tourists touching and hugging the apes in Sumatra. As a result, we didn’t feel comfortable visiting that sanctuary. After that learning more about the Orangutans and realising how susceptible they are to disease, we are so happy we came to Sepilok Borneo. Most importantly, the rangers in Sepilok spend all their time making sure the apes are safe. They insure the public keep a safe distance and are on hand all day. To sum up our experience, we were convinced we had made the right decision.
Don’t get us wrong, there is nothing more we would wish for than to cuddle a baby Orangutan, but we are wise enough to know that isn’t the positive message we want to put across.
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