The travel bug bit at the same time that Malaysia Airlines was advertising their Circle Asia air pass: roundtrip air between Los Angeles and Kuala Lumpur plus 21 days of consecutive travel to any or all of 21 qualifying cities in Asia. A great and cheap way to do some serious travel within Southeast Asia. It took a bit of planning, there were restrictions to work through and booking flights was a chore, but what a great chance to see major portions of the area for a damn cheap price.

So where to go? Well obviously the first stop for me was Kuala Lumpur (KL). Also on the agenda, Singapore, Phuket, Bangkok, and Kota Kinabalu. (KK) Huh? Yep, figuring out where and how long to take up my three weeks left me a bit short (or long, depending on how you look at it) so my final choice (though not final destination) was KK. And for no better reason than it being the best place to fly from to get to Sabah. And why would you want to go to Sabah, you ask? The Orangutans, dummy!

Malaysia’s Sabah state in Borneo is home to one of two dwindling natural habitats of these wonderful apes. The Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary outside of Sandakan offers visitors the opportunity to interact with these magnificent creatures. And if you have an extra 3 to 4 days to kill on a trip, what better way than to spend some time with some of our closest relatives. Or so I thought.

I departed from KL for the short flight to KK, with a day to see the local sights before flying on to Sabah (airline schedules, ya know?) With the exception of the Hotel Shangrila, and resting in the most comfortable hotel bed I’ve ever experienced in my life, KK was nothing to write home about. But then it was never meant to be anything more than a way station for me on my journey to play with the apes. Early the next morning I headed off to the airport for the 45 minute flight to Sandakan.

Now the main reason touri come to Kota Kinabalu is to climb the mountain (of the same name), the highest peak in SE Asia, and to take in the wondrous views from its summit. Not quite as athletically minded, I paid an extra $30 for a comfy first class seat on the flight to Sandakan and started my day gazing through the plane’s window at small tree covered islands rising from the turquoise waters of the Sulu Sea, and the mountain, with its myriad valleys draped in clouds as though a misty snow had gathered in each basin. We soared along its edges and I was treated to a picture perfect view of the summit, while peacefully sipping coffee from bone white china. My kind of Adventure Tourism!

The plane was three quarters full. Locals travelling home for the most part, with a decent mix of white folk, obviously all headed to the orangutan reserve. Upon landing, the locals were met by family and friends, the touri by large air conditioned buses and tour guides to shepherd them through the day . . . and then there was me. Fortunately there were also some taxis, and the driver was quite pleased with snagging a fare for the 23 km ride to the reserve. Had I signed on for the guided tour by bus, I could have got to know some touri from Germany. Instead, I made friends with a Malaysian cab driver who took great pride in pointing out the sights along the way (the local gas station, the local grocery store . . . not a lot of excitement on Sabah). He also booked himself for the return trip, and picked up his 12 year old son to join us for the trip back to the airport . . . a chance for the future cabbie to practice his English.

The beautiful, humid day that greeted me at the airport became a wet, humid day by the time we got to the reserve. And, like a dummy, for the one day jaunt, I’d not packed rain gear, an umbrella, or even a hat. Soaked, I sat through the Sanctuary video in a nicely air conditioned room (the movie is required before you are turned loose onto the trails) and then headed out with the masses for a 15 minute hike through the jungle to the feeding station.

And finally, the orangutans! They know the food will be there, and even have the times down pat. You know they are coming by the crashing noises the large males make as the herd thrashes its way through the trees to the feeding area. Now having a load of touri watch them dine is not an unusual occurrence to the apes, so they take it all pretty nonchalantly. In fact, they do as much observing as do the humans. On raised wooden platforms (us not them) we watched while they established the pecking order for the milk and banana breakfast. In the trees and playing on the ropes (them, not us) they watched fifty humans stand in the pouring rain with smiles on their faces. Now who do you think learned more about the other species?

Oh, the interaction between the humans and the apes? That was it . . . looking at each other. Took three days, six hours of flying and two hours of driving to spend about a half an hour in the rain with these guys. Was it worth it? Yep, and I’d go do it again. And probably will.