Why go to the jungle if they can bring it to you – that’s pretty much the way things work here. The centre rehabilitates Orangutans and sends them back out into the wild and obviously makes a fair profit from tourists to supplement the cost of their work.
The centre has two features – the visitors post / reception area and the jungle boardwalk.
At the visitors post there’s a shop and some displays on the wildlife of the area. Information on the Orangutans is given in a small cinema where you are told about the natural landscapes they prefer and that much of the jungle is being decimated by industry near the centre. The film lasts about twenty minutes and if its busy then take some water in with you as it can get pretty hot in there.
The jungle boardwalk isnt very long and you reach the main viewing area after about five or ten minutes, take your time going along the walk and keep a good look out into the jungle on either side – you will be getting watched! The arrival of humans on the boardwalks is a signal to the animals that feeding time is approaching so you’ll see more if you wait behind a bus-tour group as they make enough noise to attract everything for miles around.
Once at the viewing platform be on the lookout for monkeys – they are anything but friendly, make sure your bags and pockets are all shut, don’t feed them nor even look straight at them, showing your teeth is a sign of aggression and they are more than ready to have a go at you if they reckon there’s a possibility of getting food. The guides tell of one tourist who ignored the warnings and taunted them – only to be left without her bags and most of her clothes ripped to shreds. The monkeys do however know they are onto a good thing and are used to having people around so you will get really close to them – or rather they will get really close to you.
The Orangutans will make their appearance – usually spotted by the noise and movement as they swing through the branches and you’ll find that the viewing area becomes surrounded as they sit in groups of two or three. Park rangers then turn up and pour out food onto a platform opposite the viewing area and all hell breaks loose, The Orangutans are fairly well behaved but the monkeys are hilarious in their antics as they try to steal the food, both the Orangutans and the park rangers run a constant if relaxed battle to keep them away, All this activity happens only a few feet in front of the viewing area making for a spectacular show.