Semenggoh Nature Reserve

Interact with a wild orang utan and be back at your hotel in time for lunch. You can do that at Semenggoh, but why we be in such a hurry? After the orang utan feeding time, there is so much more to see. Semenggoh’s main attraction for visitors is its Wildlife Centre, where endangered species, once kept illegally as pets, are trained on how to fend for themselves before being released into the forest. Over the years, a number of orang utans have been trained and released and now form a wild colony in the reserve. Wild they may be, but their training has made them used to humans and routines. It has also taught them to watch out for the caretaker bringing out food every morning. As regular as clockwork, the orangutans swing down from the trees for a free handout of fruit. It is one of the few places in the world where humans can interact with their shy jungle cousins. However, when food are plenty in the forest during fruiting season, they might not come down for the handouts at all.

Just 20 kilometres south of Kuching, the reserve has its own rare flora and fauna including the giant squirrel, pigmy squirrel and splendid variety of birds. In the morning, you can hear the howling of gibbons, which, like the orang utans, have been rehabilitated and released in the forest. Trekking trails make Semenggoh an ideal place for exercisers, wildlife photographers and nature lovers.