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We saw elephants taking baths, a Great Hornbill in a cage, played with monkeys and watched orangutans up close, but never had to hire a jeep, pay a steep fee or enter a big distant game park.

Sarawak is one of Malaysia’s largest provinces, it was part of the sultanate of Brunei back in the 1840s, before James Brooks did the sultan a favor and subdued the headhunters who were killing eachother. He was rewarded with this huge tract of thousands of square miles, today composing the top of the island of Borneo.

Borneo and Sumatra are the only places on earth where Orangutans live, and today they are an endangered species due to habitat loss and predators, like man. These gentle creatures, with 96 percent of the same DNA as humans, live in nests perched in trees dozens of meters high, and swing from limb to limb. A solitary animal, they live on roots and fruits and take many years to reproduce.

The sanctuary rehabilitates many orangutans found injured in the wild, and runs a captive breeding program to try and restore their dwindling numbers.READ MORE