Rainforest Discovery Centre:

The evning was clear and still, offering great reflections.

We ended up with a day to wait for the opportunity to do an overnight trip to the turtle island Selingan. Rather than spend time in town, which is over 14 km away we decided to spend most of the day in the Rainforest Discovery Centre. It is a 20 minute walk from the Sepilok Jungle Resort and has a range of paths and displays that make it a great place to view the rainforest. 

This spider was hanging out in a shelter where we waited out a shower of rain.

On our first afternoon we had walked here to see what it was about. We had found the canopy walkway which would be one of the best we have been on. The birdlife around here is amazing, binoculars would make them easier to identify. All the same a great place to wander. We also enjoyed exploring some of the many paths. But we only managed to cover a small area because it got dark on us, so we were keen to go back. There is an entry fee, we managed to get in as a local because we could produce our i-passes to show that we lived and worked in Malaysia. RM 14.00 including the camera fees. I think it would RM 28.00 for tourists actually a pretty good considering you can stay as long as you like.

The giant of Sepilok, this tree was spectacular.

First stop of the day was to view the spice gardens and orchids. Not many orchids were in flower, however those that were blooming were quite beautiful.

An interesting spider waiting for dinner.

We walked along the jungle pathways, which once again were like roads with a number wooden walkways. Eventually we found our way to a shelter just as it started to rain. So we spent an unplanned hour relaxing in the shelter enjoying the views and the rain. We did find a colourful spider hanging out on it’s web which helped us fill in the time. Once the rain stopped we found our way up on to the canopy walk and made our way to the café for lunch. In the middle of the rainforest is a great little café that serves fried rice drinks and even chocolate cake. While we sat there enjoying the lunch we noticed a brightly coloured bird up in a high tree. It was quite unlike other birds that we had seen. Later we found out it was a Pita. It was out of the range of a clear photo for our camera.

Ruth demonstrates the size of the buttress roots on this enormous tree.

Once we were fed we decided that we should make our way to the Sepilok Giant. This seemed as though it would be a bit of a trek. What we had not thought about was that after the rain there would be leeches out looking for blood. We went about 50 meters into the forest the first leech jumped on to my knee. He was quickly dealt to and Ruth was next to find one.  Both of us in shorts and sandles probably wasn’t too bright. We continued on regardless with regular spot checks on each other for leeches. This trail was more like benched tramping in NZ, except of course the tropical plants and insects. We enjoyed exploring the trail and finding a number of creatures. We found the Sepilok Giant which is a tree of similar size to the NZ Kauri, Tane Mahuta. It has enormous buttress roots which provide home to a number of bees nests. These are the stingless bees that often find humans in the jungle and like to drink their sweat. On one side we were standing and could hear the low hum of what must have been a mighty big bee’s nest below the tree. There did appear to be a number of very large trees within this part of the forest. Each one with a very large head, that makes one wonder just what animals were living high above the ground. All the way along this part of the track the forest was alive with the singing of cicadas and countless different birds.

A very colourful bird.

After a brief rest we carried on back to the canopy walk as it was getting later in the afternoon and we were hoping to see more birds getting ready to roost for the night. The canopy walk is wide enough for people to walk in both directions, or to stop and take photos. There are also a number of viewing platforms that give great vantage points for viewing out over the tops of trees. We did see the occasional hornbill winging its way  across the treetops. There are also three tall viewing towers that climb to the height of 26.5 metres. These are worth climbing up and sitting quietly on to view the life going on in the tree tops. We didn’t have binoculars so we were limited to what we could see with our own eyes. This would be a birdwatchers paradise. Before we knew it time had slipped by and we needed to make our way back to SJR. We had spent the whole day exploring the Rainforest Discovery Centre and would recommend it to other travellers to Sandakan.

I think this is a Pita, very colourful also very far away.