LABUK BAY - SANDAKAN

Labuk Bay Proboscis Sanctuary is located about 40 minutes from Sandakan town. It was my first time to this place inspite of many visits to Sandakan in the past.  

Traffic was heavy that morning, It took me more than 40 minutes to get there.

The drive took us through Oil Palm plantations which made me wonder if we were in the right direction.

A few more kilometers to go from this junction to the feeding area. For foreign visitors, the entrance fee is RM60 per person while it's RM20 for Malaysian.  

 The entrance to the "feeding area".

 Anxiously waiting for the feeding time. 

The proboscis monkey is endemic to the island of Borneo and can be found mosttly around  the coastal areas and along the rivers. In Borneo, many people call them "Monyet belanda" meaning Dutch monkey or even "Orang belanda" ("Dutchman") because they have big bellies and noses like the Dutch Colonizers. 

Feeding time on the platform.

This Silver Leaf was so used to people, it came over to the viewing platform to get it's favourite long beans from the feeder. 

On our way back, we saw an interesting old fashion mode of transportation - a wooden trolley pulled by a water buffalo.  

To many visitors, it may be good that they can get a very close view of the Proboscis monkeys. However, in my opinion, it is just not right to feed these monkeys with breads, vegetables and others farm produce. Since they are so close and dependent on human, there is a danger that they may not survive once they are abandoned. I still prefer to go for the river cruise in Klias or Sukau to see those in the wild.