Thursday, May 01, 2008

Rasa Ria Orangutans

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Gemma and Angus getting ready to hop on the bus.

Yesterday the kids and I headed over to the Rasa Ria Resort to check out the Nature Reserve located inside the resort. Little did I know that we could actually bring our swimsuits along and enjoy the swimming pool and other activities at this beautiful resort. I ended up having to buy Gemma a swimsuit and watch the kids from the edge of the pool. I was able to take some great pictures of them though, so it was definitely worth forgetting my bikini. Here are some pictures of our day.

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When we arrived there was a man playing this musical instrument. As you can see a couple of the kids (of course Angus was one of them) tried to accompany him on his song.

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Angus spotted a sprinkler. As you can tell by his grin, he wanted to run through it!

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Angus enjoying the pool.

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Angus enjoyed the pool a little too much and ended up in this chair for a little break from the pool.

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Gemma loved the pool and her new suit!

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We met another family who was also staying at our hotel. They have four kids, twin boys and twin boy and girl! Here the kids are with the two boys in front of the Nature Reserve.

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The tour of the Nature Reserve was quite quick. We just walked up to one of the feeding stations to watch the ranger feed the Orangutans. We could stay as long as we wanted and snap pictures. They were quite active, but I only got a few great pictures.

Here is a little information about Orangutans I found from the Nature Reserve's website:

Orangutans (from the Malay phrase Orangutan, 'man of the forest') live in Southeast Asia, on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. 10,000 years ago, Orangutans ranged as far north as China, and as far south as Java in Indonesia. Now they are only present on the islands of Borneo (estimated population: 22,000) and Sumatra (estimated population: 5,000).

Why are they endangered?
The greatest threats to Orangutans is habitat loss due to mechanized logging. Agriculture is the most obvious threat presently facing Orangutan populations. In addition, Orangutans have a slow reproductive rate: female Orangutans have only one baby every 7 to 8 years.

What can be done to help?
Rehabilitation Centres, such as those in Sepilok, have been set up to accommodate confiscated pet Orangutans. The aim of the rehabilitation centre is to guide the young Orangutans through their development and ultimately return them to the forest.

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Gemma and Angus were definitely more interested in the other kids. Gemma's new nickname should be the Baby Whisperer. The baby twins absolutely loved her!

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Another happy Orangutan, climbing trees.

After another dip in the pool and lunch for Jonny who met us for the tour of the Nature Reserve, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the dinner at the Sunset Bar along with a Traditional Malaysian Dance performance.

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Angus with other musician in the lobby of our hotel on the way to dinner.

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At dinner with the family. Gemma just couldn't keep her eyes open for the pictures.

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Here comes the dancers!

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Gemma loved it!

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Gemma coming back over to us after the performance. Unfortunately the weather got bad with high winds and then rain, so the performance was cut short. We did really enjoy ourselves and had a ton of yummy food.

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