W e were so lucky…getting up early allowed us to have the river to ourselves and the jetty at camp leakey. We were just the first of many to arrive, but we didnt realise that until later. We moored across the river from the jetty. Our joy and amazement knew no bounds….

There is a family that lives near the jetty….



They seemed relaxed and unbothered by our interest in them. It rained a couple of times while we waited for the 2:00 feeding to come around and they would disappear up into the trees, pulling branches over themselves to avoid getting wet.
Bu cathy and I headed off before the crowds, which did arrive in the interim. The boardwalk was easy to walk on as we passed through a small patch of swamp forest


We arrived at the camp leakey headquarters


We spent sometime reading and looking at the valuable information that was there for visitors. It is primarily a research centre.
After ourguide( everyone has to have one) registered us, we headed off again down the track through another bit of forest and then out onto a quite sandy and open piece of country where we encountered more of our friends 🙂


In the middle of the track. This female orangutan it seems, has a habit of biting guests so we kept our distance and stayed alert…..they too were off to the feeding station.

And there to greet us was the alpha male. We were left in little doubt about that. He was enormous, with a mouthful of very sharp teeth and a roar on him that reverberated through the forest. RESPECT you bet!

In awe…





We gazed and gazed. A truly special experience ..