Semenggoh Wildlife Centre

The wardens at Semenggoh Nature Reserve have been training young orangutans, who had been orphaned or rescued from captivity, how to survive in the wild. The success of this programme has left the surrounding forest reserve with a thriving population of healthy adolescent and young adult orangutans, who are now breeding in the wild. The programme has since been transferred to Matang Wildlife Centre, but Semenggoh Nature Reserve is still home to its successful graduates, semi-wild orangutans and their babies. They spend most of their time roaming the forest but frequently come back to the Centre for a free meal. If it is the fruiting season in the forest, some or even all of them may not come to feed. This in itself is a good sign and another step on the way to full rehabilitation.

Serian

Serian town is one of the busiest towns especially during festive seasons. Stores and shops are packed by mainly Bidayuh returning home from Peninsula Malaysia, Singapore or oversee or major towns on Gawai and Christmas holidays. Tour groups heading for the Batang Ai areas often stop here. The main attraction is an excellent farmers’ market selling all manner of fruit, vegetables and forest produce, and a thriving fish market. If you are lucky you will also see live sago worms, a favourite local delicacy, offered for sale.

Our main destination this time was Batang Ai, to visit the Iban community at the Mengkak Longhouse / Ukom Longhouse located at the mouth of Sungai Engkari. The Ibans form the largest percentage of Sarawak’s population. In days of yore, they were reputedly the most formidable headhunters on the island of Borneo. Ibans today are friendly and hospitable. They are renowned for their traditional weavings such as the Pua Kumbu, woodcarvings, beadworks and silver craftings. Longhouses are built on stilts about a metre above the ground. As the name suggests, Borneo longhouses are long and narrow consisting of several rooms. Each family occupies a room. One longhouse typically accommodates between 20 and 50 families. There’s a large communal living space, between the balcony and bedrooms, known as the ruai, running down one side, and separate living quarters for each family along the other side. The ruai is the place where the longhouse folks gather for an evening chat or carry out activities like making handicrafts and farming apparatus.

I guess, the fascination for this exotic destination also stems from interesting stories about the headhunters of Borneo. Images from National Geographic or Discovery Channel showing small dark people with tattooed bodies donning fancy headdresses of exotic bird feathers must have also fuelled the curiosity of our foreign visitors.