The little ones that were't allowed out yesterday were given cardboard boxes to play with overnight – and most of them, with the exception of Koko, had completely destroyed their boxes by the morning. So that, combined with the fact two of the babies had diarrhoea overnight, meant there was quite a lot of mess to clean up today. While having his milk this morning, Sepilok decided to reach through and hold my arm, then proceeded to feel one of the moles on my arm, before deciding to use his nail to see if he could scrape it off! Alagu took forever to drink her milk, and Boogie Boy had slipped into the room when we weren't looking. He proceeded to run over to Alagu's cage, where she obligingly tipped her milk into his mouth, before he tried to swipe the bottle. Luckily, I just beat him to it!

It felt like it took us a lot longer than usual to clean. No one was allowed out for climbing this morning, to prevent any further lowering of their immune systems. But instead, we got the opportunity to wash Ospie and Maohun – as they have both been ill. They are too cute, definitely a highlight of the experience. We popped them in an outside sink and squirted some soap on them and lathered it up, before rinsing it off with warm water, trying to avoid their eyes and ears. I was largely responsible for holding Maohun, who it turns out is not a fan of a bath. He was constantly biting my hands, but thankfully he is too small for it to really have any impact, although he is still strong, and was doing his best to squirm away. I can't really describe what it is like to wash a baby orangutan, rather like a human baby I guess, with a lot more resistance (and hair). Afterwards we towel dried him, a process he was much more comfortable with. They are just constantly looking around and observing.
As we walked back to the resthouse at the end of our shift, something landed on Steph, which gave her flashbacks to when a big green bug had landed on her neck the night before. She performed the most epic move, weaving off to the side and nearly dropping her water bottle in the process. And it turned out to be a leaf! We all had such a good chuckle! In the afternoon, Mimi paid us a visit, and kept a watchful eye on everything, although thankfully Yokmil wasn't in tow. She is quite a scary orangutan – observing everyone all the time with a menacing look. Ibri shut the door to the milk room in case she tried anything, and we had to keep a close eye on her when transporting the fruit from the food storage.

Everyone went out to play (except the sick ones) and Koko was a particularly stroppy miss today. She just kept trying to come back – and when Ibri sent her out again she would squeal so loud it felt like she could have broken the sound barrier. Then she would cry for so long she'd have to take a massive breath, which sounded like a deep snort. She repeated this process for what felt like a good ten minutes. Just like children, some of them are inclined to chuck tantrums when they don't get their way. Sepilok was also being difficult as usual, so Steph and I tried to take him to the naughty tree, but he was having none of it! He was gripping on so tight to us both, and occasionally stepping down onto the muddy ground, so our trousers ended up covered in dirt! Jeremy was working in the clinic today and fed Chinta, who is poorly, so she's in an outdoor cage. But she was throwing her food straight down from the hammock, where she was sitting, to the floor. Matimus, who was very conveniently placed underneath, kept reaching her hands up through the bars to collect it all. She is three months pregnant and quite big already, so they think maybe she is carrying twins.