Day One - Arrival

Well I have arrived in Borneo, and it's all very surreal! I flew with Emirates to Dubai (around seven hours), then onwards to Kuala Lumpur (another seven) then a two and a half hour flight to Sandakan. Safe to say my emotions were a bit all over the place after leaving the UK behind, and little to no sleep along the way.

We were greeted at the airport by John – six of us arrived on the same flight, meaning we couldn't all fit in the car. So myself and another girl got in a taxi with a little Malaysian man whose driving was a bit all over the place! Although he wasn't alone. One ute drove past with a dad and his three children just sat in the tray at the back.

Our taxi was super old – and first impressions were how hot it was (as was to be expected). After around a half an hour drive he dropped us off at our accommodation for the next two months – the Sepilok Rest House. Here we met Mamma Watti – who has a stand selling food and drinks out on the roadside. She cut open a coconut for us to try.

The resthouse itself is quite nice. There is a kitchen area, fridge, dining table and indoor and outdoor seating. I have been placed in a triple room with two American girls – Carrie (my taxi buddy)and Melissa. We each have a bed with a mosquito net – and there is a bathroom in the room as well. It's fairly basic, and storage is limited, so we are still sorting out where to put all of our stuff!

Not long after we arrived, John drove us up to the Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre, where we will be working – it is only a few hundred metres down the road. We are able to get in for free as we are volunteers. First impression was how loud the surrounding jungle is – the noises of various insects is really intense. We headed along some really lengthy boardwalks to the feeding platform, as a feeding session was taking place at 3pm. That was my first time seeing an orangutan here, and it was pretty amazing. There were three on the platform.

We then headed to the outdoor nursery to see the juvenile orangutans. It was so hot we were sweating just walking along the boardwalk, but then the heavens opened – and it started to absolutely chuck it down with heavy rain. The orangutans made a run for cover, but one was just too slow, and was forced to sit there with his hands over his head, until he finally made a run for it too.

The staff locked us in the centre till the storm passed, which probably took a good 15-20 mins.

Then we headed back to the rest house to unpack and have dinner. The staff here provide three meals a day, and we were really surprised to find that we could each individually choose a meal from the menu – I assumed they would cook one big thing every night that we all share!

I had sweet and sour vegetarian rice, and it was very nice. There are little ants and bugs everywhere (and even a lizard) but I've only seen one mosquito so far. Still, mosquito nets are provided, so we decided to sleep with those anyway. The shower was an interesting one – the water pressure was literally just a dribble, not sure yet if we were just doing something wrong, but let's hope so.

Sleep was a bit restless – ironically it was freezing, the air conditioning was way too cold, and we only have a super thin blanket, so that was the problem. I was literally shivering, but didn't want to turn it off in case the other girls weren't cold! There are loads of jungle noises at night, which the other guys don't like much, but I find it kind of soothing.