97% human

With visitors in town, we have renewed our quest for finding local adventure. A friend recommended checking out the orang utans at Bukit Merah, just a half-hour drive from George Town. The prospect of getting to see these endangered great apes up close was irresistible. Off we went over the Penang Bridge and south on the E1 highway.

To our surprise, we found ourselves in the midst of a low key water park resort set on one of Malaysia’s largest freshwater lakes. We skipped the tacky bit and hopped a little ferryboat to the island that serves as the home for rescued orang utans.

Stepping off the boat, we were delighted to find the dominant male happily lounging in the shade and munching away on lunch right by the protected walkway for visitors. His mate, the dominant female, was sitting with him trying to eat her share before he stole it away. 


They were both huge, and so humanlike in their faces, hands and mannerisms. Downloading the photos later, even the iPhoto program was fooled, asking us to name their faces! 

We then explored the nursery and play area for the baby and teenage orang utans. The babies were utterly adorable, safely pinned into diapers and gumming the wooden crib. Like most toddlers, they didn’t look like mischievous little munchkins looking for an opportunity to be naughty at all. Oh no, totally innocent were these babes!