Simon at Sepilok

It started REALLY well with the news that Sogo has just had the last of her course of injections and is doing really well now. They are hopeful that she will be well enough to come out of quarantine and back to her usual home in the next couple of days.
Sogo - you gave us all a really big scare, but well done on battling through it. I can't wait to give you a big hug when you are back out!

Outdoor Nursery was excellent, with many of the orangutans playing nearby so after doing the chores we could sit and watch for a while:



Once we had finished over there we also spent a little bit of time at the feeding platform watching the expectant guests and the hungry orangutans start to arrive...
...but Sulima appeared to have already eaten at KFC - finger licking good, eh girl??!!...

Vicky had her first leech today, this time i managed to get a photo before we returned it by airmail to the bushes... :-)

Before too long we were heading back to the Indoor Nursery to help with exercise for the young ones.

Today i took out Annekara who is happy to amuse herself in the trees most of the time. She is one of the better climbers, in fact she if she was human she would easily find work as a stuntwoman in Hollywood - she is totally fearless and uses branches half as thick as she should probably use to crash from A to B.

Poor Kath was the main victim of Merudu's golden shower today, although she of course saved a brief burst for me later in the session (Merudu I mean, not Kath...) to keep up up her near perfect record of using me as a urinal 5 times in 6 visits!

After lunch it was the turn of the older ones to go out for exercise. But first Vicky and I had to give Nonong a well overdue bath. The others had already taken out the bigger OUs by the time we had finished drying her, so we were asked to take out little Reto instead for some fresh air. Oh what a hardship! Especially as we had to first put her in a baby Pampers and a very cute little t-shirt...

The other volunteers were all deperate to have a cuddle with her when we joined up with them later of course!

Late this afternoon Gabili's machete production line finished making gleaming new blades for both Vicky and I. We should be able to use them in our final work placement when we do our Jungle Trekking work starting next week. Mine is engraved on the wooden sheath with "~Simon~ Sepilok 2006", so will be a great reminder of our time here. I doubt if the local constabulary in Brighton would appreciate me carrying it around town, but it will be very useful next time i go trekking through the wilds of Ashdown Forest...

After work Nick and I started the roof supports for the new play area. Work was progressing smoothly until we broke our 2nd hammer in just three days - they just don't make 'em like they used to!
People now tell us our masterpiece of construction is looking more like a bus shelter than a goalpost, which is progress of sorts i guess...??!!

Today the Sepilok Orangutan Appeal's primatologist has finally returned from the UK after renewing her work visa. The Ranger staff here have been waiting for several weeks for Sheena to return so that they can release the bottleneck of orangutans and she can start to study the progress of 7 of the older orangutans in Quarantine and Indoor Nursery as they make their transition to the Outdoor Nursery and onwards out into the wild. This time she is being accompanied for 6 months by a former Travellers volunteer Kirsty who did her placement here last year. What a great job to have....
Hmmmm, that give me an idea....
I wonder......
Just kidding....!!!!