Thursday 5th April 2012 - Penang

So today I learnt that I really need to stop going with things and stop and think first!!!! Lastnight when I was walking around the night market I was also stopping at tour companies to get prices for things to do today. I saw one tour that stuck out to me - orang utan island, an Eco park and a waterpark. It was advertised for rm80 but required a minimum of 3 people - the company only had me so me on my own would have to pay rm250. I was firm despite wanted to do the tour and said that rm250 was too much. So this morning I left my room early adamant to find my own way around Penang. I stopped at a tour company and asked for a map which laid out all the other places of interest. I started walking in the direction of the butterfly farm and was then harassed by a group of can drivers. I asked them how far the butterfly farm was (I had previously asked others and was told the same figure) - it was 8km away and the local bus would still require me to walk 2km. I asked the cab drivers how much they would charge me. They said rm20. I walked away saying no it was too expensive but then one of them walked with me and said he would give it to me for rm15. I said ok and got in the car. We were driving towards the butterfly gardens and I thought I would just ask this guy how much it was to go to orang utan island. He told me rm250 and pulled out photos he had taken from going there previously - it looked amazing! I immediately said "let's go there instead!" That's actually a crazy amount of money - it didn't include entrance fee either. Also it was only for an hour and a half drive and it wasn't until after I agreed that I thought, hmmm that's ridiculous. I had paid only rm110 to go 10hours from penang and was now paying more than double for a lot less time!!! He did say he would show me around though and drive me back but it just was not needed. The place does not require a guide as it is guided by loads of people there and everything was in one place because it was a big complex. Also in the car coming back i found out i could have hired his car for the whole day for rm120 or better still a scooter for a hell of a lot less. Ah well.  The first stop was the orang utan island. Orang utan island is a research, rehabilitation and conservation area for Orang utans - although it upset me to hear that they were not originally found on this island, instead they were brought over from Borneo.  First we went into a cage type thing which allowed us to look out onto the large open space where the adult orang utans were, and a mum with her baby. They were such characters - they came up towards where everyone was standing one by one, posed for some pictures, and then walked away. It really was beautiful but what upset me was that although they seemed happy, there was an electric fence around their enclosure. I do not agree with that at all. Although none of them were silly enough to touch it, they obviously have at one point to know not to touch it. The park wardens said it was for their safety so that they didnt go where they are not supposed to go but I'm sure there are more humane techniques.  Next we walked over the the nursery where they kept the babies until they were able to be released to the large enclosure. The first base in the nursery was a glass room where there were two babies with nappies on. They were so adorable! I watched them for ages. One of them seemed like it was having a temper tantrum; throwing itself on the floor and then dragging itself along the floor on its stomach. To be honest, they seemed fed up in this glass room and as lovely as it was for me to watch, I couldn't help but feel like they shouldn't be in there. One of them was an orphan as it's mum died while giving birth and the other was rejected by its mother. I guess this was to ensure they survived.  The next stop in the nursery was the different stages that each baby orang utan has to go through before deemed ready for the big pen. The first was the climbing area. It was an area with different things for the babies to climb to get them used to it.  There were no orang utans in there. There were two orang utans in the next section - I am not entirely sure what this section was for! The pens had glass windows so gave you the opportunity to see the monkeys up close and personal. One of them was even pulling faces on the glass - it squashed it's lips onto the window and was blowing - I couldn't stop laughing. Again, I did feel that perhaps it wasn't the greatest place for them to be stuck. Did you know that as a survival technique, because there are no water sources high in the trees, the orang utans drink their own pee - wasn't exactly one to the highlights seeing them doing this!!! Lol!! After the orang utan island we went to the eco park. It was pretty much just a small zoo. I got to see and feed beautiful deers which was cool. One of the things that made me want to cry was in the reptile centre it was feeding time. The guy was feeding the snakes little chicks that were crying so loud. This mortified me! I don't like snakes even more now.  The highlight of the Eco park and of the whole day, was going into the enclosure where the squirrel monkeys are kept. Joe, my ridiculously expensive guide, advised me to buy sunflower seeds to feed them - I bought two packets which were in a blue carrier bag with my bag of chilli crisps and a bottle of water. As soon as you walk into the enclosure the monkeys are all over you. They jumped on me from all directions onto my shoulders, up my legs onto my bags - it was absolutely nuts!!! Then the funny things ripped into my bag and tried stealing everything - the sunflower seeds packet dropped onto the floor (I covered it with my food and had them desperately yanking at my foot to try and get them). But whilst I was protecting the seeds one of them stole my chilli crisps, ran into the corner squealing like crazy whilst all the other monkeys chased him. He bit open the packet and was dishing the crisps out! It was hilarious!  Eventually I got a bit brave and was no longer taking their crap! There was one dominant male perched on my shoulder howling and going to attack any of the other monkeys that came to me for nuts until eventually they werent coming near me. So I walked around with the big man on my shoulder giving out the nuts one by one- there were even little babies that were just so adorable. They werent as confident as the adults so wouldn't come to me so I walked up to them and gave them a seed. They would then look around anxiously to see if any of the adults were going to attack them and would then scurry onto a high branch as they struggled to open the shell. It was just the most incredible experience.  The next stop was the water park - don't ever go there!!! You have to pay like rm30 to get in there and unless you pay an extra rm20 when you get inside to hire a tube (dingy) you only have the option of 2 slides. The place is so run down that the paint on the inside of the slides if even coming off so you are lucky not to get cut going down them.  Overall it was a nice day but the money I paid was way too much. If I hired a scooter and went by myself and then only paid the rm39 entrance fee to see the orang utans and the Eco park (rm68 with the waterpark) then it would have been money well spent.  Joe drove me back to my guesthouse, I went straight back out and got convinced to have a full body scrub and a massage and then found somewhere to have shisha..