Semenggoh Nature Reserve

Semenggoh was set up in the 1970s to rehabilitate orangutans taken out of captivity, and the animals that stayed have bred, so the reserve now holds a small semi-wild population ranging freely through the forest. Twice a day, morning and afternoon, staff put fruit on platforms and wait. There is no enclosure and no guarantee: when the forest is fruiting the apes have no reason to come, and sessions can pass with nothing at all. When they do turn up it is on their own terms, swinging in along ropes above a roped-off path, with a dominant male given a wide berth by everybody. Visitors are kept at a distance, and touching, feeding or posing with the animals is not allowed.

What you actually see

• The feeding platforms - two short sessions a day, with no guarantee of attendance.
• Semi-wild orangutans - free-ranging animals, sometimes mothers with young.
• The approach ropes - lines strung through the canopy that the apes travel along.
• The reserve forest - the surrounding trees the population actually lives in.

When to go

Feeding sessions run in the morning and mid-afternoon and last under an hour. Sightings are worst during the mass fruiting months, when wild food is abundant, and staff post recent sighting records at the gate. Arrive well before the session, because the road closes to new arrivals once it starts.

Honest expectations

You may see nothing at all, and the ticket is not refunded for a blank session. The morning slot is crowded with tour groups and the viewing area is small, so a back row means looking at the backs of heads. Photography through foliage is difficult. Distance rules are strict for good reason and staff enforce them sharply.

Nearby

Kuching is 40 minutes north; Kubah National Park and the Sarawak Cultural Village are nearby.