The following blog was written by volunteer Dawn McIntyre, who joined The Great Orangutan and Pygmy Elephant Project in June:
This was my first volunteering trip and without doubt, THE best thing I have ever done. From booking this trip nearly a year ago I was in good hands right up to my departure date, The Great Projects team was on hand to assist with any questions and they were so helpful. I arrived in Sandakan, Borneo a little weary from the flights (understandably)! and met up with some fellow volunteers en route which was great - The Great Projects had put me in touch with some of the people going.
Our driver was already at the arrivals waiting to take us to our accommodation. When we arrived we were all so impressed by how friendly the staff was and the rooms were great, we had a dorm-style room for one night which was fun. If you love being in the great outdoors then this is the place to go. There were toilets, showers, and mozzy nets over the bed and although it was basic (what do you expect), it was still really comfortable and we all thoroughly enjoyed our first night there.
On the second day, we moved on to the village where we would be staying for the next 8-9 days. The staff were great, the food delicious and the accommodation was comfortable. There were macaque monkeys everywhere! We saw a beautiful owl that would visit the pier every night and a lovely snake - harmless, coiled around a big tree next to where we would sit and have our meals.
Our tour guides Mark and his apprentice Mus were magnificent, so full of knowledge on the area and the animals we saw - which were A LOT! They were a lot of fun.
Along the river tour we took every day, we saw a variety of beautiful birds from eagles to hornbills, kites to egrets.
We saw orangutans, twice we saw a mother and her baby - I was overwhelmed when we saw them.
We also saw proboscis monkeys, gibbons, long-tailed macaques, pig-tailed macaques, a crocodile, and a water monitor lizard.
A feast for the eyes for animal and bird lovers!
During our stay we were volunteering in the forest, maintaining the newly planted trees from last year and planting new ones - we planted 500 trees between the 8 of us in our group.
The work is so rewarding at the end so you don't mind the heat and the odd mozzy bite.
The work they do there is helping the wildlife - in particular the orangutans and sun bears enabling them to move through the forest safely. Due to the deforestation of the area from logging and palm oil plantations, there has been a significant reduction of forest area for these beautiful animals to live in.
The planting of these trees is vital and the restoration of the forest will repair the damage caused by years of destruction. Go and volunteer and make a difference, I promise you, it will be the best thing you will ever do!
If you feel inspired to help make a real difference to Borneo’s incredible wildlife, why not join The Great Orangutan and Pygmy Elephant Project too?
