OK...so I cant even remember where I left off. I think I had been to the islands?

So...after that we got taken to this luxurious 5* resort called Rasa Ria which was amazing. We got welcomed by loads of staff who struck a gong as we entered reception. We then got given iced tea while some staff played music for us on wooden xylophones, gongs etc. We then got taken to our rooms which were amazing, huge beds, TV with cable, nice bathrooms....but the best bit was the giant pool at the back of the hotel which looked onto a white sand, turquoise sea beach!!!! Amazing! And we got a huge buffet for breakfast and dinner and 3course meal for lunch. Could stay there all year!

It was pretty chilled at the hotel, just chilling by the pool, went for a walk along the beach, and also visited the nature reserve where we will be working this week with young orangs and a variety of animals including a baby gibbon and a hornbill. Should be really interesting and good fun!

Our 2 final members of the group arrived on Monday (Amanda from America) who got stranded at LAX for 3days because of the tornado in Taipai. And Caroline (from Singapore) arrived on the Tuesday after fighting off a cold. So we were finally 12!

We left for Sepilok (hurrah!) on Wed...the rest house is lovely. Great rooms, nice comfy beds, amazing food cooked for us by Amoy the chef who is brilliant as well. All the staff are so friendly here, infact everyone is really friendly, always saying hello and so polite. Its lovely. We visited Sylvia who basically runs Sepilok the following day and she gave us an induction. It was really exciting going to Sepilok with out Travellers work shirts on...it finally seemed real. We went to the feeding platform and saw a couple of the big orangs being fed and a LOAD of macaques which eat any of the leftovers.

The following day we met Dr Cecilia the vet who is also really really nice and very wecloming, as was Sylvia. We got shown around the centre and got to see how it all worked. Its great to see so many orangutans safe at Sepilok and to think they'll all be released into the wild one day. If it wasnt for the staff at sepilok they wouldnt be here today.

We have nearly organised all the trips. I am going to Sipidan (picture) which is one of the top diving sites in the world. Absolutely beautiful, although i'll just be snorkelling, I dont think im quite ready to dive yet, although you can get a trial dive even if you havent got a PADI certificate.

the other trip im going on is....(deep breath)...climbing mount kinabalu, the tallest mountain in south east asia, I think the peak is just over 4,000m! Only 2 of us are doing it, and the other girl is a fitness instructor and has done triathalons and everything...so hopefully i wont hold her up.

Sabah is beautiful (apart from the leeches, havent got any yet though!) and the local people are so friendly...that on top of the orangs...you guys might never see me again, i think i'll stay here :)

Hope everyone is well back home. Sorry if this is a bit brief, but as i havent started work yet there is not much to report! Hopefully the internet will be back up and running on the resthouse and will keep u updated more regularly...

lots of orang love

Amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx