Sandakan 2011 - #05 A Dutchman In Town

My eyes were half shut from a tiring whirlwind tour of Sandakan town by a hospitable local friend of ours. It was about 5 in the evening and we were stuck in heavy traffic at a busy intersection on the outskirts of town. All of a sudden my dad, sitting beside me at the back of the car, exclaimed excitedly at something I almost could not believe my ears were hearing. He hurriedly screened down the car window, rummaged around for his binoculars and brought them to his eyes. I tried to peer around him through any remaining gaps to see if it was indeed true. Lo and behold, we were looking at a large reddish-brown primate with 4-foot long ash-coloured tail on a tall tree overhanging a sort of ditch. Yes it was! A Proboscis Monkey Nasalis larvatus!

Check out the look on his face. Super displeased.

It was a young male, probably kicked out from its family as we later discovered. My dad quickly asked our friend who was at the wheel to pull over and then the still half-asleep me dug through my camera bag to pass my gear to my dad as he was sitting on the side closer to the monkey.

I think many other drivers must have honked at us for causing an even bigger stir at rush hour. But we just ignored them as this was truly an unexpected sighting. We had spent the whole of this morning searching up and down the Kinabatangan for this much sought-after primate to no avail and here it was smack in the middle of Sandakan! Apparently, it's easier to see them in the evenings.

Even our friend was highly intrigued with our behaviour. We passed her a pair of binoculars to appreciate better the characteristic appearance of the monkey. Over the past thirty to forty years she has been living here, she too has never seen this monkey so close to urban civilization. Tourists normally find them along the Kinabatangan or at the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary.

After snapping away dozens of shots, we decided to turn into a nearby road to stop our car properly away from the traffic. My dad and I then got down and walked back to the spot to get even more record shots. Oh, the things we do in the name of nature. It's no wonder people think we're slightly off in the head.

Our local Dutchman did not seem to be pleased at all with our presence. Initially, he hissed and bared his fangs at us as a threat display. But after some time, he seemed to calm down and accepted that we were just a bunch of nuts who were not worth his time and effort!

"Get out of my swamp!"

Oh and the reason why I'm calling him a Dutchman isn't because I'm trying to be funny or even insult anyone from Holland! In Malay, this primate is known as 'Monyet Belanda' which means 'Dutch monkey.' According to them, this monkey resembles a Dutch man with its big belly and nose! The Dutch once colonized Indonesia and part of Borneo where this species resides. Hence, no hard feelings, I hope, about referring to this mammal as a Dutchman.

"I am woman Dutchman, hear me roar!"

We spent close to 15 minutes for just this one monkey. It was getting late and we were in a hurry to go to another birding site before dinner. So, thank you for your time, Mr Dutchman and we bade him farewell.

"Weird humans."