Dear all,

As some of you already know, last summer I travelled to Borneo, to the Sabah region at the North of the isle.

It is taking me some time to prepare the phogo gallery, again… but it will be ready soon…

In the meantime, I attach a pair of small presents… (well, 3 in fact):

• An Orangután (Pongo pygmaeus) from the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. They rehabilitate orphaned and confiscated orangutans. The younger receive medical care at the nursery. When they are adults, they are released to the Sepilok Forest Reserve, where they live free. Twice per year, some food is offered to the free orangutans at the platforms. When the rainforest is plenty of food, just a few of them go there to eat, but this food suplement is quite important for them to survive during the dry season, when there is few food available around.

• A group of Bornean Pigmy Elephants (Elephas maximus borneensis) taking a bath and playing at the Kinabatangan River. When we arrived to the Kinabatangan Jungle Camp (KJC) we were told that there was an elephants group near there, but that they were moving away (they had been at KJC few days before – their marks were still visible). It was the perfect day to go to see them. The elephants were eating at the river bank and some of them started to bath and to play inside the water, actually trying to drown each other.

• A Rafflesia, the biggest and rarest flower of the world: it is a parasitic flowering plant, it has no leaves, no stems or true roots. It takes it 9 months to develop and once opened it lasts only for one week. The photo shows a one-day Rafflesia (right), the leftovers of a putrid one (center) and one which is still developing (left). The diameter of the one on the photo (Rafflesia Keithii) was about 65 cm. while the biggest species can reach 90-100 cm.

I will upload the entire Borneo Gallery soon and I will explain you further things about this terrific travel.

Many thanks for your patience.

Best regards,

Esther