Day two with the babies – things ran a lot more smoothly today, and we had time to get them outside on the play area. It was a bit cooler this morning, so today they were pretty active – Ranger Ibri says they don't like to climb much in the heat (ironically, cause it's always hot here!) Alagu was straight up a very tall tree – and branches and leaves kept dropping down. Apparently she will progress to the outdoor nursery before the end of the year.

We saw Tiger today, another big male orangutan awaiting release. He must have sensed something in the forest (possibly the other male who escaped), because he started making a lot of noise. They are very deep, guttural sounds – quite intimidating for the other orangutans I'm sure! We also learnt that the sea turtle has been transferred to Lankayan Island for release.

This afternoon we got the babies out again. One of the rangers gave some bananas to Mimi but surprisingly she didn't want them – so another semi-wild orangutan scooped them up (one bunch in his mouth and one bunch between his feet) before swinging out to where the babies were. This caused all sorts of ruckus, as they swooped in to find out what he had. A few of them managed to snatch the odd one from him – except he managed to grab Sepilok and start biting him. Poor little thing was squealing – but he managed to wiggle free eventually.

April was trying to put one of the babies back in its cage this afternoon, but it was holding on to the sides and doing everything possible to avoid going in. She asked me if it was definitely Archie – I took a look and said I thought it was Ospie – as I had fed her that morning and I recognised her face. Sure enough – as soon as April took her to her own cage, she went straight in, no dramas. They are so clever. It is easier to tell the little ones apart, but we still struggle sometimes!

This evening, Steph and I sat on the doorstop and watched the storm rolling in. There was thunder and the odd flash of lightning, and when the rain came it was very heavy. I love a good storm. We saw a frog – he was a big fat one – and then a big cockroach landed on my shoulder and a lizard landed on Steph – you get used to that kind of thing out here!