Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Wecome To The Jungle
First Jungle Trekking today. Well for Vicky and I it was at least!
My back was feeling pretty good again so i was raring to go. Nick was mabuk, feeling the effects of a late night out with Dr.Sen and his Holy Water.
Although it still nearly didn't happen:
Elis had thought all of the volunteers were still on rest days today so he didn't really have anyone lined up to lead us. But within half an hour we were joined by ranger Silih, man of many animal calls and master of the wolf whistle.
He led us out on a very gentle introductory trek, just following part of the Sepilok Laut trail that we'd walked on at the weekend. The object of the exercise was to collect data about any orangutan nests that we saw along a measured stretch of the route. We actually managed to locate 3 of them, which was ok considering it is not so easy too look upwards when you are constantly checking your footing with one eye and keeping the other one on the lookout for leeches! Actually today was much drier and hence fairly leech free, I only had 3 of them pay me a visit on the whole walk. By late morning we had completed the exercise and could return to the resthouse to get cleaned up.
One of the downsides of doing the jungle trekking is not being allowed in to see the younsters at the Indoor Nursery until the afternoon, and then only after getting cleaned up, as they don't want any strange bacteria being brought in with the mud from the jungle. It makes good sense, but it means we will miss out on a lot of playtimes now, especially on days like today where it rained hard all afternoon so none of the orangutans were taken out at all... :-(
Today was Aussie Rebecca's birthday. We celebrated as a group with a few drinks up at the nearby Nature Resort (yes i said Nature Resort NOT Naturist Resort, although rather appropriately Rudi, the tour guide there, did provide her with a Slippery Nipple or two by the jug...) and then it was over to the Jungle Resort for something to eat.
BTW the news on Sogo Sogo is no news. She's still isolated in the clinic but there is no immediate cause for concern (or so they are telling us). Most days i take a peek at her through the window of the Clinic door and in my (very untrained) opinion she is looking much better than she was last week.
I'm still hoping that i get a farewell cuddle from her before i leave...
My back was feeling pretty good again so i was raring to go. Nick was mabuk, feeling the effects of a late night out with Dr.Sen and his Holy Water.
Although it still nearly didn't happen:
Elis had thought all of the volunteers were still on rest days today so he didn't really have anyone lined up to lead us. But within half an hour we were joined by ranger Silih, man of many animal calls and master of the wolf whistle.
He led us out on a very gentle introductory trek, just following part of the Sepilok Laut trail that we'd walked on at the weekend. The object of the exercise was to collect data about any orangutan nests that we saw along a measured stretch of the route. We actually managed to locate 3 of them, which was ok considering it is not so easy too look upwards when you are constantly checking your footing with one eye and keeping the other one on the lookout for leeches! Actually today was much drier and hence fairly leech free, I only had 3 of them pay me a visit on the whole walk. By late morning we had completed the exercise and could return to the resthouse to get cleaned up.
One of the downsides of doing the jungle trekking is not being allowed in to see the younsters at the Indoor Nursery until the afternoon, and then only after getting cleaned up, as they don't want any strange bacteria being brought in with the mud from the jungle. It makes good sense, but it means we will miss out on a lot of playtimes now, especially on days like today where it rained hard all afternoon so none of the orangutans were taken out at all... :-(
Today was Aussie Rebecca's birthday. We celebrated as a group with a few drinks up at the nearby Nature Resort (yes i said Nature Resort NOT Naturist Resort, although rather appropriately Rudi, the tour guide there, did provide her with a Slippery Nipple or two by the jug...) and then it was over to the Jungle Resort for something to eat.
BTW the news on Sogo Sogo is no news. She's still isolated in the clinic but there is no immediate cause for concern (or so they are telling us). Most days i take a peek at her through the window of the Clinic door and in my (very untrained) opinion she is looking much better than she was last week.
I'm still hoping that i get a farewell cuddle from her before i leave...
// posted by storri @ 10:19 pm 
