Saturday, March 25, 2006

Nests and Webs

Trekking with Rosali today - he took us on a much tougher route with lots of obstacles to climb over and some serious log balancing needed to cross the many streams. Vicky performed a couple of great dives into the mud, shame there were no judges nearby to score them - she missed out on a certain gold medal!

Six nests were spotted in all. In one tree there was an old nest and then just above it a brand new one. I tried to photograph it but in the low light it's rather blurry. Sorry...

The picture of a spiral spiders web is much better :-)

(BTW - in case you didn't know, you can click on the small thumbnail here to get a bigger version of any of these blog pictures...)

Quiet for the rest of the day, just reading and movies as the rain was so heavy well into the night.

Batteries fully recharged with a good nights sleep because, shock of shocks, todays Chelsea game was not live on TV for the first time since i've been here!!

Friday, March 24, 2006

The Leech And The Scorpion!

Group 1 was one volunteer short again today after both Vicky and I failed to rouse Mr. Mabuk from his drunken snoring for the second time in 3 days. Not that he missed too much as it was a very short jungle trek with Silih.
The route took us through the Outdoor Nursery area, where it was fantastic to see the 6 youngsters (Kimball, Toby, Susanna, Brock, Annalisa and Tompong - the ones who moved up there from Indoor Nursery last Monday) wandering around outside while the girls of Group 2 cleaned their temporary holding cage. The new arrivals are reportedly adjusting well to the extra freedom up there, although they still hug each other for support when some of the bigger ones try to muscle in on their food. Since being orphaned they would only have mixed with orangutans of their own age and size, so suddenly seeing Mr.G or Guramboi approaching must be absolutely terrifying to them!

So on with the trek and within 20 minutes we had spotted 5 nests. All quite old. It's much harder to see a new nest because the leaves are still green and matching the rest of the tree, whereas the old ones have turned dark brown. Surprisingly few leeches today. But as i'll explain later it only takes one to inflict some serious damage...!

At the end of the trek we watched some of the orangutans start to assemble at Platform A. I didn't have my camera with me which was a real shame because Mr.G, one of the big males, casually walked up and across the platform among all the tourists. At least one woman had a real shock when she turned round to see him standing right next to her!

After lunch Vicky and I went in to help out with the Indoor Nursery (Becky and Elle had gone to Turtle Island). It was great to be back in there with all the little ones, although after all the recent transfers to Outdoor it was a lot less hectic.The rains stopped and we were able to take Naru and Gangi out for some exercise.
On the way up to the trees we passed Nick. He was looking a bit flustered and no wonder - as he'd lifted up an old cement bag a big scorpion had run out and was now hiding in a crack in the ground - lucky escape! See below for more about the scorpion...

So into the woods we went with the orangutans. Naru had mostly been ill when we did our stint in Indoor so it was good to spend some quality time with him. He is the other orangutan that can be adopted (like Sogo Sogo) via the Sepilok Orangutan Appeal UK scheme. Hint Hint!

He is not as confident in the trees as Gangi but he still managed to do plenty of climbing. Up there in the woods must be where i picked up a "special forces" leech too, although i didn't know it until much later (explicit photo ahead, be warned...)

After returning them both to their cages I wandered up to help Nick with painting some wood roof panels for the new play area. They are going to go underneath the coconut palm leaf thatching, to stop the orangutans from ripping a hole.

Rosali was there with him and by now they had managed to coax the scorpion out into the open. By now it was putting on quite a show of agression for us!

When i got back to the resthouse and peeled off my shirt i had another shock - there was dried blood smeared all around my left nipple. My first thought was leech, but there was no sign of it now. So i looked at my shirt and saw a big patch of blood on there too.

One of the little b*ggers had obviously sneaked under my shirt while i was playing with Naru, climbed up my chest and then been gently suckling on my nice warm nip until it was full, then just dropped off onto the ground for a well satisfied nap! As soon as i washed off the dried blood it started bleeding again of course. Yukky yuk yuk, but I know you'll still want to see the bloodfest...

After about 15 minutes of dabbing with tissues the bleeding had stopped again and i could get changed for Kristina, Kirsty and Sheena's housewarming party. They all work for the Sepilok Appeal and Sheena (the primatologist) and Kirsty will be tracking the new releases once they are let out of the Outdoor Nursey holding cage, hopefully early next week.


After all that drama today i certainly deserved a drink... :-)


Thursday, March 23, 2006

Trekking and Watching

It had been my plan to get up for the Chelsea v Newcastle FA Cup tie at 4am today. I set the alarm on my phone, even crashed out on the sofa downstairs so as not to disturb Nick. Unfortunately i left the phone on silent and woke at 6am just to catch the final score. Doh! Oh well, it's the result that matters most of course - bring on the Double!

More jungle trekking with Silih today. This route was a lot more interesting, even though we only managed to find 2 nests. He took us off the main paths and had us scrambling over, bending under, squelching through and hacking past some much thicker vegetation.
Yesterdays rains also seemed to have woken up the leeches, they were out in real force today and i had to remove an incredible total of 34 of the little beggers! Mostly they were just subbuteo-flicked straight from my boots and trousers, but 2 of the leech SAS did manage to get under my shirt and find flesh. The bravest of them was happily diving into my belly button, though i think it was struggling to get past some barbed-wire fluff by the time i located it!
Along the way, Silih showed us a how a certain type of branch could be used to get drinking water. He cut a horizontal length with a machete then from its core clean drinking water just poured out.
Further on we saw two wild gibbons playing in the tree tops, then still later we thought we'd caught sight of a wild orangutan, but it turned out to be just a common monkey.

After lunch it was pretty quiet everywhere, i just spent time at the feeding platform watching and photographing as both mothers came with their offspring (Mariko with Mais and Mimi with Rony) and all three of the big males (Mr G, Guramboi and Miskam).
Here's a few more shots from today for you to savour......


...including one of Ranger Awang (aka Awang-utan!) looking his usual busy self at the end of the session...


...also a very lovely furry caterpillar...

Don't touch it though - the fluffy spines will stick in to you and are mildly poisonous!

It was Amoy's birthday today too, despite her continual claims that it was actually the 32nd (sic) of March. So late evening we took her out for a meal in Mile 4. Some of the group stayed out for a bit of karaoke, but you all know that "ain't ma thing" so i came back in the first taxi.

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...

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

More Rest For The Wicked

Final rest day today before final work placements start tomorrow. Jungle trekking awaits for our Group 1. I'm still suffering (yeah, i know, moan, moan, moan...) and on painkillers this morning but feel a lot better for having that long rest last night. Determined to relax as much as possible today and give my back every chance of recovery before the trekking begins.

Decided to visit the feeding platform once more this morning and take a few more photos and video clips. BTW, my Canon Powershot A95 camera is performing really well in these conditions, very happy with the results so far, but i should also say i'm really glad of a long "digital photography" chat i had with a friend back in December (thanks Joseph!). Joseph convinced me that taking a laptop and a USB backup drive was a great idea and that i should definitely start off with brand new high capacity NiMh batteries for the trip. A little bit of extra luggage for me but definitely has been worth it. Plus the new batteries have been amazing. The other volunteers have also been able to backup their cameras here too and then see slideshows of their latest masterpieces.

I've also been able to write up the blog notes on my laptop first (without hogging the resthouse PC and running up a huge bill for usage too), while playing music on it. Sometimes of course i've just used it to look at all the hundreds of photos that i've brought with me from home (in case i forget what people there look like!). So having it here has worked out really well.

Well enough of the idle chit-chat, i'm off for my next appointment with Miss Deep Heat...

Monday, March 20, 2006

Gomantong Cave and Sukau River Cruise

More painkillers for me today. Decided to take a chance on doing tour guide John's trip with the others rather than laying flat out on my back. Mood not helped by watching Chelsea lose to Fulham in the early hours either :-)

The 9 of us split into two vehicles for the journey, first to Gomantong Cave and later on to Sukau for a river trip. These are both places that i visited 5 years ago on my earlier trip to Borneo so i was interested to see if anything much had changed.

John and our driver Clarence weren't kidding when they said 45km of our ride would also be a free massage - the road was severely pot-holed and still covered in a thick layer of clay mud leftover from the recent rains. Where the mud was still wet the road was a skating rink, both our vehicles were sideways at times and John almost had to be dug out after coming close to sliding into a ditch. But we made it through safely, largely thanks to Caroline's "back seat" driving advice to John i am sure... ;-)

Either the painkillers were doing their job well or the "road massage" had helped, but by the time we reached the cave i was ok to walk with the others.

Gomantong Cave was made famous by David Attenborough and ever since then tourist have flocked to see what is effectively a huge cave filled with birds, bats, rats, cockroaches, snakes and just about any other creepy-crawly you can think of. All those creatures create a lot of sh*t of course - literally mountains of it!! I'm sure there are slag heaps in South Wales that are smaller...

So we take a deep breath and in we go, slipping and sliding on guano-covered walkways, trying to avoid reaching for the similarly guano-covered handrails.

The caves themselves are impressive, three storeys high of which we will visit only one. Every four months they become a hive of activity with local workmen setting up camp in the nearby huts in order to climb up and collect swiftlet nests. These are a extremely valuable commodity, loved by the Chinese for making (you guessed it) Bird's Nest Soup. Quite why anyone would want to make a soup flavoured with a congealed lump of bird spit and sh*t i have no idea - but apparently it is a delicacy that will give you a long life and make you stronger. It also sells for a lot of money. Hmmm, the story of the Emperor's New Clothes comes to mind...

The guys that work here risk life and limb daily. They climb up several hundred feet on tiny rattan ladders and ropes then fill baskets with the tiny nests. Fortunately they are between collecting seasons right now, so we didn't witness one of the regular deaths. But here is a sample that i managed to collect after scaling spiderman-like to the roof of the cave just for you...

Some of the views inside the cave were stunning. Almost was stunning as the pungent smell of the black mountains. No one ventured too far "off-piste", especially after several rats were seen running away from a 5 foot long snake! Certainly a very memorable place to have (re)visited, but a real shame there was a big increase in human rubbish scattered in there too.

So on we travel to Sukau. Two boats awaited. The main aim of the trip was to see Proboscis monkeys but there was a real hope that we would also be able to see wild elephants at the river edge as they had been spotted the previous day. At last a chance for me to use the big binoculars that i came out here with :-)

The trip started well, our boats being led by at least a dozen Ibis(?) who repeatedly flew ahead of us, landed, then flew again as we drew close. We saw a tree snake and a few macaques and then, well, not much else for over an hour and a half.

This despite turning around and heading back up river past our original starting jetty.

But patience is a virtue of course.

Near the end of our trip we at last sighted a group of about eight proboscis monkeys in the tree tops. Then we saw a hornbill and we even pulled up quite close to a small crocodile, but it didn't stay for dinner... ;-)

On the trip back home along the "Massage Motorway" we were in a real hurry. Every pothole seemed to have doubled in size and we all experienced some serious "airtime" - Alton Towers should seriously consider building a copy of this ride!
It should also be noted that Vicky won our Oscar for "Person Most Able To Sleep Despite The Bumps". Her head was rolling and cracking against the window as if she was going 10 rounds with an invisible Mike Tyson!

So we made it back. By now I was really tired and the back was causing me real pain again. So much so i had an early night and missed the "it's supposed to be your Sepilok leaving party, even though you don't leave for another 11 days yet party" that no-one here was too excited about. Not sure who dreamed that one up...

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Sepilok Laut (24 hour party people) 18th-19th Mar

On with the designer leech socks this morning for the trek to Sepilok Laut. Don't we all look gorgeous? Most of us were doing the trekking, but a few had to go by boat to make sure all the food and drink made it safely without being attacked by pirates. Actually we had an armed police escort boat for that, just in case... I kid you not!

I've been struggling with a pulled muscle or trapped nerve or something in my lower back the past couple of days, so took some painkillers before setting off. They seemed to do the trick.

The trek was hilly but on a well marked trail so (unfortunately) no macho machete-wielding was required. For the most part the walk was pretty uneventful. There were plenty of indications of wild boar and bears but no actual sightings made. It would have been a much different story if we'd done a night walk instead!

With so much mud about the leeches were out in force of course, but with everyone keeping a careful look out for each other the leeches didn't make too many inroads into bare flesh.
I started to feel a bit sorry for them actually, (apologies in advance for this very poor and probably disrespectful analogy, but it must have felt a bit like the Normandy landings for them. As soon as they swam ashore onto the beaches of our boots and trousers and started to head north for the rendezvous points at Bellybutton Bay or Armpit Alley, many were immediately cut down by snipers armed with Dettol spray guns. Nevertheless, a small number of brave souls still managed to sneak past our top marksmen and began to shelter in the folds of trousers and shirts, while a valiant few pressed on, circle around the defences and draw blood. But overall they didn't stand a chance. It was carnage.
I personally became a Leech Ace during the two and half hour battle, with 21 leeches successfully intercepted without any loss of crimson.

The Sepilok Laut area is mangrove forest, i.e. the trees are growing on the banks of the rivers close to the sea. So although the water is salty it is really a mixture of fresh river water and sea water that rises and falls with the tides. Hence the characteristic tree roots at the waters edge. The buildings at Sepilok Laut are modern but constructed from natural materials and very comfortable.

After the steamy jungle trek and a light lunch it didn't take too long for the cool waters to look very inviting. It didn't take too long after that for a mud-fight to break out either! The thick black mud from all the rotting leaves makes an excellent face pack... :-)

Later in the afternoon we went out for a boat ride with the local forestry people (and police escort of course!) and were really lucky to see several groups of wild proboscis monkeys. The monkeys here are extremely shy and didn't stay around very long when they heard our boats approaching. They don't get too may visitors here as the whole area is protected - the only other boats allowed here are very small ones used by local village crab fishermen.

During the trip we saw several kingfishers and at one point even a flying fish skimming along in front of the police boat for about 100 metres!

On the way back we stopped near our boatmans house to see some of the specimens at his floating fish farm (and to pick up his cd player for the BBQ tonight!).

Quick summary of the rest - a great BBQ, some cracks starting to appear in the group - a few fights, a few misunderstandings, a few tears.
Many stayed up through the night. I found a quiet spot and watched sunrise over the river.
Lots of quality thinking time there...

After brekkie we went back to the resthouse by boat and then car. Resembled the House of the Living Dead full of Zombies for the rest of the day. Everyone just snoozing and eating.

My back is really hurting tonight :-(

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