Camp Leakey - 2nd Feeding
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Sat 13 Nov 2010 01:47
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Saturday 13th November
When we returned from our trek as we made
our way through the camp we came across Mario and Mut (his mother). Mario was a
young very cheeky orangutan who was incredibly fascinated with us. While his
mother sat and kept a watchful eye in the trees Mario played at a safe distance.
If you moved to close he'd retreat back into the trees. He'd soon come back
though once you'd returned to your original position. I think he quite
enjoyed sitting in the trees a few feet from us and bouncing the branches onto
the top of our heads. We were mesmerised by him, you can probably tell by the
amount of pictures that follow on now. It's so difficult to chose between
them!
 Mario
 Mario
  Mario
 Mut and Mario
It was back to the boat for a
spot of lunch, a shower and a change of clothes and then out to the 2 pm feeding
again. On the way we saw this group of boar eating the orangutans snacks. The
orangutans had to grab what they could quickly and retreat to the
trees.
  We weren't too sure what to
expect at the feeding as we thought it could be similar to the previous day with
the same guests attending lunch. However, as we approached the table through the
last bit of forest we could see that this was going to be a different feeding
altogether. A huge male was sat in the centre of the table making his way
through the offerings. There is also another reason as to why this was totally
different......today it was torrential rain. The solid ground had quickly turned
into a huge muddle puddle, we were soaked but none of this bothered us as
everyone watched in amazement. One or two clever orangutans, ascended up into
the trees and made themselves a canopy (a bunch of leaves) under which to sit.
I'm sure they must have been getting wet still, apart from maybe their head,
that may have remained dry. It was hilarious to watch. Where on earth have they
learnt that from!
While the big man sat and stuffed
20 or more bananas into his mouth ready for his escape into the forest, others
quickly climbed down, grabbed what they could and made a run for it. They knew
who was boss! The males build up their testosterone levels at puberty until
their cheek pads become huge - all a part of their quest for dominancy. The best
thing is that this one is not the biggest. Tom, who we unfortunately didn't get
to see, was the king. He'd make circuits around the forest checking for
intruders in his territory and would only stop by for feeding every now and
then.
 
 Watching in amazement as the
orangutan sits under it's umbrella
 Before we set off...........On
our way back
When we arrived the first morning
and saw other boats with clothes hanging all around the ceilings we commented
and wondered what on earth they had been doing. Now we know.........we'd had two
soakings today........both in different outfits. Paul has now run out of clean
clothes, Amy on the other hand still has 5 outfits left!
 Clothes hanging out to
dry
Soon after returning we made our
way further down the river to Croc Lake, our spot for the evening. A rope was
tied to a tree in front, the boat reversed, a rope was tied to a tree behind,
the boat moved forward and we were left suspended in the middle of the river
away from the vegetation and unwelcome critters - bliss! With sundowners in hand
we listened to a spot of music, courtesy of I-Ben, and ate yet another delicious
meal. Before long the heavens opened up to an almighty storm and we had to
batten down the tarpaulin sides. This didn't deter us from enjoying our evening
as we continued with a game of scrabble and crosswords by
candlelight.
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