3.20S 110.27E
JENNY
Alan Franklin/ Lynne Gane
Mon 3 Nov 2008 04:58
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Hello All
We have now left Kalimantan en route to Singapore
via 2 more Indonesian Islands.
Kalimantan (Borneo) is very very like you see in
the movies ,masses of jungle,muddy river,you almost imagine a wild animal
lurking around every bush or tree and as you go up the rivers into the interior
its like something out of the "African Queen" film with Humphrey Bogart and
Katherine Hepburn but we didn't have to get out and pull the boat through the
reeds,mind you the boat could have been the same except for the
funnel.
Well that has set the scene,we were in search of
Orang-utans and we saw about thirty in three different locations.Our 1st stop
was at a rescue camp named after a professor Leakey, an American who spent his
life studying Orang-utans,this was founded and is still run by a lady
professor who was Leckie's student and she founded the camp in the early 70's
and still lives and works in the camp rather like Fossey did with the Mountain
Gorillas.
At the 1st camp we were shown a video of the work
that they do in providing a secure area for wild Orang-utans and for returning
captured and orphaned ones to the wild. Their most famous Orang-utan was one
called KASASIS who was the dominant male in the area for 20 years. He is still
alive but about 50 years old now and near the end of his life.
We then went for a walk deeper into the jungle
where we saw a number of females with juveniles about 15 all told. Some of
them came down and walked amongst us,one of them took Jenny's water
bottle,unscrewed the cap and gulped down the contents before discarding cap and
bottle.They were such marvellous creatures with very human behaviour ,there was
of course one naughty juvenile who we immediately named Jonathan after our
youngest son,he was such a little toad,throwing branches and foliage on us and
repositioning himself every time we moved so that he could get better
shots.
After the 1st camp we stayed the night in a jungle
lodge rather like you would use on safari very rustic but it came with air
con,such a blessing,there is only so much I am going to put up with when
roughing it.The wc was a self flush with a bucket of water and the shower
drained direct through the wooden floor to the swamp below but the bed and
mosquitoes net were fine and we had electric lights,not a candle like last
time.
After a dinner on board the boat on the deck which
was cooked by the captains wife we watched a dvd with Julia Roberts featuring
camp Leakie and Kasassi.These male Orang-utans are almost 6ft wide and when they
put up their arms are over 6ft tall but very strong and powerful.They all climb
trees and swing through them with the same effort we use for
walking.
The following day we visited 2 more camps and at
one site again in the jungle saw a male Orang-utan he was pretty impressive
nobody ate until he had finished,boy he was big.After that we went to a village
which seemed to be built on or over a swamp it was very poor although the people
seemed content but children were swimming in drainage channels where the sewage
probably emptied into,not a healthy place.
On the way down river we also saw long nose and
long tail monkeys a couple of Kingfisher's and other birds that we did not
know,but let me tell you in that jungle it is the heat and the humidity that
gets you it is like being in a sauna.
In the area that we went to the illegal logging
which destroys the habitat of the Orang-utans had been severely curtailed. They
said completely stopped but I'm not sure about that,there are only 2 places in
the world where Orang-utans can be found Kalimantan and Sumatra and unless
illegal logging can be stopped they will become extinct.But in countries where
daily life is one of survival and a way to earn enough to provide for your
family is to do something which damages the environment what choice does the
native have.Perhaps if more money were made to assist countries to develop eco
friendly tourism there might be work for all and a future for the
children.
We are being privileged on this trip to see things
and experience situations that you are unlikely to see or feel coming in by
plane. Its not just the trips that we make but its the way that we are in the
environment of the people as soon as we arrive,most of their life starts and
revolves around the waterfront and most of the waterfronts are like the
old 1920's type films.
I must say that our visit to the Orang-utans and
Kalimantan left us all with a lasting impression of wonder and amazement at
these truly marvellous creatures.
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