I’ve not had much of a chance to put my own pictures online so here’s other staff member’s pictures. If you are back from expedition and reading this, please let me know your links and I’ll add them to here for others to see.
http://www.james-sheader.fotopic.net
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nettledaws/?saved=1 (the first four pics at the moment are from Linapasan, the gravity water feed project I was at for 10 days)
Well it’s the first normal day in field base, and all the usual office traits are back… I’ve become addicted to Nescafe 3-in-1 after being introduced to the little sachets of coffee,’milk’ and sugar since being in Linapasan (thanks Emma!) – far more convenient when living in the wilds, where you can’t get milk anyway. I’ve also started to love all the ‘fruit tree’ branded cans of juice where you get lychee, mango or blackcurrant with aloe vera bits in the can. mmmmm
When at a barbeque in Inobong with the trekkers the other night we were blindfolded and had to try loads of food and a juice…it tasted quite nice, but I’ve yet to find Kick-a-poo Joy Juice freely available, and get addicted to buying Joy Juice…
Back to work – thousands of pics to browse through…
Well the final changeover has happened – the next one will be the participant’s party in three weeks time, then the cleanup, then a dive trip to Sipadan hopefully! This changeover went quite well though, and I received a nice gift from a participant – chopsticks carved by the rangers at Danum Valley. This was a special place – it was a bit like walking through a film set at times, and quite difficult to access as a tourist, unless you go via the tourist area at Borneo Rainforest Lodge – unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to see there.
Everything here happens in ‘Raleigh time’ – you think time is flying by, but at the same time it’s difficult to remember what you did a few days ago, as usually so much has happened in between. It makes keeping a travel journal up to date a bit of a nightmare.
I’m in fieldbase all of the last phase so not looking forward to being in a relatively ‘normal’ office environment…in saying that it’s completely different to working 9-5 in a normal job as anything can happen here from people radioing with medical problems, to nice smoothies being delivered from the in-house cook, to uninterrupted laughter as some random comment is made (and trust me, there’s plenty of them!).
My head has started turning towards the end of the expedition more and more though. It’s not that I particularly want to leave here as there is so much that goes on, but it’s good looking forward to having my own time….but maybe not so much having to plan and budget it myself! I need to find a method of earning some money, preferably by some online route, so my trip can last as long as I would like it to.
Several staff and a few participants are planning a dive trip to Sipadan Island for three days after the trip. It’s expensive for my budget at just over 300 UKP for three days, but it does include flights, 9 dives, accommodation and soft drinks. For the destination, it’s a bargain as we’ve got a special deal, but it’s a treat. If anyone wants to treat me, feel free!! I hope to do my two Advanced PADI dives on Friday if I can arrange it so it opens up deeper dives during the Sipadan trip. I also discussed potentially doing a Rescue Diver and Divemaster with Borneo Divers after the trip, but just something to consider at the moment…but it’s tempting if I can wangle a deal with them! Maybe next year….
I’ve been up since 5.30am today to wave the buses as they departed for their project sites, but managed to pop out for Sunday roast, and a swim (sleep!) at the country club this afternoon, but now completely knackered. This week is a mad one – a magazine, and two photo exhibitions to plan, along with possible postcards, a cover for the expedition CD, pictures to develop from disposable cameras we gave to a community site, and lots more! I’ve probably got a couple of thousand of my own shots, plus around 10 participant and staff pictures to look through. A long day beckons!
I’m now back at field base – only been back for a day but it feels like an age.
I am pleased to say I’ve had a whole host of experiences in the last few weeks though which I’ll just skim over at the moment. I’ve been to several project sites throughout the state of Sabah, and seen a whole load of stuff that the average tourist wouldn’t see. There are a few opportunities I’ve missed, but nothing I’m regretting too much in the time available.
Within the last few days I’ve tubed down the river at Danum Valley in the middle of the rainforest. I joined the Raleigh camp at their suspension bridge work site (the Rhino bridge if anyone makes it there) and looked down over the river every day which became my relaxation spot, bath and shower for the last 5 days. The river was really low while I was there which meant it was safe to swim across. The first day I explored an area next to the work site we named the Rhino pools and was treated to superb water pools bathed in shafts of sunlight creeping through the rainforest canopy. The following day I triple bagged my camera in drysacks and waded it across for some pictures. After returning to camp one day, I was sitting on the beach and watched long tailed Macaque monkeys jumping around the fruit trees. When everyone else left the riverside beach area, three of them became a bit more inquisitive and walked around the rocks on the other side of the river from me.
The following day, I walked down to the field centre when all of a sudden the tree in front of me sprung alive as I disturbed an orang-utan. Unfortunately I didn’t see it full on, but saw it’s orange fur jumping around until he was a few trees away from me. There were a few pygmy squirrels kicking around the camp area, and we had a resident lizard living on the tree by the dry food slops area.
Unfortunately I headed away from the camp in a bit of a hurry the night before my departure to escort an ill participant to the comfort of the field centre. We had to move down just as darkness approached and were taken down by the rangers who camped close by us. The up side of this was we were taken by boat, in darkness, guided by the spotlight of the rangers. This was an amazing journey, and something you’d never get access to normally. All you could see was the rangers spotting the banks and the currents by spotlight, and headtorch when they cut the engine on the lower parts of the river. When you looked up, the only thing visible was the outline of the trees and the stars.
At the start of the trip the Permanent Secretary of Youth and Sport visited the project site at Danum, treated us to lunch and dinner, and planted a tree. At night we went to a talk from a Danum ranger then in true Asian style we sang karaoke with the Ministry staff until late o’clock…but remember 11pm is late o’clock in Raleigh time, never mind when we were rising at 4am… The Ministry’s hospitality was immense and the whole team were taken to a viewing platform for the sunrise over the surreal misty Danum Valley, then treated to a slap up breakfast on the platform
Today I was looking through the photos from the last few weeks, but was subjected to the artificial stresses created at field base….although I’m loving the stuff I have to do over the next few weeks the simple life of a project site becomes all the more appealing.
I’ll write more and put some pictures up soon, but it’s likely to be later on next week as the madness of changeover has came round again, so tomorrow it’s back to Borneo Paradise for a mad few days with some new participants, and many more knackered ones finding out which project sites they are heading to for their final few weeks….
I’m sitting in Lahad Datu on the east coast of Borneo. We’ve just driven along 250km of road lined with Oil Palm trees, and that’s only a snapshot of the industry. When you get to any viewpoint, all you can see is oil palm plantations as far as the eye can see.
I’ve just spent a week at a tiny kampong with 15 small homes making a productive start to a gravity water feed system. I spent the first morning there, which was my birthday, planting rice in the paddy fields for 3 hours. The men walked ahead making holes in the ground, while the women (and me!) threw the seeds in after them. This was a fantastic experience as no-one around me spoke any English, and I spent 3 hours thinking of nothing else except whether I had put the correct number of seeds in the hole – not too much, not too little, and hoping that I won’t screw up their harvest!! As an ‘orang-putty’ I was getting laughed at a bit as it was probably the first time some of them had had such close contact with a white man, or possible even seen on, but I just laughed along.
It was a superb setting with a very small community, and some fantastic kids. We layed around 3km of plastic piping along some treacherous jungle like terrain, across massive fallen logs, and felled large clearings with the locals and their parangs. The JKK (head of the kampong) made us feel very welcome there. I must confess I pretty much had tears in my eyes leaving the project. I’ll really miss completing the project, and getting more involved in the community as I think that was just about to turn the corner. I had tried getting invited to some local sing songs as there were always noisy houses every night. A few nights ago, we were lighting an open fire, and a couple of locals emerged from the darkness and helped us along. Through one of the host country participants, we had a conversation with them which was an experience. A couple of us tried their ‘jungle baccy’ (no, it’s legitimate, not dodgy!), while I tried to get an invite to a house…unfortunately my time on the project was running out. Maybe it’s because I got the high score on his mobile phone’s driving game….
From there I was picked up by the loop land rover that resupplies the teams mid phase, drops of mail, and basically checks all is well. We headed to Imbak Canyon which involved 2 hours of driving off the main road, along logging tracks, once again surrounded by oil palm plantations. The journey was broken up now and again by massive logging trucks creating dust sprays over the trees, and us. There’s only been about 300 people entered Imbak. We stayed at a camp used by the BBC when filming a forthcoming documentary. Just under the camp is an amazing waterfall which is used for washing, so we had a quick dip in there, and swam behind the fall.
At night I went out in a small group with two rangers on a night jungle trek. Despite not seeing much (only Mouse Deer) the sounds were amazing, and it was a tad bizarre when we switched off torches and stood in the silence, in the dark, for 5 minutes. I think under 150 people have been into this area so it’s quite a priviledge.
From here we left and drove to Mangkuwagu, which is a larger kampong than Linapasan. To access here there is a 2.5-3hr journey along a road that many people would pay hundreds of pounds to off road on. To say it was bumpy would be an understatement – I was all over the place in the Land Rover. Unbelievably, 2hrs into it we stumbled across an oil tanker that was stranded in the mud. I couldn’t believe he tried to get that far! The road was really enjoyable though. Everyone we passed either greeted us with a wave or waved back at us. If I was driving and we didn’t have the time pressures I would have been stopping every 15 minutes for pictures of the locals.
When we rolled into the house where the project team are staying we had a welcoming committee of around 20 kids running towards us singing with the team – you can’t get much better than that.
This morning we went to the school for 40 mins taking pictures, and getting sung to. They were so friendly and welcoming, and they must be the most happy children I’ve ever met by the looks of it. I was really reluctant to leave here and wanted to stay the rest of the phase.
After this we visited the work site of the new kindergarten briefly then left to head to Lahad Datu. Back along the 3hr off road…. then a 3hr trip on the main road.
Tomorrow we meet some officials from the Ministry of Sport and Finance and head to Danum Valley for a day of show and tell, and some official ceremonies. On Saturday morning I’ll wave goodbye to the loop vehicle and stay in Danum until Wednesday before flying back to KK just before the next changeover.
Already it feels like the end of the programme is looming – unbelievable! In a way I look forward to having days to do what I want to but I’m loving it at the moment. I wish I had more community work, but it’s great heading around Sabah and seeing the projects. Despite heading back to the field base office in under a week, a real office seems a million miles away, and not something I wish to return to if I can help it (although I’m happy to accept that may change with time!). Unfortunately I remember I’m not getting paid any more, but then a fried rice does only cost 80p if you eat at the right places..! Tonight’s meal for 3 was 30RM – less than five pounds for 3 dishes, 2 coffees, 3 smoothies, and a coke!
Off back to our hotel (yes, amazing) as it’s a big day tomorrow. I had my first shower for a week and a half this evening. It’s only when you hit everyday things like this I realise I’ve been bathing and chilling in rivers once or twice a day, looking across from the community hall towards the paddy fields, and jungle, and bouncing around Sabah in a 4×4.
