So I think I've finally been inspired to sit down and write another blog post. I'm sorry it hasn't been sooner but I've become very involved in my work and the people here that I forgot to update you all!
Our first working week began with us meeting Gabili. He is going to be our ranger for trekking. He's a local with short dark hair, he answers yes to any question you ask, is always smiling and has his trusted machete at his hip. In short, Gabili is the best! He has been working at the centre for 27 years and knows everything and anything there is to know about the forest.
First thing in the morning we collect sugar cane or banana leaves for the nursery orang-utans (up to 4yrs). These enrich the apes lives and helps them to learn vital skills such as nesting. It's amazing how long you can stare at them whilst they practice nesting. One female in particular is so good and becomes frustrated when the males come and stomp on or steal her nest. An orang-utan will nest every night in a tree so it's important to learn from a young age. They also love playing in the leaves and eating them. According to Gabili wild sugar cane is good for people with asthma (fun fact!).
We then head into the deep dark forest. We trek for ~1hr and survey the forest for orang-utan nests. This data helps the centre keep track of how many orang-utans there are within the 11 acre forest. The centre uses a system whereby they identify how old the nest is e.g. 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months. We also identify the species of tree. I've discovered they like nesting in Saraya trees. Whilst we walk Gabili points out interesting insects, plants, birds and small mammals. So far we have seen wild rubber (Gabili stabbed the tree and it just bled and bled sap. On a good tree you could extract 1lt every 10mins), Shorea laevis - tree that's resin was used for candles in villages (smells lovely), Saraya tree that was used for communication across villages because when hit, the hollow interior rings out for kilometres, Filoboletus fungus (glows in the dark), wild pepper (helps cats and dogs with fleas), wild garlic, itchy plant, plants which cure cancers and tumours, Lankayam vines which store water so we actually drank from them - very cool!, wild boar, giant squirrels, badgers, pygmy deer, horned spiders (one was munching away on a dragonfly - also very cool!), water spiders, bullet ants, manater lizards, green viper, a 7ft python, mangrove snake, crested serpent eagle, oriental hornbill, rhinoceros hornbill, and probably most awesome a wild tarsier and slow loris. I could go on and on but safe to say you could walk around this forest for a year and find something new every day. The most impressive thing is definitely the healing powers of plants. Gabili has told us about ones that cure kidney stones, rashes and itches, bee stings, asthma and as I said before cancers and tumours. We identified ones you can use to stun fish when fishing and poisons to kill our enemy and get away with it. And I imagine those are only the tip of the iceberg. Finally he taught us how to recognise and mark our own trails. So now I feel totally prepared to face the jungle on my own! Bets on how long I survive??
We've had the best time following Gabili through the forest with his machete. We laugh at how you are literally standing in the middle of vines, trees, with not a single trail mark and he just starts hacking into the most vegetated place and says 'this way'. How this man has any clue where he is baffles me! We've walked across rickety bridges, climbed over enormous fallen trees, shimmed over them when there is no other way, through the thickest mud and up steep hills. But I have to give him credit for always getting us back.
Despite being a meal for some leeches - which isn't the greatest - I've had a great time trekking! Being in the forest learning so many new things greatly satisfies my inner animal biologist and I hope one day I'll know as much Gabili!
Next week: Outdoor - which means I'll finally be able to meet some orang-utans!
S x
No comments:
Post a Comment