Headed out on the river at seven this morning in our jungle garb. Joe, Charlie, Aubrey and myself, along with Koko and Sergio. We had loaded up some replacement field equipment and took our boat upriver. Saw a very large crocodile/on one of the river banks, which was quite amazing. With all of us working together to unload and haul the new equipment along the uphill jungle trail, our grueling work was kept relatively short. When arriving at the top of the hill, we found the old equipment damaged by elephants, which is why we’d brought the replacements. Our group lugged the old gear back to the boat and shoved off.

Partway back, we stumbled upon what looked like a partially eaten giant stingray, at least it was similar in color to a stingray, but more similar in size to a manta ray, and likely chewed on by a crocodile. How it got this far away from the ocean is a mystery. Further up the river, Koko checked the fuel level, and though he didn’t say, his facial expression said that it was quite low. Low and behold, it was, and we were soon stranded mid-river, perhaps two bends away from our jetty. It may have been only a few kilometers away, but without oars or cell signal, it may as well have been much more. For some time, we drifted in the hot equatorial sun, until at last, Charlie was able to get signal and contact Danika, and Doyo, our rescuer, came to our aid.

Upon our return, I took my first of two recommended daily showers, whose cool waterfelt amazing.

Laid around for a while, had lunch, and finished reading one of my books. We’re all waiting for the field course to arrive from KK. Once here, we’ll likely have dinner, do our introductions and welcome everyone, and then I’ll be going croc tracking tonight.

The students from Wales arrived at DG at about 6:30 PM. Hello electricity!

Croc tracking with Alut, Joe, Charlie, Masayo, and Aubrey. No sign of any collared crocodiles with the radio antenna. We did see a few baby crocs, a bunch of owls, and a pond civet for about a second. The night sky was amazing, to say the least–even saw a few shooting stars.

Trying to locate a toilet in utter blackness can be a challenge. Allow me to explain: DGFC shuts off their generators between 2-5 PM and from 11 PM – 11 AM. I must have woken up during the latter period to use the loo. Thankfully I am still quite alive.

This morning I awoke to another great (and welcome) surprise– after sleeping with my feet on a pillow, my ankles look normal!

Just found out that though we normally only have power for a few hours per day, when a field course is here, the power stays on from 7 AM to 11 PM, and guess what? Field course starts tomorrow for 10 days.

Very low-key day today, as I am supposed to relax and acclimate to the climate. Sat around and chatted with Kila for awhile, and then laid in a hammock, alongside Joe during his break, accompanied by Doyo, Yusri, and Alut. Masayo (from Japan) joined us today as another new volunteer.

I was feeling pretty good (I rarely am affected much by jet-lag), so I joined Charlie and Aubrey on a nightwalk in the jungle. We saw a whiptail scorpion, several spiders (including a giant orange huntsman), a very interesting species of centipede, and some frogs. It was really enjoyable, though still quite warm and very humid.

I am unsure what time it actually is right now –my watch claims that it is 11, but with my intermittent bursts of sleep aborad the plane, I honestly don’t know if that’s AM or PM. After manually changing my phone’s date and time settings, I have come to discover that it is apparently 2:00 AM on August 31st. Time travel is pretty strange. I guess it was AM after all (on my watch), and still the 30th; try to keep that straight. So, they are 15 hours behind me at home.

Kota Kinabalu. Once we landed, I came to discover that KK has two separate airports, which a friendly taxi driver brought my attention to, and offered his services to take me to the domestic airport for my next flight.

Once at AirAsia Airport, I purchased a SIM card for my phone, printed my boarding passes, and was informed that only one carry-on item was allowed on their flights (as opposed to a carry-on and a personal item–personal items could not be bags, only things like a cane, a pillow,  a camera, etc.), so I checked the larger of my two backpacks. I discovered soon after that I had left my sunglasses in the convenient glasses holder on my seat during my previous flight on Singapore Air…Here’s to finding a good deal on some in a market in Sandakan.

After a bit of a wait to board our flight, I boarded a smallish AirAisa plane with my fellow passengers to Sandakan. Aboard the plane, I met two girls (Adele and Sharron) returning home after participating in a sailing competition, who graciously assisted me in getting some wanted video footage of our plane takeoff.

Landed in Sandakan, and a man from DGFC named Sergio picked me up from the airport. He is working on his PhD with Cardiff University and works as DGFC’s veternarian–what an awesome job. We stopped at a market so I could buy some new sunglasses. One shop was selling possibly legitimate Ray Bans for over 1000 ringgit (RM), while another was selling less legitimate ones for RM20, so naturally I bought two pairs of knockoffs.

During our long drive from Sandakan to Kinabatangan, I noticed stray dogs (which looked very similar to small Rodesian Ridgebacks or dingoes),  cats, and chickens everywhere. Sergio said that their effect on native species is not yet known, although it will be part of a study at Danau Girang next year. I would assume if nothing else, the domesticated animals create greater competition for resources. Sergio told me that 60-70% of what was native rainforest is now oil palm and coconut plantations, with oil palm being by far the most common. It is the largest export in the counrty, and the largest portion of the country’s economy.

My ankles look terrifying; I wouldn’t be surprised if they were literally twice the circumference as normal. I’ll definitely be sleeping with my feet elevated–maybe I can sleep while doing a headstand.

Most houses along the road appear to be abandoned, except they’ve all had people inside. Most of them are missing doors and windows; poverty seems quite high here, but I see children playing and people smiling and laughing. The roads themselves are in disarray as well, but they are functional as a pathway to direct you to a destination.

I need a shower and some sleep.

Once we arrived in Kinabatangan Sergio and I were greeted by DGFC’s logisitics manager, Budin, and then loaded our gear from the truck into a boat. After a 40-minute boat ride up the murky Kinabatangan River, ctaching glimpses of satin white cranes (possibly egrets) and a small band of mokeys (macaques), Sergio and I arrived at the field station. We unloaded our boat and carried our gear up to the main facility.

The centre features a staff house, the main facility (which holds a common area, offices, kitchen, and labs), a hostel (for short term visitors and field course students), studios, which is where I will be staying, along with Sergio, our other volunteer, Aubrey, and the four Cardiff undergrads (Joe, Charlie, Abbie, and Katey), and the tower, which is converted housing for two of our researchers (Meg and Danika), and the generator building.

With the grand tour finished (thank you, Charlie), I unloaded my bags and at last took a shower in our ever-wet bathroom. The water was cold, but glorious. At 7 o’clock, we all met back up for dinner in the main facility and I was able to meet most of the staff, including some of their spouses and children. We all chatted and then a handful of us played a great card game called “Dutch Blitz,” which was new to me, but still, the boys (Joe and myself) cleaned house.

Our internet is currently in disarray, to the point in which one might consider themselves lucky if a short email can be sent. It is supposed to be fixed within the next two weeks–hopefully sooner, so that I can contact home and keep all of you up-to-date. It would be really nice to be able to upload some photos.

It has been quite some time since I’ve had the opportunity to post about my experience here at the Danau Girang Field Centre. Due to the speed and instability of our current internet connection, I will be unable to post photos until my return, but I will post them as soon as I can.

From this post forward, I will add dates into the title of/ each blog post, as to give some order to it all. Up until this point, I have been keeping a record of my experiences in a handwritten journal.

Regards,

Isaac