Archives for August 2016

The night before leaving for Java, both UNAS and Rutgers students decided to celebrate our last night at a karaoke place.  At first everyone was understandably shy but as time passed by and more laughter filled the room, our bond started to blossom. The most quiet people in the group had the most beautiful singing voices of the whole group. When they sang, my jaw hit the floor because it was so unexpected.

The next morning we left for Bogor on the Javan Island. I had no idea as to where we were going to stay, however as I got off the bus I was in awe. The city was absolutely gorgeous and to top it all off we were staying in the Botanical Gardens for two nights. Just standing on the lawn brought a smile to my face. My view was incredible! I was surrounded by trees and flowers from all over the globe. The vibrant greenery from the garden was hypnotizing and I felt as if I was living in a fantasy world. I wanted this to be my life every single day if possible. During the night we went out to explore the city filled with food carts, tuk tuks, and happy people singing. We decided to explore the mall which was highly impressive compared to American malls. They were several stories high, filled with both European and American brands. The malls were more western with a touch of Indonesian culture.

7/28/16 Today we had a tour of the garden. Our tour guide told us how the garden first belonged to the Dutch who colonized the country, but was eventually given to the Indonesian once they gained independence. We were also told that the President preferred to stay in the botanical garden instead of the capital, which I can completely understand as to why. Interestingly there were also a ton of Indian deer that inhabited the garden. The deer was a gift to Indonesia from India and they have multiplied ever since.

                            

At one point some of the Rutgers students were stopped by locals and other foreigners and asked about our stay here. This took awhile since the people were highly curious about us Americans. I was able to escape an endless line of selfies since I looked more like the locals.  Aside from the enormous trees, vibrant colors and enchanting orchid house, my favorite part was spotting the flying fox. I absolutely love bats and being able to see my favorite frugivore was a dream come true! Bats in general are misunderstood creatures and the larger they are the scarier they seem to people. The flying fox is a megabat and their size can be pretty intimidating. However people should not be afraid this mammal since they only eat fruit and want nothing to do with humans in the first place. Seeing these bats makes me want to continue my research in protecting these creatures in anyway that I can.

                                   

Today we left camp. Leaving was a bittersweet because leaving meant that I would no longer be conducting hands on research in the forest which is what I enjoy the most. This work brought me joy because I felt that I was actively fighting to conserve the orangutans. Although it is hard work, I take pride in field work because it is highly rewarding. I will certainly miss waking up to a serenade of song birds and the deep calls of male orangutans. Admiring the greenery and liveliness of the forest is a time that I will always reminisce. Despite feeling sad for leaving, the days ahead of me are going to be filled with much more adventure and it excites me!

The highlight of today was visiting  Borneo Orangutan Survival in Palangka Raya, which is an orangutan orphanage that works on rehabilitating baby orangutans. Most orangutans who visit the site are unfortunately injured missing fingers, limbs, or are filled with metal pellets. Some orangutans are blind or too injured and unfortunately  can’t be released back into the wild for their own safety. Most are sent to the rehabilitation center due to habitat loss, being kept as pets, being shot at, or because their mothers were killed.  It is upsetting that the orangutans end up at the rehabilitation center in the first place, however its good to know that there are people out there  doing as much as they can to send orangutans out in the wild.

Watching the orangutans and there caretakers drives me to study rehabilitation and what methods work best in sending these animals back into the wild. I feel that it is my duty to bring and protect life in the forest. Because this excursion made such an impact in my life I decided to adopt a baby orangutan. I currently support Ello, a juvenile male who is described as “king of the playground”.  Although I would like to work hands on with Ello, the money I donate helps to feed him and supports his time in forest school. This experience has definitely shaped my future in wanting to work in rehabilitation.

Learn more about BOS here: https://redapes.org/projects-partners/nyaru-menteng/

 

The days at TORP are unfortunately coming to an end and to celebrate our time here, the village kindly invited us to lunch. Before attending, the students took the time to learn how to build water filters for the villagers using simple items such as sand, stone, charcoal, fibrous material and tile. These items are used to make the water less acidic and filter out any harmful particles. The morning of we gathered our supplies and headed off on a 20 minute walk to the village. Once we arrived we were greeted by music and smiling faces ready to get to work. Before we began building we had a small educational workshop on water safety which the locals were highly interactive with. We discussed how to properly purify water and signs that  the water is potable.

We were split up into small groups that integrated both Indonesians and Americans. Although we lacked verbal communication, we were able to communicate with one another with non-verbal cues. What amazed me the most as we were building was the work ethic of young girl and an elderly woman, whom everyone called Grandma. Both were quick to gather supplies and keep moving no matter the circumstances. Towards the end when it was time to move the water filters, both the elderly woman and the young girl without help attempted to move the containers, despite the fact that they weighed over thirty pounds.  Their independence and determination astounded me.

We celebrated the completion of the water filters with a large lunch. At this point, I have been struggling with getting accustomed with the food since most of it has been spicy, which is my least favorite flavor. However I was blessed with a variant feast which included chicken that made my mouth water. I took advantage of this opportunity and savored every bite of my plate.  After lunch we split into small groups in which people played volleyball, others learned traditional dancing and some received temporary dayak tattoos. I played volleyball but then decided to interact more with the children watching us play. The girls loved playing with my hair because it was curly which they were unused to. As they french braided my hair, they kept referring to it as princess hair due to the bouncy curls. The girls were unbelievably sweet which made me wish I had interacted with them more during my time there.

 

As the day came to an end I gave the children gifts which included pens, pencils, sharpeners, erasers and candy that I brought from home. I was glad that the kids appreciated these gifts, but I smiled as to how surprised they were that the fuzzy pencils existed. Their wide eyes and large smiles brought back nostalgia of when I was a child and had the same reaction.  Their cheerfulness with such simple things made me incredibly happy but also left me desiring the same simplicity in life.

I’m exhausted! The travel and poor sleep has finally caught up with me, which has every fiber in my body yearning for rest. We started the day with a transect survey, which entails us trekking the peat swamp forest in search of primates and taking data points. We first spotted Niko, an old male orangutan, eating kamunda about 10 meters above us. Although I could only catch a small glimpse, seeing an orangutan in the wild refueled my enthusiasm for this trip. (I was going to need it.)

Walking through the peat swamp forest is no easy task. We had to be cautious of skin piercing thorns, hairy caterpillars and most commonly not getting stuck in the mud. The humidity and the high temperature did not make this any easier.  My body wanted to collapse and rest, but mentally I wanted to keep exploring the forest.  Eventually we had to go back, but as we were heading down the trail we heard branches swinging near by. We had no idea how far this possible orangutan might be, but with the last bit of strength I decided to back once more into the forest. Ten minutes in and slightly regretting my decision since I fell through a tree trunk, all my tiredness melted away when I saw Juni and Jane, a mother and her offspring resting 10 to 15 meters above us. Since it was midday both were relaxing in a small nest, however like any curious juvenile Jane was looking down on us trying to figure out who we were. Despite being fatigued, I wanted to stay and observed the relation between mother and offspring. I wanted to study their behavior and the relationship between one another.

The next day we had a visitor near camp. No more than 100 feet away was Mawas, a young beautiful female. As we observing her she was feeding on leaves and kamunda. She took a moment to peak down, however her priority was feeding. What I found most captivating about Mawas, was her vibrant orange hair and her bright eyes. Her ability to easily move through the branches and her drive was an indicator of how full of life she was. Seeing her filled me with an unbelievable amount of joy. I could not believe that this was my life and that I was able to see such beauty roaming free in nature.

After 24 hours in the air and a beautiful 2 hour boat ride, we finally arrived to camp.  I’m usually someone who can’t sleep on planes, however due to three amazing seats to myself I somehow was capable of catching a few z’s. The most interesting part of the flight was flying over the North Pole. Never in my life would I have imagined going anywhere remotely close to the North Pole, but due to this extensive journey I can now add this to my list of cool things that I’ve done.

Once we arrived to Palangkaraya we went straight to camp, also known as Tuanan Orangutan Research Project (TORP). Although we went directly to base, this entailed a two-hour car drive to a river bank in order to get on a small boat with 12 other people for another two hours. In spite of the sun beating down and slightly singeing my skin, I enjoyed the greenery as I slowly passed by. Time flew by as I was hypnotized by the red water, which for some reason reminded me of Coca-Cola.

Once we got off the boat we were kindly greeted by the local village who were curious to know more about the students. I was taken back by how kind the locals were. They wanted to help in anything and everything. At one point one of our bags fell in the water and without hesitation three children jumped in the water to retrieve it from the bottom. The kids didn’t expect any kind of reward, they simply wanted to help. Their kindness brought a big smile to my face and reminded that being selfless is a reward in itself.