Last days in Sepilok

My time in Sepilok is coming to the end, I'm moving on next Monday :( I can't say I'm happy about the fact but at the same time I'm more than excited to see what'll come along in the next weeks in Sarawak. I'm gonna miss the bears and a few people terribly but hopefully I'll see all of them again some day.

In the bear house life goes on like usual. The new one, Koko, is being a good fun to watch and I'm sure she'll fit into the bunch very well. Mamatai has been surprisingly playful, she's not acting like her name (mau matai=wanna die?) but instead has been playing around and hasn't even barked at anyone for a long while. Well, as we know her, that can change in no time.

Bermuda is enjoying being outside and he's making Oms (other male) life difficult, as they don't really like the company of other males in nearby forest enclosures. I hope they'll get used to eatchothers.

I've more than enjoyed to work with the keepers, always smiling Daniel and David with the weirdest humor ever and other volunteers, especially Cliff and Roshan, and of course the traveller-volunteers who mainly worked with orang utans.

But yes, time to end the journey in Sabah (for now) and soon to fly to Mulu national park in Sarawak for hopefully fantastic time trekking to the Pinnacles before I'm moving on to Kuching on 9th of March.

New bear and crocs at Kinabatangan

Alright, I've been lazy but sitting at my computer after a full day of work actually doing something else with it than just surfing hasn't really been a tempting idea. But now so much has happened that I finally had to force myself to actually do the long due update.

Debbie slowly waking up.

A few days ago was probably the most interesting day I have had in the bear house. I was allowed to take part on Debbies first medical check. My job was to take pictures and I also sneaked into a few myself. Debbie is the youngest little cub in the bear house. She was found in a palm oil plantation and brought to BSBCC about a month ago. Read more.

Today we got the first results which showed she looks to be healthy. I hope the rest of the results turn out to be just as good. She's amazing! It's also remarkable to follow how fast a small bear can develope in just a few weeks time. The next time I come here she'll be a big girl already. Unless I decide to skip Indonesia and stay here :)

I also had a day off last week. The plan was to go climbing at Pulau Berhala with a local climber who lives in Sandakan but well, it's kind of raining season still so we had no luck. It rained the whole night and basically also the whole day.

Instead I decided to go to Rainforest Discovery Center which is an excellent place to get to know primary rainforest with lots of paths and also a canopy walkway and a few towers. I spent about 4 hours over there walking around (in rain...), enjoying the peace and rainforest sounds. I didn't see any mammals but hanging around in a misty rainforest without seeing any other people was still an amazing experience.

On Sunday I took 2 nights off and went to Kinabatangan river to see some wildlife. I started the trip with a small hang over, had maybe one glass too much rice wine the night before. I went to Kinabatangan coz wanted to see as much wildlife as possible and especially proboscis monkeys, but it still was a bit difficult to be separated from the bears for SO LONG. I dunno how I can ever leave this place, snif. Especially as so much happened while I was away.

First surprise was that Bermuda came out and was running around in the forest enclosure when I came back, already after one week which is really fast for a bear being kept inside for 10 years. Read more.

The second surprise was a new cub, who still hasn't got a name. She's been captive for a while as she's quite used to humans, not like Debbie who's still got the wild instinct and is running around most of the time. More updates of the newbie when she's got a name!

Kingfisher

So, back to Kinabatangan. I stayed at Uncle Tan camp on the river bank, a quite spartan place but very nice staff and I also met really nice other travelers. We saw f.ex. lots of proboscis, other monkeys, a few crocodiles, lots of birds, especially kingfishers and a civet cat. No elephants and orang utans but at least we had a good party in the evening.

The manager of the place had birthday which meant lots of rice wine was involved. Nice nice!

Civet cat eating figs.

With Iva from Czech Republic.

Bermudas first day outside. Almost.

Yesterday was THE day for the ultimate alpha bear, Bermuda. He had successfully finished the training and was now allowed to go outside for the first time ever in his life. We put lots of goodies & honey outside and were hoping to lure him out with the treats but well, sometimes it's just too cosy to be inside :) It can take several days, sometimes even a month until bears are ready to leave the bear house but once they do, they really know how to enjoy the outdoors. Who wouldn't wanna climb trees, dig dirt and eat ants.

Suspicious Bermuda

Bermuda found the treats.

Not too stupid!

Waiting, waiting...

Honey can also be licked without leaving the house.

Entertainment troops during the pause

Another try tomorrow.

Finally in Sepilok & Lawa show

I love Sun Bears. I heard they need to be hugged no I mean saved so here I am, in Sepilok in Sabah, Borneo working for BSBCC for a month as a volunteer. So far my tasks have been very basic, shoveling shit, checking the fence, feeding etc. I still wait for the part that I have to cuddle all 24 of them except maybe the dominant male, Bermuda. He's quite scary. Already after a few days two of the bears need a special mention: Mamatai and Amaiko. Mamatai is an older female, a bit chubby and she's got short legs. And a sad face. Which melted my heart. Amaiko in the other hand is almost 20 years old male with huge claws, hardly any teeth and a wrinkled face. He already has tried to scare me off but I'm sure it's just a show off and he actually likes me.

Most the animals have been kept as pets, usually in very small cages where they couldn't move. BSBCC gives them a good life if they can't be rehabilitated back into the nature. The best candidate for that is Natalie, a few years old very playful girl, who's always teasing the other bears to play with her. And she looks like she's always smiling, what a cutie!

As a volunteer I live in the staff house, where 2 workers also live and up to 6 volunteers. At the moment we are 4 volunteers here but next week there will be more. We've got puppies running up and down in the yard and also an owl which I could stare for hours.

Today I got a chance to follow the bears in the nature and got some amazing footage. Also I can't praise enough how amazing and versatile the rainforest is.

Here's Lawa getting into a tree.

Lawa being funny in a tree.

Lawa saying hello!

Also found an orang utan in a tree top.

And during the photography the leeches found me, iiigit. Didn't appreciate that.

And some other funny insects.









So far so good, I love it here! Luckily I still have 3 more weeks to enjoy the bears, good company and I hopefully can also make it to climbing in the nearby island called Barhala. It'll be a sad day when I have to move on.

Borneo!!! Guinness at Kota Kinabalu.

Last night I was listening to loud banging and car alarms going off under my hotel room window for quite a while. I think somebody was throwing new year explosives under cars. Maybe. I didn't go out to find out. So, welcome to Kota Kinabalu. Quite a difference after small & cosy Phuket town.

I came here on Saturday, flying from Phuket via Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian airlines. All went well except my first flight was a bit delayed so I had to run to catch the connecting flight. I made it, my backpack didn't. But all well, all 19 kilograms arrived sound and safe in the evening in my hotel. Which is quite posh btw., especially comparing to some of the ratholes I stayed at in Thailand. If you ever come here, Eden 54 is the place to sleep! In the evening I ended up in an irish pub drinking Guinness for 6 e a pint!!! Robbery!!! But omg it was soooo nice.

On Sunday I had my eyes on a hill. Again. What's with all the hills??? There's a nice one right behind the quite ugly center of KK. A small path through a jungle and up you are on a view point. From there there was a road to somewhere and those are the ones one should follow. After maybe half an hour I ended up in front of a sign "wetlands". I walked in the mangrove forest for a while having the best company: a small kitten! Sooo cute. The lady in the office told nobody owns her and I could have her. Oh dear. Those were some sad moments when I had to leave her behind, snif.

In the evening it was time for some more Guinness. Who knows when's the next time I can drink that dark creamy heavenly liquid again :( At the same time I was watching tennis on the screen coz Nadal was playing. Who cares about the game, I just want to see some close-ups and slow motions when the perfectly shaped abs shine through the lightly moist t-shirt.

Today I took a boat to a nearby island for some snorkeling and beach treatment. I was hanging out at Mammutik for quite a while with an icelandic girl, Sunna, who got me infected with the diving bug again. Now I've been looking at owd courses at Semporna (Sipadan!!!) but as after the voluntary work I've got flights booked to Mulu already I might not have enough time for it in Malaysia. Now it looks like that after Java I'll head to Gili for some diving and maybe surfing. That'd be early April. But this might change in a bit again...

Tomorrow morning I'm off to Sandakan where the people from BSBCC will pick me up and bring to the bears. Now it's sushi time. No beers today. 

Phuket isn't a swear word after all

The same scheme continues, the places I have been most suspicous of I have liked the most. No, I'm not at Patong, I ended up in Phuket town as my flight to Borneo leaves from here and I was getting a bored at Yao Noi especially in the evenings. Even my first impression of the town was positive, lively but not too crowded streets, old chinese style houses, lots of small unique cafes and bars and just a few tourist who are here for a day trip. This place has nothing to do with the picture I had of Phuket. This place is awesome!

I got a room on the roof of an old chinese building (photo) paying peanuts for a huge room with A/C & warm water & free wifi. Just next to my hotel is a bar which turned into my new local/stammkneipe/kantabaari. I love sitting in there listening oldies & watching life go by. They even had a table made out of an old singer sewing machine. I might just reserve until I have to leave to the airport.

On Wednesday I made a trip to a waterfall (if you can call it a waterfall...) about 20 km from Phuket town. There is also a Gibbon rescue center, where monkeys who used to be kept as pets and tourist attractions are trained to be independent again and with luck they can be released back to the nature. Really people, if you see a gibbon being held captive and tourist can f.ex take pictures with it, please let these people know!

From the waterfall was a path through the last remained jungle area in Phuket to another waterfall. A guy in the gibbon center told me it's a 3 hour hike and I should be aware of snakes and an aggressive male gibbon, who has already bitten 5 people. According to him it would be better to do it starting in the other waterfall where I can take a guide with me. No way I was thinking and just started walking. After a while I met a really nice french couple who I joined for the rest of the hike. Luckily, as Jeremy scared away 2 snakes. At the end it was only 1,5 hours hike. I didn't run but I've always thought walking slowly is for old people.

There was nothing wrong with the path!!!

Afterwards I had some beers with Jeremy & Pam (I was being social!!!) and then headed back to home for a few more in the local.

On Thursday I wanted to see some more monkeys! I heard that there should be some on a hill nearby and I started walking there. Reading a map is overrated so I ended up in a local prison. I was a bit wondering what's the deal with all the barb wire and why everybody is looking at me weirdly. Then two officers came to me and kindly told me that there are no monkeys, this is a prison. Okay... Fast turn and through the gate back to freedom. I found the right way to the hill and after a few minutes a car pulled to the side and a nice man offered me a ride. He was wondering if I was a bit mad coz I was walking. There are a few tv-stations in the top of the hill and he was working for one of them. So sure, there's AC in the car!

I finally found the monkeys when I was walking down. I also found a swedish man who was driving around with a moped. He used to be a photojournalist and was now living retired in Vietnam. Funny how interesting people you can meet when you least expect it. In the evening Hanna came to town with a few friends from Tampere and we had a few beers. I think I had one too many and considering I had only ate one springroll the whole day I'm now feeling a bit weak. Or maybe that's the punishment for being ridiculously social on one day.

Despite the hang over I did walk to another hill this morning and almost died on the way up. This is my last day in Thailand and I'll spend it by eating, not drinking. Though it's not so easy when a pink weirdo is staring looking at you. No more beers for me thank you very much. Tomorrow the journey continues to Borneo! Excited!!!

Diving at Phi Phi, discoing at Ao Nang & Climbing in Yao Noi

After Railay I went to Ao Nang to meet my old high school friend Hanna, who was there for diving. She actually managed to convince me to do a test dive. Seriously, I'm a person who enjoys being as high as possible (no, not speaking about ganja here) and is lightly claustrophobic. My worst nightmare is not to be able to breath. So yes, let's go diving!!!

Originally the plan was to go diving already on Friday. But luckily we didn't coz things on Thursday got a bit out of the hand and we came back to the hotel at 4 AM. I also got to witness what's a snorkel test for new divemasters. Jeezuz...

So early Saturday morning we were heading to Phi Phi Islands with Raya Divers for 2 dives. Everything went for sure smoother than I thought. I can actually breathe through the weird mouthpiece and I don't panic when a really annoying probably blind french dude is kicking&hitting me in the deep. Yes, there were a few too many people trying out scuba diving at the same time and I was an unlucky one to be in the same group with the frenchie. Also the dive sites weren't the best possible ones as I saw more sand than corals. But at least I noticed there's nothing really to be afraid of and I might consider doing owd later on the trip. Or in the next one. And thanx to Hanna for convincing me to try it out!!!

After a quick shower we of course went for a few beers. And ended up in a loud tourist/teenie disco. We didn't last long.

On Sunday it was finally time to move on to Koh Yao Noi, a sleepy island at Phang Nga bay with excellent climbing possibilities. I met a swedish-norwegian couple when I arrived and went immediately climbing with them. Luckily they were heading to a wall with routes beginning with grade 6. The guy had been climbing for 14 years and was confident with grade 8. So I actually went climbing with professionals.

To reach the wall was a pain in the ass, 20 minutes scooter drive in a muddy gravel road and then we had to slide through a jungle path climbing up and down for another 20-30 minutes. By this time I was sweating like the king (see photo).

But it was for sure worth it!!! The wall was amazing to climb, reminded me on a few places near Argo. And not to speak about the view!!! Just the sweat running into my eyes was “a bit” disturbing. Climbing in this climate is really hard. When it's over 30 degrees and the walls sunny I just don't enjoy it as much as f. ex. I do in Italy. And I also did miss my own climbing buddies. But enough with complaining, it was for sure a pleasure and hopefully can go climbing tomorrow again.

Today I just drove around the island with a scooter cooling down & dipping into the sea every once in a while. I also had the pleasure to watch how a cockroach came out of my beauty bag which I had left in the bathroom. Oh well, there are probably also a few of them in my backpack. I hope they'll crawl out at some point.