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.