Day 1
2100: Arrived at Denpasar, Bali. My hotel does not seem to have hot water.
Day 2
0500: Flight to Makassar at seven-thirty, so had to get up early. Took another absolutely freezing shower.
0900: En route to Makassar, Sulawesi. Am messily dribbling jelly syrup all over my diary.
1125: At Makassar airport. I apparently have 5 hours here, so have arranged for tour to see waterfall. I have a feeling I'm paying a bit too much for this...
1300: I have decided that the trip is completely worth my while. Now at Bantimurung waterfall, an absolutely beautiful place with insane numbers of butterflies just swarming around the turquoise pools in psychedelic clouds. It is apparently very popular with the locals. A little too crowded for my liking, but I managed to find some quiet further upstream. A pity I was wearing my boots at the time and so could not bathe my feet. Well I suppose I could have, but it seemed like too much effort to take my shoes off.
I seem to have become some sort of tourist attraction myself, as I have been asked to pose for a photo with a group of giggling schoolgirls. I think it's the big black rucksack. And the fact that I look so Chinese that I seem Japanese. Now that didn't make sense. Perhaps I am getting dehydrated.
1630: Flight to Kendari, which is the capital of Southeast Sulawesi.
1930: Why on earth did my travel agent book me a room with two single beds in it? Oh well, at least there seems to be hot water.
2000: Yes, there is scaldingly hot water. And freezing cold water. Nothing in between. Can't decide which I prefer.
Day 3
0530: Met up with K, who's also a volunteer with the same organisation. Got transported to another hotel, which contained the rest of this week's batch of volunteers. There is a very whiny group of sixth-formers, with a teacher who might as well be branded with the words "OVERENTHUSIASTIC BIRDWATCHER" on his forehead.
0730: On the ferry to Buton Island. Apparently this takes about 5 hours. It is getting rather choppy, and the schoolchildren are getting a bit seasick. I love being on boats. Think I will go out on deck.
0900: It very pleasant out on deck. Not too sunny. Unfortunately, too choppy to risk getting my camera out to photograph the excellent scenery.
10ish: Have returned 'indoors', and am now inexplicably sitting next to the bird enthusiast. He has a book on the birds of Sulawesi, apparently. Entertained myself briefly by explaining what was in his snack bun (red bean paste).
Still 10-ish: The bird enthusiast has redeemed himself by pointing out a huge school of flying fish, which apparently think the ferry is some kind of fearsome predator.
1300: Disembarked on the island of Buton and am now in the town of Bau Bau. Off we go to the organisation's headquarters.
1400ish: Am squeezed in a tiny van with several volunteers. The vehicle is going at a breakneck speed, uphill, on a very rocky road. I can barely read my own writing. K. is here too, and trying to dry her washing by holding it out the window. I wonder what the locals think of lacy knickers hanging out of a speeding van?
1730: Have arrived at Labundo-bundo village, a nice, quiet-looking place. We will apparently be staying at a villager's home (for now). K. and L. (both from the same van) and I seem to have been assigned the same house, which is lucky.
Day 4
0400: I am seriously considering throwing a boot at that damned rooster.
0600: Went out on some kind of bird walk. The bird enthusiast was understandably even more enthusiastic than usual. I wish I'd brought my binoculars (I do some birdwatching at home). We saw a great many species-- several kinds of birds of prey, two sunbirds, and even black macques (monkeys). I took some pictures of the sun coming up behind the trees.
1700:The rest of the day was quite relaxed, just getting to know the people who are going on the mandatory jungle training together ( five girls! And K. and L. are going, too. The school group apparently is doing something else). Dani the guide took us on a walk around the village introducing some of the plant life, and I got to eat a bit of a cocoa fruit (doesn't taste like chocolate at all-- that's from the seeds). The villagers grow coffee here as well, and I find that I quite enjoy the local blend. Has quite a kick to it. We will be setting off into the jungle tomorrow, and I have packing to do.
Day 5
0500: Still in the village... off to a nearby patch of forest to hunt for tarsiers, which are a tiny sort of primate with huge eyes. One hears them all the time, but they are quite hard to spot. We managed to find two, which bounced from tree-trunk to tree-trunk like some kind of aboreal rabbit. I must say they look rather like Furbys, only in more sensible colours.
1200: We wave goodbye to civillisation.
1400: I have no idea why I keep falling down. Perhaps it is because my boots aren't ankle-length like the others', and keep getting nearly sucked off by the mud. It is supposed to be the dry season, but it keeps raining, and the trail is a nightmare. Otherwise it is a fairly scenic route, and not too demanding.
1500: Set up camp in a spot that could pass for a mud-wrestling pit. My shoes are completely sodden from crossing the river several times, and my sandals keep getting stuck in the mud. No hope of dry feet here! We are sleeping in hammocks tonight (thank goodness), and mine is damp already, from the rain (despite the 'waterproof' raincover over it).
Day 6
0700: We are apparently staying in this camp for two nights, but our guide thinks it's a good idea to take us trekking all over the place anyway. Had the unique experience of climbing a very steep, slippery hill in soaking wet boots, and then climbing (or rather sliding) back down again. The forest is very beautiful, though.
0800: We were taught how to cut firewood using a parang (a multipurpose heavy knife) and how to start a fire using only a lighter. I'm simply relieved we even have a lighter, because it's taking rather long to get the fire started!
10ish: Interesting insect life-- all kinds of colourful beetles flying around. One just landed on my dirty, smelly sock.
1100: We were taught how to properly read a map and navigate in the jungle. Trekked upriver (very literally, up the river) to a splendid waterfall, taking bearings every so often in an attempt to draw a map of the route (got the scale a bit wrong). Had a lovely time swimming in it, even though it was freezing cold!
By the way, it rained nearly the whole day. Nearly.
Day 7
0600: We trekked (well, waded) upriver to a hot spring, and then another waterfall. The hot spring (or rather, hot waterfall) wasn't very much, just a small trickle really, but it was still wonderful to bathe our feet (which hadn't been dry since we set out) and kill whatever nasty things that might have taken up residence between our toes.
The second waterfall had a deeper pool and was thus much more suited for swimming (and developing hypothermia, probably). I think I am become very fond of running water. Apparently, we sighted an eagle of some sort, but all I saw was its ruddy (literally) rear end.
1200: We broke camp at about 1000 to trek to our second camp. It was raining all through last night, so the trail was hopelessly muddy. Add a horrifically steep incline, a 50L rucksack, and unfriendly, thorny vegetation all around, and you have a hiker's worst nightmare. There was absolutely no grip, and we were hauling ourselves up using rattan ropes half the time and crawling on all fours for the rest.
1400: We have finally arrived at the second camp, which is just as muddy as the first. We apparently have to build a shelter out of wood and rattan. And it is raining again.
1600: We have completed the shelter, thanks mostly to the efforts of the guides and porters, who are remarkably strong and work like lightning. The rain was running in my eyes all the time, and I couldn't really tell what I was doing. Probably tying the knots all wrong and ensuring the imminent collapse of the entire structure. I am completely soaked and shivering. What's more, I have just spotted a tick on my leg. Excuse me a moment while I get rid of it-- ouch!
1615: Got rid of it. Actually, I screamed for the doctor, who came to check that it wasn't anything dangerous, and removed it properly so no bits would be left to fester in my skin. Rather colourful, if nasty little thing. I think I saw one of the guides frying it to a crisp with his cigarette. Oh well.
1900: The shelter is quite cosy, if a bit cramped. One of the group members seems to attract leeches-- this is her what, fourth one today? L. got bitten by a tick, too. Infested, this place.
Day 8
0700: Wandered around the area being introduced to various plants by Dani, the Indonesian scientist who tagged along.
1000: We were introduced to the various methods of getting water out of lianas and rattan stems, as well as how to cook eggs in leaves or bake them in mud. Apparently bits of rattan stem are quite edible, too. Useful plant, that. Don't care much for the taste, though.
1230: We began the trek to the third camp at around 1000. It was excruciating. Remember yesterday's rain? Add that to three hills. Three steep hills. I can't decide which I like less, going uphill or downhill. While trying to descend a hill I lost my footing and fell, and my arm caught and dragged along a clump of absolutely vicious rattan. I am still picking thorns out of my forearm, and the sap has irritated the area into a rash. Plus, a leech with apparently vampiric tendencies latched onto my neck, and it took absolutely ages to get it off.
1500: The third camp is on a hill, and it is a precarious slide down to the river, where we are to do our washing (honestly, do not really see the point, as the moment one steps out of the river, one would be ankle deep in mud yet again). I am thankful that we are sleeping in hammocks again, though.
1900: I have decided that I like hammocks.
Day 9
0700: We are returning to the village today, so I am looking forward to a proper wash.
10ish: Oh, yay, more hills!
11ish: We have reached the main road and are now in a van on the way back to the village. On the way here we passed through some (really muddy) agricultural land, washed off at a waterfall, then waded through a river, before heading back onto the fields to get muddy again. Oh well. Very nearly walked into a chilli plant, but that is beside the point.
1300: We are back at Labundo-bundo! Have had lunch, and plan on spending afternoon getting clean and mucking out my comb, which has turned black.
1600: Have discovered it is a bad idea to give away paper boats, as have had to fold them for every single small child in the viilage as all of them started clamouring for one.
1700: Further discoveries: chickens are very silly creatures. The chickens belonging to the family I live with roost in a mango tree that is too high for them to fly up into, so they clamber onto a nearby wall and use it as a runway to launch themselves into the tree. It's ridiculous. Sometimes they don't quite make it, and fall off.
2000: I don't think I properly appreciated the night sky while in the jungle (thanks to the canopy). There is absolutely no light pollution here, and it is a cloudless night. The moon is nearing its full, and so bright you can see quite clearly by it, and stars occupy almost every vacant position in the sky. Breathtaking. The villagers probably think I'm nuts, staring at the sky like that.
Day 10
0400: Damn the roosters. I should throw something at the mango tree.
Rest of Day: It was a free day for most of us today, so we were taken to a mangrove beach. It is a very interesting experience going swimming at a mangrove beach-- one steps into the mud/silt, and immediately sinks up to the knee. Nice. It was very enjoyable splashing about in the sea, though, and the scenery was great. I will never forget the sight of scientists and their assistants slinging mudballs at each other (for the record, it was the two plant scientists we call Tree Man and Rattan Man, after their respective fields of expertise, who started it).
We also saw a couple of storks and some kind of bird of prey. And crabs. Ghost crabs, hermit crabs, fiddler crabs, gazillions of them, scuttling across the mudflats. Had a wonderful time.
Day 11
1700: Been out in the forest since 0800. Today I assisted R., who is doing a project on the habitat preferences of skinks, which are a sort of small lizard just about the same colour as the forest floor.
They are very common, but sometimes terribly hard to spot (they're very good at playing 'I'm not there, you don't see me') , but we ran into a bit of luck when I was doing some measurements and one just dropped into the pitfall trap just behind me. Scared the living daylights out of me.
2000: I need to be educated in card games. I can't even play Uno.
Day 12
1600: Again, out with R. since 0800. This time, we ran into M (the resident herpetologist) and her pitfall trapping team, and followed them around for a bit so R. could get to the less accessible sites (he apparently has a horrible sense of direction). I very nearly died of over-exertion. How on earth do these people get so physically fit? I can't count the number of treacherously steep slopes we climbed, the number of fallen trees we leapt over, or the number of times I got so far behind I had to whistle to be sure which direction they went. I was a complete, wheezing wreck when we finally parted ways so R. could do something more sane. It was a worthwhile experience, though-- they caught a gorgeous Draco, or flying lizard, and I would have gladly scaled Mt. Everest just to see one that wasn't dead and dried and sitting in a jar in a Chinese medicine shop.
It wouldn't 'fly', though. M. said it was too stressed out, poor thing.
1700: When we got back to the village, Dani the Indonesian scientist waved me over to see what he'd caught in his mist net, and kindly invited me to the measurement-taking-cum-photography session.
He'd netted two birds, a lemon-bellied white-eye ( a pretty yellow-green bird with an even prettier voice), and a collared kingfisher (a feisty little thing that nearly took his finger off).
He let them go afterwards, and I remember the kingfisher shrieking his indignation before flying off.
Day 13
1630: More lizard work today. R. insisted on scaling a very tall and steep hill. The Indonesian guide has taken to calling R. 'the crazy boss', because he would insist on taking habitat measurements on some really difficult terrain (I swear the slope was nearly vertical at one point, and he was slowly but surely sliding downhill while measuring the circumference of a tree...)
Going down the other side of the hill (where there was yet another transect on a totally impossible slope) made jungle training look like a leisurely stroll across Hyde Park. I was literally clinging to any sturdy bit of of vegetation as I slowly lowered myself down, while R. virtually ran downhill with no concern for his neck. Honestly, is no-one sane around here?
We also bumped into M. again, checking one of the traps, and she fished a tiny black snake out of a bucket and deposited it into my hands. A newly described species, apparently, and insectivorous, with a beautiful, oval-shaped head and a cream belly. I love snakes.
(Sadly, no pictures were taken. Ger, you're in luck.)
Day 14
1800: I must say, it's an... interesting experience to be crashing through the undergrowth holding a clipboard and walky-talky, following a Scotsman dangerously swinging a monstrous radio antenna. Spent the afternoon radiotracking civets, which are apparently not native to this island. We tracked two individuals today, and one of them had the gall to be sleeping, after the massive effort to actually get a signal and triangulate his position. S. (the Scotsman), also enlightened me on the subject of haggis, which I will never, ever eat now I know what it's made of.
Day 15
1230: Morning shift today, from 0600-1200. A fair bit of trekking involving more hills, my shoes nearly getting sucked off by the mud, and lots and lots and lots of fallen trees. I swear, Olympic hurdlers are nothing compared to these people. Not a very interesting day so far, as we didn't manage to get any signals. I amused myself by taking pictures of dung beetles.
Rather reminds me of fitness freaks and their giant exercise balls.
1600: Went to cool off in the nearby river with a couple of friends, since I had the afternoon off. There was a small waterfall above it, and I lay across the rocks with the water washing over me, just watching the coconut trees sway in the breeze...
Day 16
1600: Today was spent helping out with A., or 'Tree-Man', as we call him. His idea of a transect is half a kilometre long, and we took measurements (circumference and estimated height) of every single tree within five metres of the transect. May I remind you that this is a rainforest? Rio, a local, had it somewhat worse-- he was climbing trees to get samples of epiphytes.
Man, he's got guts. Some of these trees are more than 40m tall.
Day 17
0800: Time to leave. Will miss the village and the forest.
1200: On the ferry, now. It will probably take ages and ages to get to Kendari.
1600: It is taking ages and ages, seemingly more than last time. The least I can do is take pictures.
2000 or thereabouts: Finally at the hotel in Kendari. AT LONG LAST, A SHOWER! And air-conditioning. And a proper bed. Bliss.
Day 18
0630: Flight to Makassar. Slept.
0930: Flight to Bali. Slept more.
1100: I am finally in Bali, and my camera battery (after clinging to life for more than a fortnight) has chosen this time to die out. I have more than 10 hours here till my flight home, so I shall spend it with my new friends, rather than sitting out this transit at the airport.
1800: Am feeling very satisfied with myself, as have done lots of shopping and eating and watched a sunset over Kuta Beach instead of staying at the airport. However, it is time to say goodbye yet again. In taxi heading for airport, now.
2300: On flight home. There's a Canadian next to me who's travelling to Singapore.
Canadian: So... what do you recommend I do in Singapore?
Me: Uh... eat. A lot.
Canadian: Oh.
Me: Yeah.
I think I can strike the Singapore Tourism Board off my list of potential employers.
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