Dialu-alikan!!!
(I'd get a cuppa tea if I were you, this is going to be a long one...*)
To those of you who I haven't had the chance to corner on the phone/skype then I suppose there's a lot to be said! I've arrived safely in Borneo (*hurrah) after the seemingly longest flight ever. Despite this, and to my surprise, there was much more leg room than I had anticipated and the flight went really smoothly. The flight attendants were really accomodating.. perhaps a little too much because, to me, it seemed that they arrived with more food every hour or so. I became really disorientated during the flight as well and I kept loosing track of time. As soon as we departed from Dubai (as we paused for a "technical stop") it was night time, so I took my opportunity to sleep. Merely 2 hours or so later I was awoken by an extremely bright orange light in my eyes which, as you may probably have guessed, was indeed the sun rising (we were definitely "chasing the sun"). I landed in Brunei at around 11am Bornean-time, and swiftly got on my transfer flight to Kota Kinabalu (KK). We arrived at the hotel (our base for the next couple of days) at approx 2pm. By this point I was exhausted from travellling for over 24hrs (must stay awake*). I soldiered on till 8pm: meeting all the other volunteers, taking a tour of KK and going out for a delicious sea-food dinner. When I finally got to my room I literally (and I'm not using this word lightly) passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow. Jet lag over, the girls (Anna, Erika, Jess) and I went to the shopping centre because there were a few bits that we all managed to forget or leave at home. I'll admit, and I have no idea how I managed to do this, I went shopping (*oops, sorry mum). We took our transfer flight to Sepilok on Wednesday morning and finally we arrived at our rest house (our base for the next 8 weeks!). So far everything has been amazing.. the food, the people, the weather... the list could go on and on. Malaysia/Borneo seems so relaxed and all the people are so welcoming; everyone smiles and says "hello" wherever you may be. The food (*oh the food) is delicious, fresh fruit and veg all the time (my heaven)... however I think the constant rice and noodles may get to me after a while. Now, I don't want to gloat, because I know back in the UK you're all in a freezer, but the weather is amazing. 30s every day, who's to complain?! The humidity is something else though, any kind of physical exertion and your breaking out into a sweat that is on a par with Niagra Falls (*save me). To settle in to our new surroundings and environment, we were given a rest day on Thursday. I'm rooming with two Australian girls Anna and Jess.. be warned, I think I'm already picking up their accent and idioms for things (e.g. flip flops are thongs... *say what?!). Everyone decided to go and see the Orangutan feeding platform here at Sepilok in the morning. It's so amazing to be able to witness Orangutans in their natural habitat and be able to see all the rehabilitated Orangutans the centre has released back into the rainforest. Along with lots of tourists, the girls and I decided to revisit the platform in the afternoon... now this experience was far more eventful. When everyone was leaving the platform and walking back along the walkways through the forest, a recently released Orang decided to pay us all a visit.. up close.. and personal. The Orang who decided to do that is notoriously naughty and he walks like a human! He was climbing people and, because he's actually a "wild" Orangutan, I was not keen to be climbed. Even though he was half my size, (Orangutans for size are 4 times as strong as a human) he was still double my strength and this put my on edge a little bit (eeek*).Consequently, I was more apprehensive for my first real day of work!On Friday, we had our first induction as volunteers. The director of the programme took the talk and discussed the roles we'll be undertaking. It's all so exciting! Afterwards, the resident vet spoke about why the project is here and what the aims are for the future; it's honestly such an incredible cause and the severe threat that the Orangs are faced with is upsetting. Following the talks, one group went with the vet on a tour of the facilities. My group went the following morning. We met the baby Orangutans and the reasonably bigger Orangs in both the Indoor and Outdoor centres which was amazing; it's also incredible how they mix so well with the wild Orangutans that hang around the centre (particularly during feeding time). This made me so much more excited to finally start working and, of course, all the animals are incredibly adorable, extremely inquisitive and absolutely beautiful. I'm still amazed that I have the opportunity to work with them hands on (*ahh!). We also had an assembly about the Sun Bear project which runs alongside the Orangutan Rehabilitation Programme here at Sepilok (however the two are totally independent in funds and organisation). I wasn't particularly optimistic about this, but my opinion was completely reversed after I understood how, like the Orangs, these bears are becoming increasingly endangered as a result of the Palm Oil trade :(. We were given a unique opportunity to see the bears from a viewing platform. Apparently, it's very rare to see these bears because they're endemic to Malaysia and solitary animals, and I feel so lucky to have been able to witness 4 (3 females and 1 male) roaming freely in their natural habitat. On Sunday, we had a rest day again. John, one of the relay-to-base people out here, organised a trip to Sandakan (the local town/city). We went to a war memorial which I found fascinating and poignant (felt ignorant that I didn't know about the Japanese Prisoner of War camps previously). He took us to a Bhuddist Temple set above the town looking out into the Pacific Ocean and beautiful islands, a water village (pooooey*) and an English Tea House located in the most breathtaking setting - on top of a hill/mountain looking out into the sea and the islands beyond that. I felt well cultured for the day.. ignoring the (ahem*) luxury of scones and tea at the end.Monday (AHHHH*). First official day of work. Both nervous and exciting. My group; Anna, Irene, Chris and I are starting in "Husbandry". We're looking after the "teenage" Orangs who are preparing for release, provided their training goes to plan! We were thrown into the deep end with making their food (mostly veg and fruit) and mixing the milk. It's fascinating how relatively easy it is to tell the Orangutans apart from one another. My first experience of holding an Orangs hand was surreal... I kind of expected it to feel human, but not quite how much is did. Very hard to translate to words, but lets say that the experience so far has been incredible (and it's only been a 2 days). It's intriguing how all the Orangs have their own personalities.. whilst some will climb right to the top of trees over 100ft up, others prefer being on the ground and begging for cuddles. They're so hard to refuse a cuddle, but we have to encourage them back up to climb by shouting "nuik nuik" (climb climb in English) and tapping a stick to prove our authority. The uglier side of these apes is also very prominent. They like to regurgitate their food; doing so all over our freshly cleaned room and all over themselves (yuck*). This means a heck of a lot of cleaning which is extremely tiring and frustrating. Nevertheless, I can't complain about the job! The perks have been amazing, a mini food fight with one of the Orangs as we tried to clean up around him, washing their hands and feet (the cutest thing ever), and generally being around them. Tuesday was very similar to Monday, however we're all feeling a bit more exhausted than expected... tropical heat really gets to you.. especially when you feel like you're sweating a litre a second. Home comforts are scarce.. a cool breeze, washing machine, wifi, etc. but, to some extent, it's refreshing to be somewhere so remote! Our room is more than satisfactory and we have everything we need here, so there's not much reason to venture out (don't worry Grandad we're not near the "war"). Running here is so hard! The air is ridiculously humid so it feels so thick on the lungs that it's hard to breathe. I'm trying to maintain fitness though, so I'm dragging the girls with me (they walk, I run back and forth for about 5km!). Yes Kirsty, I stuck to my word that I would keep training out here :) My initial fear: (that I was constantl cautious of) sitting on the toilet and getting bitten by a horrendous foreign poisonous insect has gone down somewhat, replaced by the idea of leeches sucking all my blood and spitting viper snakes coming up to eye-level and spitting their venom (the latter I'm highly doubtful of!). Finally, my rambling is over! I think I've covered pretty much everything so far, but I promise to keep you posted more regularly (this post was SO long, sorry!). I'm having an incredible time here with some amazing people. I hope that you all at home, and for those of you who have happened to stumble here, are well. If you read all of this I genuinely congratulate you and thanks! :DSpeak soon! Jordanna xx