And he's also a tour guide! Yet another facet of Charlie's interesting and diverse livelihood - always up to something fun and crazy, now that's the way to live! In mid-June Charlie had a huge trip booked with a group of ten prosperous Americans, and it definitely wasn't your average week long adventure through Malaysian Borneo. For starters, the whole journey was carried out in a squadron of helicopters. Don't worry about the hike back down after we conquer Mount Kinabalu, we're gonna have the choppers pick us up at the top and take us straight to a beach resort for massages and a lobster dinner. Yeah bro, it was really like that. Way to rough it!
The week before this extravagantly meticulous excursion went down, Charlie was bopping around Borneo with a colleague, ironing out the details and making sure that everything fit according to plan. The expedition was to kick off on the east coast town of Sandakan and make it's way west, so Charlie asked me if I could come along on the last four days of the run-through in order to drive his car back to Kota Kinabalu after he embarked on the tour.
The first stop on the expedited adventure was the Kinabatangan River. It was a long drive from Kota Kinabalu, and as we made our way east we entered the land of palm oil plantations. Palm oil plantations sure are pretty to drive through - rolling hills covered with manicured forests of fern-covered palm trees, but don't be fooled, they're horrible! Palm oil is a major cash crop, but the resulting deforestation leaves Borneo's abundant wildlife homeless, and is the reason why the Kinabatangan River Valley is overflowing with fauna - they have nowhere else go.
We stayed the night in a lodge on the river, and bookended our brief stopover with a couple of riverboat cruises, including an early morning jaunt where we caught an amazing sunrise over the jungle. Unfortunately we didn't spot any of the pygmy elephants that notoriously roam the riverbanks, but we did see a ton of other great wildlife, including the cartoonish proboscis monkey. These creatures are like caricatures of the primate family, especially the males with their big droopy noses and rotund bellies. And almost as a counter to their flaccid snouts, male proboscis monkeys romp around the jungle sporting perpetual erections. It's as though the end of each protrusion has attracting magnets that are constantly pulling at each other over their bulbous tummies. They must be the laughingstock of the jungle.
Our next stop was Danum Valley, a massive land conservancy with primary rainforest, bountiful wildlife, and a first-rate research center that attracts researchers and scientists from around the world. Oh yeah, and a stunning five-star resort with helicopter access. It was another long drive, mostly on a slow and muddy road, and by the time we arrived and checked things over with the resort, all we had time for was an awesome night trek through the jungle. I've been on a bunch of these with Charlie since I've been in Borneo, and the list of creatures that I've seen gets longer and longer with every hike. They are truly amazing! If only my nocturnal photography skills could do any justice.
The next morning we got up for our second sunrise in a row and took off for a hilltop observation tower overlooking the jungle. I've seen some great sunrises in my life, but I think this one might top the list. From the observation deck we sat perched above a sea of fog that blanketed the forest floor. Only the tallest trees in the canopy peeked out from below, and the hills and mountains that rose above the cloak of dawn looked like an emerald archipelago sprawled out over a white sea. As the sun came up over the horizon, the misty tide retreated, and the greenery of Danum Valley appeared to face the day.
After breakfast we took off for Sandakan, and the next morning, after dropping Charlie off at the airport to meet his tour group, I hit the road for the long drive back to Kota Kinabalu. It had been a quick but memorable tour of northeastern Borneo. And while Charlie was heading out for the week to explore the region by helicopter, I was packing my bags for a quick trip to the Philippines...
No comments:
Post a Comment