We woke up to hear of stories of bathing with the Malays in the hot tub by some of the older students and ventured to breakfast- pancakes, coco crunch, fruit, porridge, and maple syrup.
At 8.15 we departed to climb through the rainforest to the observation point overlooking the canopy. Little did we realise that this was to be the sweatiest day of our life. As Alex put it ‘the walk was hot, sweaty, endless, and painful but worth it as the view at the top was magnificent and breathtaking.’ A memory we will all take away with us to remind us of the rainforest. On the way we were lucky to see Gibbons. A mother holding child and a father were swinging through the trees. Further up the track some of the group also saw four more Gibbons who were larger as they swung through the trees. We also visited the ancient burial site where the tribe of head-hunters who used to inhabit this forest lived. The burial chamber has been excavated and we saw some coffins and we had explained what the rituals were for this tribe. The Coffins have been carbon dated and they are about 350 years old. Tribes lived in this forest until the 1930’s.
Our return trip down through the forest was at a good pace as we knew from PABS that we were to be allowed to swim in the waterfall’s plunge pool we had passed on the way up. We reached the pool and all dived in after paddling to experience the fish nibbling our toes. We spent 20 minutes swimming, put on our sweaty clothes and returned to the centre to shower and eat another fantastic lunch. Lunch became the Rainforest burger competition which Dughall won consuming 5 beef and chicken burgers. The total burgers consumed by the students I am told was 32. The walk had certainly made them hungry!
We then were given free time until 3pm when we met to put together all the information for the final blog. Some of us were late as a tremendous storm started at 2.45pm. But the chivalrous Sam Bowers arrived with umbrellas. The river after the meeting showed its effect as a raging torrent was outside the lodge.
At the meeting we carried out a recorded interview with 5 of the English students and 5 of the Malay students for the Voices of Sabah Project which took about 3 hours this afternoon. We also got a few sentences from all the students which hopefully will be used in the Sabah Diary we are publishing. After Supper we had a final gathering in the bar to round off our expedition.
Ali Omel – one of the staff on the expedition reflects below.
The Rainforest
‘I barely notice the trickles of sweat rolling down my back as the heat and humidity come at me like waves. I stand in absolute awe of this magnificent place, the hues and shapes wrap themselves around me like a cloak, immersing me into the extraordinary energy of this beautiful place.’
2. It doesn’t rain here, it pours, everything grows vigorously and extensively, it is a fertile radiating landscape that pulses with life and vibrancy.
Palm Oil v Rainforest
Sustainability seems key to the future of protecting Sabah’s rainforest. Palm Oil production has been a powerful contributor to the economy, bringing new infrastructure, housing, and education to the region. It is not a question of palm oil versus Rainforests; it is a compromise in trying to find a balance between the two.
Experience
I think we are becoming increasingly disconnected with the natural environment around us and because of this it is hard to fully understand how critical it is to respond actively to its destruction. Being within the depths of the primary rainforest is a powerful experience and seeing the land robbed of this beauty is heartbreaking.
One final quote from a Student
‘Sabah – what a place full of amazing species and wonderful people’
As Sholto reminded us in his final thoughts – The Rainforest Lodge Guides say-
‘Hope for everything, expect nothing ‘
We have had an amazing time in Sabah and we come home tomorrow ready to share all our information with parents, friends and through our publications with the wider public. PABS
The day started with three of the staff getting up at 4.40am to walk to the view point to get dawn photographs. Some of us also got up at 6am (including me) to go on an early morning walk with Lee, Charlie, Jessie , Eloise, Rory , Max and our 5 Malay students Anna, Fenny, Fiona, Ryoh and Hikley. They were accompanied by Ryan of Borneo Nature Tours. Many interesting species were observed which we discussed on our return with everyone over breakfast, one of which being Borneo’s Tiger leach which had managed to attach itself to Rory’s wrist. I was later informed that this was in fact voluntary! Once Rory had had enough of the parasite stealing his precious circulatory fluid, Dughall was more than happy to pour a large amount of salt on top of the innocent leach. This was successful in the leach detaching itself from Rory but resulted in a large amount of his blood being spilt all over the beautifully white table cloth.
At 9am we left for the Field Centre by road and after an hour and a half drive arrived at the Danum Valley Field Centre. We were warmly greeted by two of the scientists, Noel Tawatao and Mike Bernadus who lead us inside for a briefing about the work carried out at the centre. It gave me great pleasure to discover that the field centre was a common site that my father visited and that Noel and Mike also both knew him personally. It was also interesting to actually visit the place where many of my father’s studies were carried out and where a programme on canopy exploration was being put into practice that he had set up (We even found a copy of Andrew Mitchell’s ‘Enchanted Canopy’ in the ancient section of the library!). After our briefing we moved on to indulge ourselves on two meals for the centre had been kind enough to prepare a warm meal for us and also the lodge had made us ham and cheese sandwiches. Hamish was overjoyed!
We then swiftly moved on to the trail leading to the centre’s observation tree which was a staggering forty meters tall! Everyone eventually plucked up the courage to climb the semi-detached, slippery ant infested ladder despite the fact that PABs had reassured us with the line, “If this was in the UK, you would not be allowed to do this because of the RAL (risk assessment for ladders).” The view from the top, which only some of us eventually reached due to a strong sense of vertigo kicking in from the first view point alone, was incredible. The cool Bornian breeze made the climb all worthwhile, along with me and Hikley spitting from the top to see how long it would take for the globule to reach the ground! I can safely say I was happy to be back on the ground after my ordeal with the treacherous ladder and I could tell that my companions and I shared the same feeling. This was particularly evident through comments such as, “That was the most terrifying thing of my life” from Hamish and, “Next time I should definitely use the ladder” from Max. This was however completely contrasting to the Malays who after their descent looked as if they had just been for a casual strole in the park!
Dragging our feet back from the scientific playground, we were overjoyed to regain our senses on the hour and a half coach journey back to the Rainforest Lodge. We said our farewell’s and gave thanks to our hosts and soon were on our way. During the bumpy coach journey, which seemed tranquil enough compared with the afternoons activities, Charlie and I were enjoying the Best of the 60’s until the Bus driver decided that it was a good idea to stop and show us a pitcher plant that he had located on the side of the road. He soon discovered that nobody in the bus could be bothered to lift themselves from there sloth to have a look so he decided that it was a good idea to drive closer to the scene. This was a fatal error. Soon enough, everyone was herded out of their seats through the emergency exit for the Bus had become wedged in the soft muddy bank. We stood feeling sorry for ourselves in the wilderness and ended up trying to amuse ourselves by watching Hamish attempting to bench press Max. Watching him fail lightened the mood even more so and ended in a large pile up on Hamish resulting in his new T-shirt being dirtied and stretched. However, help was on the way as the Rainforest Lodge emergency plan sprang into action. Multiple trucks arrived and soon ferried all of us safe and soundly back to the lodge.
The day ended with the celebration of Quitin’s (ageless) birthday over a delicious meal. Upon the arrival of the cake we were serenaded by our nature tour guides with European love ballads.’ A perfect ending to the perfect day.’
Extra Information provided to us by PABS.
The Danum Valley Field Centre
The Field Centre provides facilities for research, education and wilderness recreation in the 438sq kms of the Danum valley Conservation Area
Sited on the banks of the Segama River which forms the boundary of the Conservation area, the centre is located in a truly remote setting . Research efforts have revealed a tremendous variety of plants and a full range of Sabah’s lowland fauna, including the endangered species already covered in yesterday’s diary.
The Field Centre is run by the Sabah foundation under the aegis of the Management Committee which includes the Sabah Forestry Department, The Sabah Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment, University Malaysia Sabah and other Conservation agencies.
The main aims of the Centre are
To gain scientific understanding of the ecological processes that maintain tropical rainforest
To provide training opportunities for Malaysians in ecology, forestry and related sciences.
To assess the impact of logging and provide information which may contribute to improved forest management.
The Centre is open to both international and local Sabah researchers. Recently research on clouded leopard and on the effect of Oil Palm in competition with Rainforest have been research topics.
The Forest around the Centre is dominated by Dipterocarp trees with 90% Lowland forest and 10% canopy. On Mt Danum there is sub –montane forest.
The forest also is alive with other fauna including 40 species of fish, more than 120 mammals- including 10 species of primates.
The Bird life is equally varied with over 300 species.
History of people in area.
Burial Caves and legends of the original Orang Sungi – or ‘river people of Borneo’. They believed in combining with powerful spirits of hills and water. In Danum Valley 3 burial sites have been discovered. Jars such as those found near the Centre were often used as secondary burial places for bones after the body had decomposed.
A radio carbon analysis of a child’s femur found in the jar in burial site close to Rainforest Lodge estimated a date of around AD 1670 AND A COFFIN MADE OF Belian ( Bornean iron wood) estimated a date around AD 1210.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND FOREST MANAGEMENT
Local students visit FSC and in 1966 a Nature Discovery Centre was completed to provide environmental education.
Overseas students also welcome and since 1998 Japanese students have been for their Borneo Jungle School course.
Sabah Shell Petroleum Co.Lt initiated a support system by donation the Shell Nature interpretation and Environmental Education Building at the Centre.
Danum Valley is a Class 1 Conservation area Protection Forest Reserve and cannot be logged. But sustainable management of forests around Danum Valley has been introduced such as the Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) Project and the INFAPRO Project.
RIL Project is a joint project between Innoprise Corporation Sdn Bhd and New England Power of USA.
The object of the RIL project is to reduce the damage caused by logging to the soil surface and residual trees by 50% in comparison with conventional logging methods.
INFAPRO
The INFAPRO Project was established in 1992 to promote the rehabilitation of the forests to absorb Carbon from the atmosphere. The project involves large scale enrichment planting of dipterocarps in logged over rainforest as well as tending naturally regenerating dipterocarp seedlings, other commercial timber species and forest fruit trees. The aim is to rehabilitate 25,000 acres of logged over rainforest in Sabah by enrichment planting using indigenous tree species as well as natural regeneration.
