I am unsure what time it actually is right now –my watch claims that it is 11, but with my intermittent bursts of sleep aborad the plane, I honestly don’t know if that’s AM or PM. After manually changing my phone’s date and time settings, I have come to discover that it is apparently 2:00 AM on August 31st. Time travel is pretty strange. I guess it was AM after all (on my watch), and still the 30th; try to keep that straight. So, they are 15 hours behind me at home.
Kota Kinabalu. Once we landed, I came to discover that KK has two separate airports, which a friendly taxi driver brought my attention to, and offered his services to take me to the domestic airport for my next flight.
Once at AirAsia Airport, I purchased a SIM card for my phone, printed my boarding passes, and was informed that only one carry-on item was allowed on their flights (as opposed to a carry-on and a personal item–personal items could not be bags, only things like a cane, a pillow, a camera, etc.), so I checked the larger of my two backpacks. I discovered soon after that I had left my sunglasses in the convenient glasses holder on my seat during my previous flight on Singapore Air…Here’s to finding a good deal on some in a market in Sandakan.
After a bit of a wait to board our flight, I boarded a smallish AirAisa plane with my fellow passengers to Sandakan. Aboard the plane, I met two girls (Adele and Sharron) returning home after participating in a sailing competition, who graciously assisted me in getting some wanted video footage of our plane takeoff.
Landed in Sandakan, and a man from DGFC named Sergio picked me up from the airport. He is working on his PhD with Cardiff University and works as DGFC’s veternarian–what an awesome job. We stopped at a market so I could buy some new sunglasses. One shop was selling possibly legitimate Ray Bans for over 1000 ringgit (RM), while another was selling less legitimate ones for RM20, so naturally I bought two pairs of knockoffs.
During our long drive from Sandakan to Kinabatangan, I noticed stray dogs (which looked very similar to small Rodesian Ridgebacks or dingoes), cats, and chickens everywhere. Sergio said that their effect on native species is not yet known, although it will be part of a study at Danau Girang next year. I would assume if nothing else, the domesticated animals create greater competition for resources. Sergio told me that 60-70% of what was native rainforest is now oil palm and coconut plantations, with oil palm being by far the most common. It is the largest export in the counrty, and the largest portion of the country’s economy.
My ankles look terrifying; I wouldn’t be surprised if they were literally twice the circumference as normal. I’ll definitely be sleeping with my feet elevated–maybe I can sleep while doing a headstand.
Most houses along the road appear to be abandoned, except they’ve all had people inside. Most of them are missing doors and windows; poverty seems quite high here, but I see children playing and people smiling and laughing. The roads themselves are in disarray as well, but they are functional as a pathway to direct you to a destination.
I need a shower and some sleep.
Once we arrived in Kinabatangan Sergio and I were greeted by DGFC’s logisitics manager, Budin, and then loaded our gear from the truck into a boat. After a 40-minute boat ride up the murky Kinabatangan River, ctaching glimpses of satin white cranes (possibly egrets) and a small band of mokeys (macaques), Sergio and I arrived at the field station. We unloaded our boat and carried our gear up to the main facility.
The centre features a staff house, the main facility (which holds a common area, offices, kitchen, and labs), a hostel (for short term visitors and field course students), studios, which is where I will be staying, along with Sergio, our other volunteer, Aubrey, and the four Cardiff undergrads (Joe, Charlie, Abbie, and Katey), and the tower, which is converted housing for two of our researchers (Meg and Danika), and the generator building.
With the grand tour finished (thank you, Charlie), I unloaded my bags and at last took a shower in our ever-wet bathroom. The water was cold, but glorious. At 7 o’clock, we all met back up for dinner in the main facility and I was able to meet most of the staff, including some of their spouses and children. We all chatted and then a handful of us played a great card game called “Dutch Blitz,” which was new to me, but still, the boys (Joe and myself) cleaned house.
Our internet is currently in disarray, to the point in which one might consider themselves lucky if a short email can be sent. It is supposed to be fixed within the next two weeks–hopefully sooner, so that I can contact home and keep all of you up-to-date. It would be really nice to be able to upload some photos.
