Life in the camp…

…Is insanely hot and humid….Actually, I take that back, it's only about 30oC, but it's so humid that I am currently sweating out of my eyeballs, my toes and every inch of my body in between. I'm so spotty it's disgusting, and there is a constant swarm of mozzies anywhere you go (I got four bites on my bum just going to the toilet this morning). Our only means of showering is by filling up a hand scoop from a tap and pouring it over our heads whilst getting more mauled by mozzies!

Despite all that, this place is awesome and like nothing I’ve experienced before. We’re right in the forest, on the edge of an oxbow lake, and that means there are animals popping up all over the place. Every evening we are visited by a very screechy Buffy Fish Owl, and often have the pleasure of the odd civet cat whilst we’re having dinner. Long-tailed macaques wander around in the tree canopy (sometimes we sit and watch them from our camp deck), and Fish Eagles, Oriental Darters, Kingfishers and Broadbills (to name a few) keep us company on the lake. It’s all pretty idyllic.

Creepy crawlies on a night walk!

Male Proboscis monkey

Buffy Fish Owl

Cheeky macaques outside our camp platform

Each day we work from about 7.30 until about 4/5/6pm either off out of the camp doing silviculture and forest management, tree planting, or on the lake removing salvinia. All of it very physical, very sweaty work, but all really rewarding. Every day we get back to the camp shared area absolutely exhausted, dripping wet with sweat and stinking to high heaven.

If we’re working out of the camp, we have to walk through the forest, get picked up by our own private boat, where we have a 10minute boat ride up the Kinabatangan River, surrounded by crocs, egrets, hornbills and monkeys. How’s that for a commute?!

Our camp decks are basically elevated huts with no windows so they’re totally open to the outdoors. All we have between us and the forest is a mozzie net, so it’s pretty exposed. The lovely thing about that is you feel like you’re sleeping right in the middle of the forest. The scary thing about that is you feel like you’re sleeping right in the middle of the forest!! We’ve long given up jumping at sounds now….You just have to embrace it and keep your fingers crossed it’s an orang-utan!

Bro and Martin on the lake

Skink hunting for ants

Oriental Darter drying its wings in the sunshine

After a shower and dinner (third rice meal of the day!), we can usually just about muster the energy for a game of darts or cards with anyone who’s around. Apart from Bro and myself, there are also 3 members of staff at the camp, Martin and Janet, and their two lovely kids, TJ and Bobbie, and any other guests who happen to be staying. Occasionally there are big groups where the camp is full, and we’ve had a couple of PhD students stay, but mostly there are only one or two other guests, and occasionally there’s just us!

Sometimes if there are small groups we tag along on their night walks or river cruises to try and catch some wildlife, but without fail, we almost always crash into bed at about 9pm, absolutely wiped out, to dream about proper showers, roast dinners and a lovely big chilled glass of wine!

Macaques on the shore