Team CWS

The Kangafrogs

Alycia and Jeremy started volunteering at the start of our second week and these two have been an awesome addition to our time here at the wildlife sanctuary.

They are a super friendly French (Jeremy) and Ozzie (Alycia) couple who are currently half way through the impressive feat of travelling from Australia to France by land! They’ve had so many cool adventures that we’ve loved hearing about and we take our hats off them for attempting to do it the environmentally-friendly way!

They introduced us to Jungle Speed (the most stressful game on the planet), the delightfully named “Trou du cul” (Arsehole!) card game (which the girls totally kicked ass at), joined us in the new craze that is “Insect, Seed or Rice?”, we bonded over our mutual love of wildlife and contempt for all things bad for the environment, and we all discovered the joy that can be achieved through sharing a 24 pack of ice-cold Cambodian beer after a day sweating our guts out in the Cambodian heat.

Thanks for all of your wonderfully bubbliness, your wisdom, and for all of the giggles this week you lovely pair!

If you want to see what they’ve been getting up to on their trip, or are thinking of doing something similar, check out their website OurTinyLittleWorld which gives you loads of advice about how to do it as painlessly and enjoyably as possible!

Lucie “Queen of Monkeys!”

She will love that title. Probably.

Lucie is another Frenchy…no connection to Jeremy, but a happy coincidence for the ever-struggling Lucie who has had to speak only English to the staff here for the last 7 months without a word of French passing her lips  (bar the odd swear-word I’ve no doubt).

Lucie is in charge of the rescued monkeys…8 macaques, the famous Gib, and a very beautiful and very timid Leopard Cat. This lady is amazing…she spends day in and day out with these wonderful but demanding animals and gives them so much love it’s wonderful (and reassuring!) to see. I am in awe of her and her relationship with these animals…she knows them inside out and back to front.

Lucie is Jungle Queen in real life and Jungle Queen at cards…she has the swiftest hand in Cambodia (probably) and it’s probably not a coincidence that she doesn’t drink beer, and funnily enough has an almost 100% track-record at winning Jungle Speed.

Nick!

Nick has been our Volunteer Co-ordinator for the last two weeks. He does everything we do, gets properly stuck in and always has a smile on his face. Our experience at Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary wouldn’t have been the same without him, so he deserves his place as one of Team CWS.

He also likes to occasionally pretend he’s a monkey. 

The Magnificent Gib

Our love for gibbons started in Borneo, when they first tumbled into our consciousness (see my blog from July), and we were lucky enough to see them in the wild just next to the Eco Camp, which for me was one of the most special experiences of our trip so far. So Bro and I were excited to hear that the sanctuary have a rescued Gibbon, and made it our mission on day 1 to go and see him.

Meet Gib the Gibbon. This little dude is amazing and now gets a daily visit from his two favourite admirers. Every day he comes over to have a little chat and he lets us give him a little groom through the bars. Gib was orphaned in captivity and can never be released as he has no fear of humans whatsoever and wouldn’t have a clue what to do if he was let out, but I like to think he has a relatively good life here at the sanctuary, and he’s certainly enriched our already wonderful experience here.

Gibbons have now made it onto my all-time favourite animal list (up there with naked mole rats, ants). Going to miss this little man when we go!!!

Gib is hilarious on the ground...he doesn't know what to do with his arms so just rolls everywhere...commando-style!! 

Arun Ria and Kahm Lin

These two lovely old ladies are ridonculously gorgeous and just make my heart flutter with adoration. 

Both of them are delightfully old, even for elephants. Kahm Lin has very poor eyesight and no teeth, but she’s doing just fine here at the sanctuary. Both were rescued from a village community who were mis-treating them so that Elephant Nature Park bought them, and brought them to the sanctuary to see out their days in comfort. Here they are free to roam around as they please, with just a mahout to keep an eye on them and guide them back if they head off too far.

We’ve loved spending time with them, bathing them, feeding them, and just generally gawping at them as they trundle around like the doddery old women they are.

I felt they deserved their own blog post, so here are some piccies of them J

This last photo was taken 10 minutes after we'd given her a bath...She decided to have another bath on her own...but this time in mud!! Silly nellie!

'Volunteering' at Cambodia Elephant Sanctuary

After an enjoyable few days (more for me than Bro who spent most of the time feeling pretty jip) in Siem Reap, we started our next volunteer project – volunteering for the Cambodia Elephant Sanctuary. This is a new experience altogether as we’ve tried to avoid ‘voluntourism’ projects as our impression of these is that you pay a lot of money for what is ultimately an enjoyable tourist experience, rather than actually being of genuine value, and this on the surface, looked distinctly like it might be one such thing (Borneo is rife with uber-expensive 'volunteer' projects that seem to consist mainly of a spot of token poop-cleaning and a lot of warm-fuzzy orangutan watching, so sorry for being a little sceptical). This project wasn’t too expensive (we couldn’t afford to go if it was), but it still costs more than anything else we’ve done, but in the absence of finding anything more suitable we signed up for a week, on the understanding that we’d stay longer if we thought it was worthwhile.  

So after a week here, what’s our verdict? Hmmm, tricky one. The project itself is awesome. The Cambodian branch in which we are working is actually part of a larger organisation known as Elephant Nature Park. This is based in Chang Mai in Thailand, and has a number of satellite sanctuaries dotted around Thailand, and this one in Cambodia. If you haven’t heard about them this is an organisation who are making incredible waves in the Thai elephant tourism industry which is renowned for the mistreatment of elephants. The ENP are trying to raise awareness and raise standards in elephant working conditions throughout Thailand, by working with local mahouts (elephant handlers), discouraging the use of the bullhook (a nasty device used to control elephants by spiking them in sensitive areas for example the eyes and ears and mouth), working with the Thai Government, and discouraging the ever-popular elephant rides which are a huge industry in Thailand.

Some gorgeous butterflies spotted outside our hut

The ENP (http://elephantnaturepark.org/) have currently rescued approximately 64 elephants from across Thailand, most of whom have been treated extremely badly throughout their lives, and they provide a safe environment for these elephants to see out their days. 

The company is run by its founder, a very impressive Thai woman called Sangduen “Lek” Chailert who is building a worldwide reputation for the incredible work she is doing. After only being here a week, we have heard so many examples of the wonderful work she has been doing to help not just these elephants, but she has also rescued dogs, macaques, geese and a very cute gibbon (more on him later!)! And perhaps just as importantly, she is doing wonderful work with the communities surrounding her sanctuaries. She has wisely realised that for her sanctuaries to be successful she needs the support of the local communities, and recognises the value in their expertise. She seems to care deeply for their welfare, and today we heard how yesterday she paid for one of her worker’s wives to be taken across the border to a hospital in Thailand to be treated for a tumour in her mouth, when the hospital in Siem Reap said they couldn’t help her. She also recently donated mattresses to that same hospital in Siem Reap as she realised how inadequately resourced they were. This woman is a gem.

Lek with a rescued orphaned elephant (thank you internet for this one)

So what’s my gripe with it? Basically my issue with working here is that I think our money is worth a lot more than our time. The ‘work’ we are doing is largely token and much of it is aimed at indulging the tourist and giving them an enjoyable experience with the elephants. In a nutshell, we seem to have signed up for exactly the warm-fuzzy experience that we have been trying to avoid for our whole trip. For example most days we will work for a couple of hours in the morning (granted some of this work has been hard and does feel valuable, but we’re talking 2 hours work in a whole morning!! Bro and I keep trying to find extra things to do but at one point were told (in a friendly manner) “you work too hard” and yesterday we got told we’ve been doing the work of 4 people. Considering we are doing a fraction of the work we did in Borneo, it makes me wonder what other volunteers do when they’re here!!), and then in the afternoon our ‘work’ might be bathing the elephants (one of the most amazing experiences I've ever done), then chopping up sugar cane (a 10 minute job at most), and then feeding the elephants (helping them devour a basket of fruit and sugar cane). Don’t get me wrong -this is a bloody marvellous experience, and one that I know some people would hand over their left leg to do. My issue is with them calling it ‘volunteering’. ‘Getting-rich-westerners-to-part-with-their-money-in-exchange-for-a-feeling-of-good-karma’ is probably closer to the truth.

The very lovely Arun-Ria on her way back from the water hole after a nice bath!

That said, this whole amazing enterprise is only viable because these rich westerners (I’m including ourselves in that) handing over their money, and because I genuinely see the good that this organisation is doing, and for that reason regardless of how valuable the actual work you do whilst here it, I do think it’s a worthwhile project to ‘volunteer’ with. I am also aware that volunteering must in no way take the place of local jobs, so I do understand that a balance must be met that gives volunteers work to keep them busy, whilst not stepping on anyone else’s toes. The Cambodian Sanctuary employs about 50 local people to work on the land, look after the animals, protect the forest (more on this later), manage the garden and nursery, and just keep the site running, which is actually wonderful to see. We have offered to do one or two things around the sanctuary to help out where we thought it might be helpful, but have been told in a friendly way that they’d prefer we didn’t as there are local people employed to do that, which of course we respected.

So, my verdict? This is a wonderful place which I would totally recommend to anyone with a sympathetic inclination...Just please don’t go home showing off how great you are that you’ve rescued elephants. And neither will I. 

Helloooo Cambodia (Angkor Wat?!)

We landed in Siem Reap mid-afternoon on the 12^th after a super easy flight from KK. First impressions?...What a cool city. Busy busy busy, with mopeds and tuk tuks all over the shop, refreshingly low-rise, plenty of smiley faces and cheerful waves, and lots of new smells, colours and sounds for us to investigate….I can’t wait to get my teeth stuck into this country!

We spent our first day in Siem Reap, relaxing and exploring…and yes, indulging a little (with a pool in our hotel, $6 full-body massage, and 1 dollar beers, you can hardly not, can you?!).

Then we decided to take a 2-day tour of the Angkor Wat temples with a rather cheery and very softly-spoken fellow fondly known as “Meester Ton” who drove us around in his tuktuk. Our first day at the temples started with a 4.45am pick-up to see the sunrise. Joy. But oh my wow, was it worth it!

These temples are incredible! They were built between the 8^th and 12^th centuries as Hindu and Buddhist temples for the Khmer Empire, and are impressively the largest religious monuments in the world. They are simply mind-blowing. Some are in a better state than others…many have been restored (sometimes impressively, sometimes shambolically!), and some have been given up long ago to nature which now engulfs them in a slow-mo Jumanji-style that reassuringly reminds you that ultimately, nature wins.

Tootling in our tuktuk!

Go nature!! (Photos from Ta Prohm Temple)

Our two-day adventure was some-what thwarted by Bro falling ill with some unidentified illness, which meant I had an enforced day by the pool (poor me) while he floundered in bed (I did play nurse when needed), before dragging his still-poorly bum around the second round of temples before our 3-day pass ran out. Definitely worth putting him through the discomfort though, as it’s not every day you get to see something this spectacular.

Despite buying (and reading!!) a guide book, I'm not going to tell you anything about the temples, as I'd only be copying and pasting from wikipedia, so I thought I'd put a load of decidedly average photos up to give you a sense of how amazing it is, instead!! As usual they in no way do it justice!

This is one of my favourite temples- Bayon -it has 216 faces carved into the stone.

Sad goodbyes

So the time has finally come to leave the Eco camp! After a wonderful last couple of days, where Bro and I floated around on a massive post-engagement high, whilst trying our best to motivate ourselves into doing some work, and squeezing in some last nature walks when we could, the time finally came to say goodbye to the lovely folk of Batu Puteh.

We’ve had such an incredible, fulfilling and in many ways, life-changing time here in this beautiful, beautiful region. We’ve seen incredible animals, eaten exotic fruits, walked exciting paths, hacked at vines until our hands are raw, been to a local wedding, sweated like our lives depended on it, made friends for life, scarpered from a scorpion, learnt how to use a perang (machete), learnt how to drive a boat (badly), crowd-funded, scooped weed until it came out of our ears, learnt some yoga, got pooed on by bats, got bitten by fire ants, got rained on, got sunburnt, fell in love with the Kinabatangan over and over again….

A special special shout out to two incredible young people…the very awesome Bobby and TJ. These two are such amazing little human beings…they are so full of energy, fun and wisdom and have made our stay at the Lake so much fun. We have collectively become addicted to playing ‘Loserhead’ and ‘Cheat’ and Bro and I have become accustomed to hearing “can we have a game of cheeeeaaaat?!” the second there is a break in any conversation. TJ blows our mind with his cunning Cheat tactics and uncanny ability to beat us all which what appears to be very little effort. He is a constant stream of bubbly banter, and his jungle savviness never fails to impress us. This is the boy who came running when we found a giant scorpion, can drive a boat like a pro and can now reach a grand-total of 94 keepy-uppies, which I think you’ll agree is no small feat.

Bobby is an absolute little beauty, who has an incredible poise and maturity for a 10 year old. She has a very disarming charm which will lure you into thinking she couldn’t cheat if she tried, and then WHAM she’s out-smarted us all and cheated her way out of all her cards without any of us even noticing! She has an incredibly infectious laugh, and a smile that is going to break a lot of hearts one day, and it has already broken mine, when I had to say goodbye to this wonderful mini lady.

On our last evening, Janet made us a wonderful dinner which we had down on the decking overlooking the lake, and just spent some time enjoying each other’s company one last time. It was an emotional morning the next day. Martin, Janet, TJ and Bobby, hopped on the boat with us back to the village, and we said our sad goodbyes to all of our new friends from the village.

We have grown so fond of Tungog Lake, and all of the wonderful people who live on or around it, and we cannot express the gratitude we have towards these wonderful people who have taken us into their community and made us feel so welcome. It has been an honour and a pleasure to get to know so many beautiful people, and to spend even a pinch of time with this wonderful community who are working towards such great things.

Walking down the jetty one last time

Our final boat trip (looks like I'm the only one who cares about my safety!)

The crazy and wonderful Vogel family

Assia and the wonderful kitchen staff who fed us for 7 weeks!

The wonderful Team Kopel...

...being silly

Bro and TJ squeezing in a last game of keepy uppy before the bus arrived 

Sporting our new KOPEL t-shirts (complete with names stitched in like proper members of the team!)

One last hug with this awesome little lady. Bobby I will miss you so much

A last piccie with the camp staff before leaving the lake

Tungog Lake Foster Family photo (minus Martin who was fetching the boat)

My boys xxx

So...Janet, Martin, TJ, Bobby, Asman, Kitchy, Kamsa, Ali, Kamsa, Rudi, Norsalleh, Jeff, Jai, Zaza, Attai, Chulai, Assia, Etam, Hasri, Nasri, Atteh, Along, Suhannah, Jumah, and everyone else at KOPEL, thank you thank you thank you, it's been a pleasure. And of course....PYJAMA LAGI!