Orangutangled In Borneo

(Navyn) After a few days of flying from Dulles to Abu Dhabi to Jakarta after my seminar in Maryland I land in a hot, humid, mosquito infested place so entirely jet lagged I feel as if I’ve been kidnapped and drugged into a hazy disillusionment. The only reason I know that isn’t likely is the memory of the pilots warning upon landing to please fasten your seat belts and keep in mind that anyone in possession of drugs will face the death penalty. This unusual welcome remained clear in my mind. I arrived in Jakarta on Mother’s Day, to a surprise welcome at the airport from Paul and the girls, complete with flowers and Dunkin’ Donuts.

Let’s back up a second so you can fully appreciate the significance of this greeting. When I first met Paul he told me two things: “I don’t do airport pick-ups” (he figured if he didn’t pick me up from the airport from day one then I could never say, remember when… ) and “I don’t camp” (this was in response to a recent camping/rock climbing trip I had just returned from.) What could I say? I suppose I admired the honesty and clear management of expectations. Fast forward to this week, 19 years later, he did both. Ok to be totally transparent, they were staying five minutes down the road at the airport Sheraton, it was Mother’s Day, I had been gone for 10 days and spent the last two nights sleeping on planes. And perhaps we are not camping with a tent exactly but our plans are nearly as rustic over the next two weeks in Borneo and Papua New Guinea – close enough.

Needless to say, I almost didn’t believe my bleary eyes when greeted outside of customs by Paul and four sweet girls. After a warm reunion, we get in the car and Jolie says, “Hey dad, where’s the bug spray”? Let’s just stop here for a second and break this down. In the last 133 days of traveling and perhaps in the nine to fourteen years of their little lives, they have NEVER asked dad for anything! Only mom. Do you know how exhausting it is to answer four times one million questions per day? In fact I think the only question they have ever asked dad is, “Where’s mom?” It makes any train of thought only possible after they are sleeping. This is huge breakthrough. I think I need to plan more outings.

A typical houseboat on the river

I left the U.S. on May 8, it is now May 12 and we are still traveling somewhere. My sleep-deprived stupor has not allowed me to pull out the map and look around yet. I am writing in the dark as my world clock reminds me that it’s 3am, not 3pm. As I remain completely unable to snap out of my dreamy state, we somehow land in Indonesian Borneo on a very rustic houseboat. We were fairly unprepared which became apparent as we looked around the sparsely equipped boat and all lunged for the one dog-eared copy of Suduko puzzles on the bookshelf. We divided the pages, looked at each other and wondered how this might hold us over for the next week. To add to the fun, the girls saved up all their illnesses for my return. Halle had stomach pains that nearly reduced her to tears, the next night Zara spiked a fever and started throwing up. Zara and I shared a tiny bed in cozy cabin. Since birth she has always found a way to make me part of her throwing up and this new level of closeness meant we could continue the tradition.

I digress. OK, where was I? Yes, Borneo. Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is shared by three countries, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. It’s hot and humid. Beads of sweat dripped down our backs, mosquitos buzzed, fire ants lined up to march on the path below as muddy trails guided us through the thick rainforest. The dense canopy blocked the sun but still it’s hot. The rains poured down and still it’s hot.

The Borneo rainforest is the oldest in the world and one of the few remaining natural habitats for the endangered Bornean orangutan. Logging and palm oil plantations have cut down 75% of the rainforest to date. Orangutan survival is threatened as their habitats disappear and their fight with man for land is a losing battle. From the air I could see the battle lines carved into the earth as the jungle is sacrificed to make way for industry. We were lucky to see these great animals walking the earth, as they may not have a home if we continue down this path. So I ask the girls – if you had to pick a side, which would you pick and why? In fact I just spent all last week with my Aspen fellows discussing this very issue. Community versus efficiency, environment versus economy, orangutans versus job creation and the ability to feed your family. Can there be a balance? It just so happens that in this scenario, I am part of the problem. My factory uses 2 million pounds of palm oil every year to make the fortified peanut butter that is needed to save children’s lives in Syria, in Sierra Leone, in Nepal. Thankfully we have recently been able to change our formula and substitute the palm oil with vegetable oils available closer to home. A win-win for Edesia and more importantly I can now sleep at night this week and still be able to stare face to face with these orangutans with a clear conscience.

Heavy rains on our 007 speedboat on the black waters

After a few nights on the houseboat, we move to another part of Borneo, check into the rustic Rimba Lodge and set up camp. We begin each morning with toast and peanut butter, which Maya keeps stored in her backpack in case of a protein deficiency emergency which occurs often in these rural parts. We double down on bug spray and malaria meds before heading out into the Seakonyer River in the Tanjung Putting National Park. Nipah palm trees lean in from the mangroves along the sides of the riverbank. The coast looked clear, so we set off in our speedboat to find orangutans when suddenly, the thunder roared and it poured sheets of rain. I guess it wouldn’t be a rain forest without the rain so we duck under a tarp and wait for it to pass. Every hour it would downpour and we would run for cover and then the sun would come out again. As soon as our shirts would dry we would get doused once more. We followed the muddy brown waters of this narrow, winding river until the minerals in the peat soil suddenly changed the waters to nothing but black, reflecting the wild jungle in a mirrored darkness.

Peta standing her ground

We reached Camp Leakey and decided to go for a walk down a creaky half boarded boardwalk just to have a look around. As always I was the caboose, following up the rear watching the girls twirl their umbrellas. I noticed some nearby trees moving and then heard the not so stealth approach of a good size orangutan just overhead. Luckily the girls and our guide Ami weren’t too far ahead and I called them back to have a look. Ami immediately recognized her as Peta and her two-month old baby and said calmly, “Please take a step back. She will come onto the boardwalk and has been known to attack people.” Awesome. This is not our first potentially hostile encounter, we had another orangutan pick up a good size log and throw it at our little motorized canoe but at least we could have made an easy getaway down the river (see photo below). But here on the boardwalk we are just a few feet away. She slowly made her way towards us. She stopped, we stopped. She moved, we backed up, trying to maintain at least 6 feet in between us. This continued for quite some time until we realized the boardwalk would soon end where the sign read – “Do not swim in the river, there are lots of crocodiles.” Right, one does not want to mess with the orangutan mom and her baby, nor does one want to see if the sign is accurate. Luckily, once we reached the dock, the tourists had started to gather and she decided to stop pursuing us. We could safely re-board the speedboats and head back to camp to pack up – an exhilarating, heart-stopping way to wrap up our escapades in Borneo.