The Gibbon Experience
I would have to say this was the highlight of the trip for me for two reasons, the first reason was because it was an amazing experience, lots of fun, the great people we met including the guides, the second reason is a pun.
We first heard about it from Sam (yes the same Sam as Le Vendome, I think I owe him a beer) before we left Australia. We did an internet search and found numerous sites including the official site and many blogs and sites of people who have loved and written about it (I can now join their club). Katie emailed and made a booking a week in advance as recommended, we checked in the day before and got to read our somewhat daunting (or perhaps exciting) disclaim form. The day we left we met at 9am in the office in town to get ready and watch a safety video in which they warned us of some of the dangers including zipping with ‘long or crazy’ hair. My hair was not long but I think fluffy short dreads count as crazy. We jumped into the back if a Land cruiser troop carrier and headed off along the bitumen to the dusty dirt highway, then across a small river, then along a mountain track for about an hour at times wondering if Sebastien Loeb was driving, only stopping to pick up the forest police guy and his AK 47 (no I am not kidding these police have to be serious).
We all got to the village in one piece and were welcomed by the returning tourists some guides and two pigtail macaques Jack and Som Sii. When it came time to walk to our destination we had to catch the monkeys, I caught Jack but I think I shocked some people when I was holding her by one leg as she wriggled and screamed at me. I was confident about grabbing her because of playing with little monkeys a lot before but no one else knew that. I got to walk with Jack on a leash half the way. Som Sii couldn’t be caught but she followed along watching over everyone. When it got to climbing the hill Som Sii jumped up on Pam’s shoulders and got a free ride. I think Pam liked it at first but as monkeys are very warm and climbing a hill is hot work... Pam’s efforts to remove her monkey just ended up in people being nipped.
Pam and Som Sii
Jack
We arrived at a big hut (the kitchen) where we were welcomed in and rested for a minute before being given our harnesses and rollers before walking a minute more to the first cable. This is where the ‘pun’ comes in. Our accommodation was a tree house, three stories tall in a giant fig tree. The middle floor was about 30 meters off the ground and the only way in or out was by way of a 13mm steel cable suspended between trees. One by one we clipped on “Safety First” and zipped away.
We had a little while to get acquainted with our new home over tea and coffee. Lunch was served and then we took a trip over to tree house two to drop of Phil and Katie (not my Katie) who were to stay there the night. The first zip was straight out of the house to the ground on the side of the valley. We walked up the hill and onto our biggest zip yet; “No Brake OK” was the instruction as we left and it soon became clear, I stopped well short of the target and had to pull myself hand over hand to the end. In my fear and fatigue I didn’t notice that the tree I was at was only half way, I got directed around the tree and was soon on another cable for another big zip. We walked a short way up the hill to tree house two which is also the biggest zip that we got to experience.
I can’t easily explain the feeling of zipping. You can imagine the fear of being 110m off the ground hanging from a 400m long cable well it’s not like that. It is kind of scary but I feel worse on top of a building. I think the awe inspiring view and the sheer ridiculous nature of the activity overrides the fear somewhat, It is just –insert F word here- cool.
Me on a line
Katie
Annie
We spent our second day zipping walking quietly looking for wildlife and just walking. There was a report of a gibbon sighting at tree house three so we went over to see the house and see if we wanted to stay there that night. Yaniv and Carine decided to spend the night there while the rest of us decided on the comfort of our original houses.
Giant Squirrel
On the last day I woke at 5:30 hoping for wildlife but the forest was silent. I lay in till 6:00 but I didn’t get to see anything apart from a few birds as the sun came up and some giant squirrels. Annie, Pam and I went for a zip and then a long walk from tree house two (where we collected Phil and Katie) back to number one. After breakfast and some procrastination we walked back down to the village to our awaiting troop carrier and new set of tourists.
The whole three days were great. Unfortunately we didn’t see any Gibbons, That would have made the trip beyond amazing. We did however hear a group of them singing one morning that was amazing on its own. I really hope the project can protect the forest and in the future the numbers of Gibbons and other animals can return to what they once were.
I won’t tell you all the details of the project as you can find that on the website:
http://www.gibbonx.org/
Thanks to all the staff and guides for making the trip what it was, amazing. I really appreciate being able to go on an eco friendly community friendly trip which is surprisingly hard to find.
Jun and Polar the moon bear
Cheers
Dylan
We first heard about it from Sam (yes the same Sam as Le Vendome, I think I owe him a beer) before we left Australia. We did an internet search and found numerous sites including the official site and many blogs and sites of people who have loved and written about it (I can now join their club). Katie emailed and made a booking a week in advance as recommended, we checked in the day before and got to read our somewhat daunting (or perhaps exciting) disclaim form. The day we left we met at 9am in the office in town to get ready and watch a safety video in which they warned us of some of the dangers including zipping with ‘long or crazy’ hair. My hair was not long but I think fluffy short dreads count as crazy. We jumped into the back if a Land cruiser troop carrier and headed off along the bitumen to the dusty dirt highway, then across a small river, then along a mountain track for about an hour at times wondering if Sebastien Loeb was driving, only stopping to pick up the forest police guy and his AK 47 (no I am not kidding these police have to be serious).
We all got to the village in one piece and were welcomed by the returning tourists some guides and two pigtail macaques Jack and Som Sii. When it came time to walk to our destination we had to catch the monkeys, I caught Jack but I think I shocked some people when I was holding her by one leg as she wriggled and screamed at me. I was confident about grabbing her because of playing with little monkeys a lot before but no one else knew that. I got to walk with Jack on a leash half the way. Som Sii couldn’t be caught but she followed along watching over everyone. When it got to climbing the hill Som Sii jumped up on Pam’s shoulders and got a free ride. I think Pam liked it at first but as monkeys are very warm and climbing a hill is hot work... Pam’s efforts to remove her monkey just ended up in people being nipped.
Pam and Som Sii
Jack
We arrived at a big hut (the kitchen) where we were welcomed in and rested for a minute before being given our harnesses and rollers before walking a minute more to the first cable. This is where the ‘pun’ comes in. Our accommodation was a tree house, three stories tall in a giant fig tree. The middle floor was about 30 meters off the ground and the only way in or out was by way of a 13mm steel cable suspended between trees. One by one we clipped on “Safety First” and zipped away.
We had a little while to get acquainted with our new home over tea and coffee. Lunch was served and then we took a trip over to tree house two to drop of Phil and Katie (not my Katie) who were to stay there the night. The first zip was straight out of the house to the ground on the side of the valley. We walked up the hill and onto our biggest zip yet; “No Brake OK” was the instruction as we left and it soon became clear, I stopped well short of the target and had to pull myself hand over hand to the end. In my fear and fatigue I didn’t notice that the tree I was at was only half way, I got directed around the tree and was soon on another cable for another big zip. We walked a short way up the hill to tree house two which is also the biggest zip that we got to experience.
I can’t easily explain the feeling of zipping. You can imagine the fear of being 110m off the ground hanging from a 400m long cable well it’s not like that. It is kind of scary but I feel worse on top of a building. I think the awe inspiring view and the sheer ridiculous nature of the activity overrides the fear somewhat, It is just –insert F word here- cool.
Me on a line
Katie
Annie
We spent our second day zipping walking quietly looking for wildlife and just walking. There was a report of a gibbon sighting at tree house three so we went over to see the house and see if we wanted to stay there that night. Yaniv and Carine decided to spend the night there while the rest of us decided on the comfort of our original houses.
Giant Squirrel
On the last day I woke at 5:30 hoping for wildlife but the forest was silent. I lay in till 6:00 but I didn’t get to see anything apart from a few birds as the sun came up and some giant squirrels. Annie, Pam and I went for a zip and then a long walk from tree house two (where we collected Phil and Katie) back to number one. After breakfast and some procrastination we walked back down to the village to our awaiting troop carrier and new set of tourists.
The whole three days were great. Unfortunately we didn’t see any Gibbons, That would have made the trip beyond amazing. We did however hear a group of them singing one morning that was amazing on its own. I really hope the project can protect the forest and in the future the numbers of Gibbons and other animals can return to what they once were.
I won’t tell you all the details of the project as you can find that on the website:
http://www.gibbonx.org/
Thanks to all the staff and guides for making the trip what it was, amazing. I really appreciate being able to go on an eco friendly community friendly trip which is surprisingly hard to find.
Jun and Polar the moon bear
Cheers
Dylan
posted by Dylan at 7:02 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home