Saturday, July 25, 2009

Proboscis and Durian (Klias RIver, Malaysian Borneo)




Sometimes you have to give the people what they want. We think the people want more monkeys. Today, we had a car take us about 150km southeast of Kota Kinabalu to search for the very endangered Proboscis Monkey. The Proboscis Monkey is a very strange primate. It is known as the playboy monkey because the males keep very large harems, sometimes commanding a girlfriend posse of about 30. They swim like dogs, are clumsy jumpers, have huge bellies, make hilarious noises, and the males have a nose like Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants. So, by our estimate, we saw approximately 5% of the Proboscis monkeys that remain in the wild today. They tend to head towards the Klias river around sundown, so we arranged for a car and a boat to make it all happen.
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We began the day with some scrump waffles at a little coffee shop called San Francisco Coffee Shop. I always find it odd when a restaurant has a very straightforward product naming structure with one or two gimmicky names that just seem out of place. At this particular restaurant, everything has conventional names except their fruit frappes. These frappes have the names: Mango Madness, Guava Goodness, and OJ DID IT. Yes, all the way across the world in northern Borneo, you can buy an orange juice called "OJ Did It." It is a little on the sweet side, but a refreshing beverage nonetheless.
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We spent most of the late morning and early afternoon shopping at an excellent Malay mall here in Kota Kinabalu. We had to buy another bag to carry around all of our newly acquired Asian treasures, and picked up a few extras as well. The malls here are great, very big, random, and filled with all sorts of people watching delicacies.
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Our driver for the afternoon picked us up at 2:00pm. On our way to the rain forest that lines the Klias River, our driver discovered that we desired to try a durian fruit. Like I said the other day, durian is a fruit that smells extremely strong, so strong in fact, that it is prohibited from hotels, public transport, and generally any indoor space. It looks like the end of a mace, with hard spikes out jutting in every direction. If your fingers touch one, they smell for days. If you eat a durian, then drink a bunch of alcohol, you will die. Our driver and guide told us so. It happened to a guy he knows. He told us we should wait 1 day after eating durian to consume alcohol. I kind of called BS on this, but he remained adamant. He insisted that he fasts from all alcohol for 1 week after he eats durian. This fruit is serious business.
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Kristin actually enjoyed the durian, scooping fleshy goop out of its husk and dumping it down her throat like a Malay foodie. I nibbled gingerly, but took it kind of easy. After eating a bit, we both drank water out of the hollowed out husk, as it is said to lower your body temperature. Oh yea, I forgot to mention that part. Durian also raises body temperature when one eats it. If this fruit was sold in the United States, it would probably require a license.
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Our guide also showed us some homemade fermented rice, and told us it gets you high. The rice sits in the bottom of a bottle, and you just add water. He told us that you can refill your bottle multiple times and the rice keeps fermenting. It looked dangerous, and after hanging out with some strange kittens, we were back on the road to the Klias River.
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So, we had the opportunity to see 3 types of monkeys today, Proboscis Monkey, Longtail Macaque, and David Beckham. Yes, the locals have renamed a type of monkey David Beckham after the hair style of this particular monkey. You have not lived until you have cruised down a desolate river in the middle of nowhere with 6 Asians yelling out David Beckham and pointing at a small creature trying to find cover from the hecklers in the mangroves. For a connoisseur of the absurd like myself, it was truly a high watermark.
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Any day you see an endangered animal in the wild is a good day. When you see about 30 of an endangered species, that is a very successful safari. We really lucked out today. The Proboscis monkeys were out in full force, falling out of trees, yelling at us, and swinging like maniacs. These creatures are truly a delight to behold, and we are both really glad that we took the time to spend a day tracking them down. Back at the jump off point we were offered a collection of fruit popsicles, Sweet Corn, Avocado, Red Bean, Durian, Cempedai, Yam, and Mango. Hilarious. Needles to say, I chose mango. We finished the evening taking a cruise along the river viewing the "Christmas trees" that line it. Fireflies that flicker like Christmas lights cover the trees at night, and it makes for an unbelievable show.
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A roadside stand



Durian



The inside edible portion of the durian



Kristin getting down with the king of fruit



Drinking from the husk to stave off a temperature



Fruit



Reusable fermented rice, looks deadly

A market cat


Bye durian, also, check out the jackfruit on the
same table



Our welcome tray at a Klias boat dock, donuts, fried banana, and
sweet peanut filled rice sweets



The Klias river



A river house, people still depend on the river for all their sustenance



Scoping for monkeys



Our first glimpse of a Proboscis, these are tough guys to photograph



They like to turn their back to you a jump around like maniacs



This one was surprisingly in the open



A very quiet place



They have unbelievabvle digestive systems, can eat practically anything

Got one mid jump



The female noses go up, male noses hang down



They frequently would jump for a tree and completely miss it. Since,
they can swim decent, this is not much of a problem.



You think you're cool but you're really not



Come on buddy jump



Yes. This is followed by a huge crashing noise and a broken branch



This guy seems pissed



I love their bellies



Tell us how you really feel



A couple of loons


A tree full of long tail macaques



Sunset time



A cute little female



I struggled to get this guy, narrowly missing the shot numerous times



You really have to learn to love bugs



Can you see the huge lizard in this picture?



Last night in Borneo



We were offered this Malay delicacy, grubs. We just said no. High
in protein though...

Friday, July 24, 2009

Orangutans (Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia)






We started the day with a trip to an Orangutan sanctuary about an hour from Kota Kinabalu. This place takes in orphaned Orangs and raises them for a few years. They then either relocate them to the larger sanctuary in Sepilok or release them into the wild. We really enjoyed the Orangutans. They are hilarious primates, and goof off a bit with eachother as well as their handlers.

Around mid-day, we decided to head out to an island off shore in the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park. The national park is a collection of about 5 main islands that are immediately off shore. The islands have several coral reefs and a population of some monkeys, monitor lizards, boars, and even some anteaters. We had to wait about 20 minutes for our driver to take us to the pier since all of the drivers were off praying. After his return, we were taken to the Jesselton Point Pier for a boat transfer to Pulau (island) Manukan. Manukan is one of the busier islands and seemed to be bustling with Chinese tourists. Of all the fellow travelers that we have encountered, the Chinese have the least amount of (western standard) etiquette, and the Indians always seem to screw stuff up or keep people waiting. The Chinese on this island were no exception, and we had some eye-rolling moments. They travel in groups and just kind of stampede you. It is actually pretty funny. We really enjoyed the tropical island, and the beach was surprisingly top notch. The snorkeling was fun, though we were a bit spoiled by Indonesian waters.

Tonight, we decided to eat like locals. First, we hit the night market for some street food. Kristin ate a corn on the cob and a strange shell stuffed with a potato mix. I ordered some chicken on a stick (satay) and a strange gooey green ball that ended up being a dessert type dish. After that, we stopped by a huge Chinese live sea food market and the selection blew our minds. It was like going to an aquarium where you can eat everything. Sharks, coconut crabs, tiger prawns, huge groupers, this place had it all. We decided that it was beyond our means, so we took some pictures and then left. We stopped by a few food stalls and eventually found our way to a shopping mall where we purchased some fresh fruit drinks. Delicious. We ended up eating at a malaysian-latin fusion restaurant that had 7 ringet (2 US) drinks. For dessert, we stopped by a boutique donut store.


A beach on the way to the Orangs. Beaches are much better than
we expected here.


A snake, fun


Orang Utan means person of the forest


They are indigenous to Borneo and very endangered

This one was showing off a bit


and making funny noises


Nice hair-do


Having a mid-day snack


They drink water off of their hands


Hanging out


This is my favorite picture. You can get really close because
there are no barriers or anything between you and the guys

Munching

Some of their mannerisms are so human like


Its okay bud

Swinging


They really seem to have a great time


I am putting alot of these up because I know some 'monkey' lovers
read the site


He stood like this for about 2 minutes


Classic monkey pose


A dance number


Having a bottle


You got some stuff on your lip bud


Boat ride to Manukan


This is what the islands look like


Trees and beaches, you can see KK in the background. It was
not a clear enough day to see Mount Kinabalu


The beach


The pier, and Kristin's arm


I could see this guy staring at me the entire time that I laid out.
I think it was move in day because every time I glanced over, he was
shoveling sand out of his home.


Not a bad place to enjoy some ice cream

Lots of fish in the water


Kristin and I spent about 5 minutes checking out this creature and
his awesome crib.


Birds on a sign


I spotted this guy showing a little too much sass


Sunset over the South China Sea


The night market, an island, a boat, and just a sliver of moon


We took this picture looking into our hotel, shooting our own reflection
around dusk. It was Kristin's great idea. Fun picture.


Swam with this fella earlier today


The last of my chicken at the night market


A strange green dessert thing


Trust us, we won't. HUGE crab.


These are tiger prawns


The edible aquarium


I found these shoes at the mall. The lady laughed when I asked for
them in an american size 10.


Latin-Malay Nachos


Happy hour - heres to my positions back in funny world


Oh noes


What a terrific donut selection


See you guys tomorrow