The Bush

Wow, what a week it’s been. Trip and I just returned from a 6-day exploratory mission to the bush and are nursing wounds caused by hiking all day, every day through dense rainforest.

Our mission had two parts. The first was to hike into Leli and discuss with the locals the waterfalls we had scouted from the air and see if they could take us to them. The second was to go to a cave outside of the town called Snake Cave and retrieve a frog for the scientists back at the Lake Hargy camp. Ralph Cutter is researching the effects of global warming on reptiles and wanted a sample from a cave – someplace less affected by global temperature change.

On Sunday, John G of Hargy Oil Palm drove us 3 hours to the end of the road at a town called Pago. Only in the last year has the road even gone that far – a result of the increasing presence of Malaysian logging companies. From Pago, we hiked all afternoon downhill to the Pandi River, across the river and then up the hill on the other side to the village of Leli. The vertical descent was about 800 ft almost strait down to the river level at about 400 ft above sea level and then about another 900 ft up to the top of the next plateau.

About 5 years ago, a group of U.S. and Canadian missionaries, representing a group called New Tribes, came to Leli to set up an operation. Their goal is to translate the entirety of the Bible to the local Pigeon language so that the people can be “saved.” Not being quite as hearty as the locals, the missionaries built an airstrip in the village so that they could fly in the necessary supplies to create a comfortable oasis in the midst of a very rugged bush community. Our first exposure to the village of Leli came when we emerged from the jungle onto this very out-of-place feature.



We walked down the neatly groomed grass airstrip until we came to the first house. We were greeted by an obviously surprised man who, in English (luckily,) welcomed us to put our bags down and rest. We asked about the missionaries and were told that they had gone back to their countries for a couple of months (somewhat of a disappointment to us, as we had hoped they would help us communicate with the local people.) Luckily, there is a primary school in the village that teaches English, so there were a few
“big men” who spoke English pretty well. After a quick wash and a tour of the village, we returned to the house that had been offered to us to cook dinner and relax. When we broke out the stove to make rice, we got our first taste of what would eventually drive us totally crazy.


Leli


Leli

Since the only way for the locals to get to the nearest town (Navo) is to spend most of a day hiking down to the Pandi, back up the canyon on the other side and down the road about 6 or 8 km, they are isolated from any practical form of trading. Thus, they are a subsistence culture – they live off of what they grow and produce and little else. They have little to no money because they have no practical way of getting goods to market and since there are no roads in to the village, very few people pass through. When Trip and I broke out our potable petrol-powered stove and started cooking, half of the village surrounded us and stared.

As night came, the village “big men” came to us and requested that they sit with us and “tell stories.” We were one of only a very small number of groups of westerners to visit the village and the first to, instead of staying with the missionaries, slept in the house of a local. Never had any outsiders sat with them and explained why they were there. We showed them the aerial photos we had taken of the waterfalls and they immediately knew where they were – a two days’ walk in the village of Tuke. They also knew immediately where Snake Cave was. They agreed to guide us to Tuke and show us the cave, but they wanted something in return. First, they told us that they wanted a DVD player and a screen to watch movies on, something we obviously were not going to be able to carry in or even afford to buy for them. Their next suggestion was clothes for everyone in the village, which again we explained we could not carry in to them. To this, they suggested we charter a plane and just fly in – something we were forced to explain was outside of our very small budget. Finally, after a long and awkward negotiating session we agreed to pay they guides who would take us to Tuke and to Snake Cave.

The next morning we woke up at 5:30 to begin the full days’ walk to Tuke. The very primitive trail was extremely steep, slippery and lined with thorns. Leli and Tuke are only 6.5 miles apart, yet we had a very full day of some of the most challenging hiking I have ever done. It rained on and off the whole day, making the already slippery trail very messy. Along the way we passed through a handful of small villages where very surprised and curious locals greeted us.

We arrived in Tuke in the late afternoon and were greeted by two German missionaries from a group called SSEC. The locals took us on a scouting mission where we not only found spectacular whitewater, but also an amazing cave. In Tuke, as in Leli, Trip and I could not go anywhere or do anything without being stared at by a crowd of very curious locals. We completely understood why we were being stared at, but it was starting to be a bit overwhelming. During a church service conducted by the Germans, we snuck off for a little time by ourselves.

The next morning we woke again at 5:30 to make the hike back to Leli in the rain.

Back in Leli, we cleaned up, had a conference with the local people, ate some dinner and went to bed around 9:00.

Wednesday morning, we ate a quick breakfast and set off to Snake Cave with three local men and a handful of local children. Most of the 2 km hike was very manageable, but as we got closer the trail went completely vertical and instead of hiking we found ourselves down climbing. All the rain made things muddy and extremely slippery, so sections of the “trail” were very very sketchy. We finally got to the bottom and to a huge rock archway that led into a dark cavern full of screeching bats. The local children led the way and Trip and I slogged through the ankle-deep mud after them in search of a frog to capture and take back to Ralph. While we were busy shooting video and hunting for a frog, the locals were busy killing bats with sticks and stuffing them in their pockets. It was strange and a little gross, but we let it slide because we were focused on our mission. After about an hour in the cave, we had our frog ad were ready to climb back up the very steep hill to the trail and walk back to the village.


Snake Cave

Back in Leli, everyone was curious to check out the frog that we had found and hear about how our visit to the cave was. After heading down to the creek to wash the bat crap off of ourselves, we returned to our house to find the children cooking the bats they had killed and eating them. They would take the whole bat and stick it onto hot embers, blow on the embers to generate more heat, cut them open and dig in. It was very gross but made for some pretty interesting photos and video.


Checking out the frog


The catch


Cooking bats


Girl enjoying some bat meat

Wednesday morning we lazily woke up around 6:00, packed our things and hit the trail. Our legs were shredded from so much hiking and our patience short from sliding down steep, slippery trails and being stared at constantly by the locals. We made it back to Pago just after noon and began walking down the road to hitch a ride. We were eventually picked up by a truck that took us to a logging camp, dropped off, then picked up again by another truck that took us to the house of the General Manager of one of Hargy’s other plantations. This morning, he gave us a ride back to our base at Hargy Oil Palm HQ.

And now, we rest and figure out the next plan. On Monday we are going to the local schools to give presentations on the scientific work that is being done and the social contributions we hope to make to the local towns and villages.


Trip shooting...with an audience.


Trip resting...with an audience.