The best diving of my life!

Today I've been diving 2 more times. The first dive was looking boring... The instructor says that it was a good place to see sharks, tourtles and Rays. We haven't seen any big fish till the end. When my tank (of air) was almost empty, we've seen a "cloud of sand" (into the water). Usually, the Rays or the mantas remove the sand looking for food, and it was a signal that some ray was there... after waiting a few seconds to the "cloud of sand" disappears, a huge ray starts swimming from there. Was amazing! Only the body (without the tale) was 1,5 meters!!! she moves so fast, but it gives me just a second to take one picture. wow!

On the second dive, in general, was more funny than the first one. Lots of corals, small and colorfull fish, big fishes (no sharks today...) and tourtles. I've seen 5!!! Two of them where together when we found them (provably trying to have sex... excuse me, Mis. and Mr. Tourtle!) I've followed one of them. She was swimming slowly, calmous, and gives me the chance to swim at her side, maybe at 2 meters from her. It was a big tourtle, maybe a bit bigger than 1 meter. She gives me enough time to take a few pictures, a 26" video... and time to watch her... wow! My favourite thing under the water.. and gives me enough time to enjoy a lot the moment!

It's unvelievable the difference between the things you can see out from the water and into the water... on the same area. There's only stones and dust outside. Inside...

Tomorrow will be my last day here. 2 more divings and next morning I'll fly to Bali, then Jakarta, then Kuala Lumpur, then Home...

More adventures in Komodo...

Last night I've founded a snake in my room!!! (first a lizard, then a snake... what tonight???) I know that it's not dangerous, so I let it there.

This morning I went to see the Komodo dragons. It was just a 1,5h trail, but was enoug to see a few of them.

After dragons... diving again! The first thing we've seen was a shark (he's behind me on a picture...). He was there, like on a "relaxing time". It was funny and scary at the same time... but now I know that, if staying at 4-5 meters from him there's no reason to be afraid... now I'll dive more safety! We've seen also a lot of big fishes... and tourtles!!! many of them!!! I've been swimming close to one of them maybe 8 or 10 meters... I love to see how they swim...

Well... tomorrow more divings!!!

Diving in Komodo National Park...

I'm in a place called Labuan Bajo, in Flores island. Is a small town and there's nothing to see here... but after a couple of hours by boat, there's an amazing world under the water. There's a lot of "big fish", like dolphins, napoleon fish, tuna... and sharks!!

I've booked a "3 days diving pack" (yesterday, today and tomorrow). At the moment, I've seen maybe 18 dolphins (always from the boat... I was not in the water at the moment... fuck!) a couple of Napoleons, a few tuna, a lot of different "big fish" (I can't remember the names...) and maybe 8 or 10 sharks! One of them was swimming at no more than 10 meters from us... is a special sensation... but the instructor has gived us a "pre diving" biology brieffing, and she explain us that sharks are not used to be dangerous, but they have a very bad reputation... (too much moovies... my friend!).

I have also seen a tourtle. Was a young tourtle, maybe 60 cm from the head to the tale, and she was swimming in front of us... I love them! I've dived close her (not nearest than 5 meters, to not get her scared), and is lovely to see how they swim... slowly... slowly... it's a sweet moment... my favourite moment under the water is when I'm watching tourtles... I hope to see more tomorrow!

Tomorrow, before diving, I'll go to Rinca island (between Komodo island and Labuan Bajo town). Komodo island gives the name to the dragon, but in Rinca island there's more of them and everyone who I've asked before told me that it's better than Komodo island, so tomorrow, before diving, I'll go there to make a 2 hours walking tour. I hope to see them. I hope to take goooood pictures there! People who was diving with me today explain me that 2 days before they had seen how a dragon haunts a bear... they say that was like being into the TV docummental!!!

Well... I will try to upload again the blog after with new pictures of Komodo dragons...

PD: Jason.. can you see what I'm holding on my hand in a picture of me diving????

Terima Kasih banyak!

I'm in Komodo now. I hope to visit the dragons and dive a little bit on the Komodo National Park during the next few days. Last days I've been thinking about write this message, but I've never finded the moment. Since this morning I've been traveling with Caroline. Jason join us a few days ago in Ubud (Bali) and Ellie join us the last two days too.

Provably you'll feel the same, but it's amazing the amount of memories that come to my head when I see any of my pictures with you... (thousands... I know... it's my default, but I'll survive!). I really hope that you'll feel the same and, as I, you will be proud to say "I was there!". It's not easy to spend 24h a day in a small space, living with 18 another people under the same roof... but we've done it, and I just want to say "Terima Kasih Banyak" to let me live this time with you.

Now everyone of us are running different trails... Jasha was the first going back home, and in a few days I'll do the same... "back home; back to work". I hope you'll have fun discovering amazing and beautiful places around the world. I hope to see you again somewere and spend a few more time together. Remember... if you ever want to go to Spain... "Girona's Ryanair airport is near to my house, and I will be your private Barcelona guide... (I'm good... I promise you!)

Wellcome to the jungle, my friend!

Last days in the jungle...

Well... There's no pleasure that last forever... and the jungle time has gone. We've spended a really nice moents in the jungle. I'm glad to say that I've been living for a 6 weeks in a "non easy place" with a group of a amazing people. Thank's to all of you!

Last week we've working (a little bit) and having a lot of fun with the orangutans of Camp Rasak. They were always very friendly and calmous (except one...). It's supposed that people are not allowed to touch them (to make it easy for them to be as wild as possible), but when you see that one of them comes to you and try to climb at your showlders expecting to you to carry it to the feeding place... how can you say "no" if it's your main desire???

Last day in Pangkalan Bun was the last day all the group together, and also, was Caroline's birthday. We went to Ibu Opit house to dinner and she prepares to Caroline a special birthday rice cake. The food was excellent, but all the time there were sad faces, because all of us know that it was the last time together...

Last days: Camp Rassaw

We can feel that the paradise time is coming to end. There’s just one week to say good bye to this amazing place, to this VERY NICE PEOPLE I’ve meet here.
Now we have the great pleasure of being working in a place that not a lot of people can see. We are on a place called “Camp Rasak” Tourism are not allowed here and is one of the places where Orangutan Foundation releases orangutans from the “Care Center” that I’ve visited a couple of weeks before. Here there are two buildings that other groups of volunteers builded before me, but now they realized that the kitchen was too small and we’ve come here to make a new one. It’s an easy job (looks easy… at the moment…) but the best thing is that we have a lot of time to walk, swim on the river (Indonesian people says that there’s no crocodiles here) and enjoy the moments that the orangutans give us. There’s maybe 15 or 20 orangutans that a few years ago were on the care center, and when they become enough all to be able to “walk alone”, they were released here. They still need the human contact (we are like her mothers…) and hopefully during the next months or the next years they will be enough self confident to live by their own on the jungle. Now, is usual to see one of them walking to you and sit at your side, or trying to climb at your shoulders to you to carry it to another place… that’s great. It’s good to see that an orangutan that once was orphan and provably will die in a few days, thanks to Orangutan Foundation now is still alive and climbing the trees. Hopefully in a 2 or 3 generations the “new babies” will have forget that once her grand mother was killed for human people…
Well… after this boring history, I hope you’ll enjoy the pictures. Here you’ll see just a small part of my great feelings here, but if you want to feel something similar, I’ll tell you how to do it. It’s easy and very nice. Amazing.

Next week will be the last. Normally the last week of the volunteer program, people go to Camp Leakey again, but this year will not be possible. Fortunately, we will be able to stay here all this week, so will be like Camp Leakey but in another place. I hope to take a good pictures!!! I’ll show it to you!

Bye

Another week has gone!

Hi again!
Another week on the jungle has gone!
All of us we are working hard trying to finish as soon as possible the task we have been asked to do, but we also have time for a little bit of fun and pleasures. In Abdy’s birthday (Abdy is one of the Indonesian carpenters who’s living and working with us) we celebrate a big “dressing party”, and I was dressed like a typical British old lady, and everybody says that I was very nice… Some times Ibu Opit (our Indonesian cooker) prepares to us a fabulous cakes and Donuts, another day, Roberta (from Italy) cooks for us a delicious pizza (maybe the best pizza I’ve ever eat???) and I really hope to eat again next week!
The house we are building is almost finished. The walls are done, the painture is done, we’ve builded a cage for the new orangutans before to release them definitively to the amazing jungle. Almost everything is done. Only the toilet and the “cleaning service” we’ll not be able to do it because there’s still water surrounding the building and we cannot work on the floor or burn all the small pieces of wood that we haven’t used during the construction. In a few days (maybe weeks… maybe months…) when the water level will be again lower, someone will have to come here to do it.
In our group, Jasha (from South Africa) is a very good artist (is his real profession), and it takes just a couple of days to paint an amazing orangutan’s face to the house’s wall. I like that man. He is very funny and he has a nice conversation. Is nice and interesting to spend the time talking with him (and also you laugh a lot with him!!)

More pictures from the jungle!

More pictures of Camp Leakey...

Well... today it seems that the computers are not so lazy and seems that they are working right, so I'll try to upload a few more pictures...

The first one, is the celebration of "La diada Nacional de Catalunya" (special day in Catalonia's tradicion). It was the 11-september (yes, I know... the same day than the twin towers in NY, but it's just a coincidence). Well... the morning of the 11-s I took my "senyera" (the name of my country's flag) and I left the team house looking for a funny picture with some orangutan.... and I've founded a youngmale called Samson. He's very friendly, and he was been playing a few moments with the flag, and that's one of the pictures that I have with him and the Senyera, celebrating "la diada Nacional de Catalunya".

The other pictures I took them from the Klotok (the riverboat), on the way to Camp Leakey. There is a lot of monkeys, birds, beautiful trees... everything is beautiful... You should come and see it!

Back from Camp Leakey!

Wow!

Too much emotions in a few days... what should explain first??...

First we went to the "Care Center", the place where the new orphan orangutans arrive to take care on it. They will be there till they'll be not less than 6 or 7 years old. There are a lots and lots of young orangutans that arrive everyday from everywhere. Is so sad... but afortunately they are people like Orangutan Foundation who takes care about them and work hard to try to release again once they are enoug strong and ready to try to live in the jungle (but near the foundation's guys). There, in Care Center, we've been able to touch and hold on baby orangutans... it's something amazing to feel how strong they hold you... it's a shame that they will never feel the touch and the protection of her mother again...

We've been 5 days in Camp Leakey, the place that Orangutan Foundation has in the middle of Tanjung Puting National Park, like a center to release orangutans. There you can found all the peace that the jungle offers, and also, a group of released orangutans who live in the area near the camp. Some of the orangutans are living in Camp Leakey, but another ones only can be seen from time to time (they are free, so only go to the camp when they want, and as less they go to the camp is a good new, because that means that they are enoug selfeficient to look for food by themselves..)

Well... I've seen lots of them. From the riverboat, at the camp, at the feeding platform... lots! I'm so happy!

One day, "Princess", living legend of Orangutan Foundation (she was the first orangutan who learns how to talk with humans trough symbols, pictures and signs with her hands). Well...Princess was near the Team House (were we've been living in Camp Leakey), and when nobody was taking care of the door, she goes in. She takes a bag from one of the volunteers andtry to hide. I try to take the bag frm her hands, and "during the battle", she bites my leg. I will survive, but I promise... she's really strong!! Just a couple of minuites before that she bites me, I took a picture with her (the one which our faces are really close...), and just after the bite, we were friends again. No problem. No regrets!!

The day before, walking on the camp, we meet Akhmet and Atlas (th baby). They were really quiet and, surprisingly, Atlas left the mother for a moment and try to touch mi foot. Just a moment later, he walks from her mother to my leg and give a kiss to the bruce that the day before Princess makes me with a bite! Something amazing!

Today, coming back from Cam,p Leakey, It has been raining a lot, and my backpack is now completely wet. All my clothes, my sleeping bag, my books... everything is wet. But... welcome to the jungle!!!

2nd week... gone! Tomorrow: Camp Leakey!!!

I would like to seem really happy, but I can't. I was really happy and hoping to sit down and write about all the things that had happened during the last days, but after trying for 3 hours to use a computer (... yes, 3 hours!!!!) I can't be really happy. I've tryed 7 diferent computers, but today there's a conspiracy against me and the USB ports to connect my cards to upload the pictures. Internet is used to be REALLY slow on this countries, but I was not expecting to have this kind of problems with the USB... Finally, after a long time trying, I've founded a computer that seems (for the moment seems...) that wants to work (fingers crossed...)





Well... I don't know exactly what to say... since I've arrived to Borneo, I think that today is the first day without rain. Normally ir rains a little bit every day. It's suposed that on this moment of the year the rains should'nt be usuals, but... that's life... welcome to the jungle!!! The river now is maybe 40cm upper than the day when we arrived to the working place (the "pondock"), but we're still dry... (we try to be dry... but there's no way to dry our laundry... there's a lot of humidity in the atmosphere and the clothes smels horrible!)





When we arrive at the pondock, (the pondock is like a big campsite tent, just a provisional place to live on while people is working near by building another house), there was a building done (where we are slipping now), and another with only the floor and the roof. Since we arrived, we've cemented the walls, start painting, and now we are doing the doors and windows. It's supposed to be finished before that was expected at the beguinning, so maybe (MAYBE), when this site will be completely finished we'll go for a couple of days to another place to make something there. We'll be very pleasured to go there, because Dan (our coordinator) tolds us that there we'll be able to walk a little bit (now all the area where we're living and working is nsurrounded by 40-80 cm of water...). There the river is enoug far and the site is enouh high (from the river level) to not to have problems with water. The most exciting thing isnt't that one... the best thing is that there are orangutans!!! Maybe a population of 20-30 orangutans living on the area, so we'll be working and maybe watching them at the same time... I really want it!

Last days, also happened 2 important things... The first one, I that I have finally found a good book for me! Is the first time that I have finished a book in my life (I promise... the first time without missing pages or chapters...). The book talks about the global economy (I know... souds boring, but it isn't!!!) It's called "Economia liberal per a no economistes i no liberals", and the author is Xavier Sala i Martin (you can read some about him on his site http://www.columbia.edu/~xs23/Indexmuppet.htm I'm sure you'll agree most of the things he says in any of his articles!!! Enjoy it! The second thing is related to an special girl who received some flowers the other day... ;)

Tomorrow I'll go finally to Camp Leakey: the paradise inside the paradise! Finally I'll see orangutans again! I've been here for two weeks and I haven't seen any of them. A few monkeys from the riverboat, a few birds and thousands of insects!, but no orangutans for the moment. Tomorrow finally I'll see them again!. I hope next time I'll write again on this blog I'll be able to show you a few pictures of them... will be amazing... I promise!!!

Well... I've lost a lot of time trying to found a computer to write this, and now I have no more time to write. I hope next week my "internet experience" will be better... I mean "normal".





Have fun!

More pictures...

First week on paradise!

The first week has gone! Now just remaining 5 weeks on paradise...

I'm very glad to see that all the members of my team looks very nice. We are 12 volunteers, a coordinator (with girlfriend), 4 indonesian carpenters and Ibu Opit, the kitchen's queen!!! There's 3 couples on the group, but at the beguinning it seems not a problem. All the people on the group has been adapted perfectly to the jungle's conditions, and all of us are really happy (and that's really good!). We've been all the week cementing, sawing, chiseling... and looks that it will still be the same one or two more weeks... It has been raining everyday. Sometimes just a minutes, sometimes all day and all night long... but it's fine. By chance, we are working under the roof, because another volunteers before us start building the place where we are living and working now. When it will be finished, Orangutan Foundation will use this houses like a base camp on the jungle to start reintroducing young orangutans to the jungle. At the moment there's no orangutans there, but when it will be finished, a group of indonesian people will come here to live in and taking care (just a little bit) of the orphan orangutans that will live on this jungle on the future. Now this orangutans are on the care center, waiting to be enough adults to live "by their own" (at the beguinning will be impossible, because all of them have been living in cages in the care center since the moment that someone kill her mother. Killing her mother, the baby orangutan will never learn all the information that the old generations of orangutans habe been teaching generation after generation... information like what's good to eat and what is dangerous, when eat something and when not to eat it... or, for example, something as simple as "never touch a snake". This kind of knowledges the orphan baby orangutans will have to learn it bi his own, but it's the only way. There cannot be schools for orangutans... of course!

In this camp, indonesian people will give them a little bit of food every day, and also, the kind of basic medical assistance (just in case) and a few "human care"that they need, because they have been living with humans since become orphans, and provably now we are the most similar to "her mother", and it would be a litthe bit depressing for them lo let them by his own in the middle of nowere, alones... so the best way is let them free but with the possibility of human contact if they want... just the same that I saw in Camp Leakey last year... (and I'm really waiting to see and live again...)

Well... provably next week I'll have another rest day, to come again to the internet cafe and show you some of my pictures. For the moment, I think will be a little bit boring just see people working or playing cards, but the best pictures will come soon... Camp Leakey's waiting!!!

Also, I'll try to show more pictures with me... (I can't promise...)

Have fun!

I hope to be able to come here on the future, and see again this build finished and with some orangutans around it.