Indonesia and Malaysia Summary

Komodo Dragons.

One of the 14 species of flying squirrel found in Borneo.

Mother and baby silver backed lemur.

A sleepy proboscis monkey with dental problems.

Jimmy Durante of the forest.

Ritchie the alpha orangutan of the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre.

Thank you Louis and Selvam.

Louis posted this on the internal G website, I wonder how many of my other guides from the 17 G trips will see it.

Summary

Here are a few pieces of information, thoughts and feelings about my time in Indonesia and Malaysia.

My main reason for coming to Indonesia and Malaysia was to see the nature. I wanted to go to Komodo Island in 2011 to see the dragons but, I couldn’t fit it into my itinerary, so getting there this year was a fulfillment of that dream. I have seen gorillas in the wild and I hoped with a visit to Borneo I would see an orangutan in the wild. Observing animals in the wild is always hit or miss but thankfully, I realized both dreams. Seeing the proboscis and silver backed lemurs were also a bonus. But, the one thing I was disappointed about in both countries was the lack of birds. In Borneo I got two glossy pamphlets on birds of the country, but other than one glimpse at a rufous backed kingfisher, we saw nothing of interest. There are several species of hornbills in Borneo including the rhinoceros hornbill, that I would have loved to see. I know the visibility in the rainforest is a big problem as many of the birds live in the canopy up high off the ground. But, still I expected to see some. 

Interesting fact about proboscis monkeys is that they have two stomachs like cows and eat their fill which is digested in the second one. They eat only plants and no fruits because the sugars cause them digestive distress and bloating and if they eat too much they can die.

Borneo is the 3^rd largest island in the world. Sarawak alone is 120 000 sq km and used to be part of Brunei but somehow a British adventurer named James Brook came to own it and he became the 1^st white raja. Then it was occupied by the Japanese during World War II, and then briefly by the Australian army after the Japanese were defeated. Then the British took it over after the war until 1963.

Malaysia became a unified country 1963. It was supposed to be five places joining to form one country: Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei, Singapore and Peninsula Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur is). But while they were negotiating oil deposits were discovered along the north shore of Borneo, and Brunei pulled out to be able to control their share, and then Singapore decided they wanted to remain independent. So, the other three combined to make Malaysia, but they are two different pieces of land. Peninsula Malaysia is connected to Thailand; and Sarawak and Sabah are on the island of Borneo which they share with Indonesia and are divided by a mountain range. The country of Brunei (where my English buddy John lived for years) is sandwiched between them.

Although I booked this as one trip, it was in fact two. The first half was in the state of Sabah and the second was in Sarawak. I preferred the second half as it was more of what I expected in Borneo with animal sightings and a visit to a tribal community. We were very fortunate to have two excellent guides, Louis from GAdventures and Selvam who works for a local company. The two of them have worked together over a dozen times and get along very well. Between them they have 60 years of experiences exploring and leading tours in their country. They are both incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about their country. They were helpful, energetic and provided us with a very full itinerary. There was very little down time.

From the time I spent in both countries, I found Malaysia to be much better developed than Indonesia. The latter is still very much a third world country whereas Malaysia is a second world country. Its cities are developing quickly, but there are vast areas of wilderness and remote peoples still living in traditional ways without electricity or many connections with the modern world. The country is doing as much as possible to protect its wildlife but when the native people rely on hunting for subsistence and clearing jungle to grow crops, it takes a toll on the animals. And because the rural tribes are living peacefully with each other (and not collecting heads) the population is growing rapidly and that puts further pressure on the wildlife, in particular the orangutans and rhinos. The government has made killing or capturing a large number of species illegal and threaten large fines and years of imprisonment, but too many people always threaten animals. I don’t know how the government can monitor what goes on in the jungle. Maybe with the increase in tourism and the fact that most tourist come to see the wildlife, that will give the people a reason for protecting them. It remains to be seen what happens here in the next few decades.