Semenggoh Centre

 Two different species of pitcher plants.

Standing and waiting.

Ritchie arrives!

 Peeling and eating the little native bananas.

 Live, wriggling larvae.

 Forest products.

 Street foods.

 Python.

 An Iban woman guiding our longboat.

 Vivien and Anthony and I, in the Canadian boat.

 The dock of the longhouse.

 The side door entrance.

And the long communal hallway.

Thursday, June 21^st.

We were up early and off on the bus to visit the Semenggoh Rehabilitation Centre. Our goal today was to see orangutan. We arrived at the centre after a 45-minute drive. On route Selvam gave us all kinds of information about the centre and orangutans. The centre opened in the 1960’s as a sanctuary for abused, orphaned or house pet orangutans. The local people used to kill the mother in order to capture the baby orangutan and make a pet of it. They keep it as a human baby for about three years before it became too strong and a potential danger to their own families. Then they would release them into the wild where they would die of starvation because they had no survival skills. Others were abused in circuses where they were taught to smoke, or ride bicycles. The goal was to try to rehabilitate them to the wild. The centre went through a lot of growing pains learning about the needs of the animals and training the keepers. It took about twenty years before they began to achieve some success. The centre puts the animals through a number of stages of rehabilitation which can take up to 5 to 8 years. Ultimately, they hope to release the animal into the centre’s immediate area. They have successfully released 11 and that have produced 19 new orangutans.

The centre has a conflict however. They hope that the animals will become totally independent and not return for food, but they know that tourists come to Borneo to see orangutans. Therefore, they allow tourists to come to the centre for two hours in the morning, from 8 to 10. They set out food for hungry orangutans and call to them. Sometimes they come and other times they don’t. And if it is raining, and this is a rainforest, the orangutan will hunker down and build a shelter of branches and leaves to protect themselves from the rain and stay put.

When we first arrived Selvam showed us two types of pitcher plants. They are plants that have adapted to eating flesh. They have a modified leaf that resembles a ‘pitcher’ which contains some sweet liquid the plant produces. Insects are attracted to it and when they land on the rim they slip and fall into the liquid where they drown, and the plant produces enzymes that dissolve and digest the flesh.

There were about thirty tourists milling about and it started to rain. Not really hard, but rain nonetheless. We were lead to a viewing platform and stood starring at the forest. After about an hour, one of the rangers pointed up behind us. People moved to get a look, but the only thing they saw was moving trees. After a little while, another ranger pointed in front of us and sure enough we could see a large orangutan moving through the forest on the ground. It climbed up onto the feeding platform where there was a pile of fruit. And there he sat about twenty metres away munching contentedly in full view of all of us. He stayed for about a half hour before wandering off back the way he had come.

We found out after that his name was Ritchie and he is the dominant male in the area. Apparently recently there has been a power struggle between him and a younger male for dominance and the rangers thought that the younger one was the one who started to come for the food from behind us but stopped when he saw or heard the Ritchie.

Ritchie is 36 years old and at the end of his reign. The beta male, Edwin, is 26 and ready ot take over. Ritchie is a rescued orphan from the pet trade, whereas Edwin has two brother for support. Orangutans are very strong and despite their cuddly appearance they can be very dangerous. They have attacked or threatened rangers on occasion. Ritchie has trashed the offices and buildings at the centre once or twice. We were very fortunate to see an orangutan because it does not happen every day and to see the dominant male was extra special. Most of the people in our group came to Borneo to see orangutans and would have been very disappointed if we didn’t. Our guides and the rangers knew that but, predicting wild animal behaviour is impossible. We thought we were going to a sanctuary where there would be several orangutans, but the reality was very different. We were basically on a stationary safari.

We were asked to leave just after 10 and walked back to our bus. From there we drove to a small-town market where we were lead around by Selvam who gave us a tour of all the edible plants that he had showed us in the wild yesterday. There were also live wriggling grubs, live river snails, live large catfish and very dead butchered python. There was a section of cooked street food items, which I continue to avoid.

Then we boarded up and again and drove to another town where we stopped for lunch. It was a set menu and included by GAdventures. At that town Selvam bought a large amount of food supplies and other necessities for the families we visited later in the day.

We drove for another hour while Selvam told us all about the Iban tribe that we were to visit. They used to be a head-hunter tribe and live in longhouses. Although in several countries traditional people lived in longhouses, including the Huron and Algonquin tribes in Canada, the tribes of Sarawak are the only ones who still do. He told us how the young men would prove their prowess by being warriors and bringing back heads of their enemies. This would make them suitable marriage prospects. That practice has been banned since the late 1800’s, the young men now leave the longhouse and find work in a nearby town or city. They stay long enough to earn enough money to buy something(s) of significance and bring it back to the community. They do this several times over a few years. In this way they prove themselves. They bring back TV’s, fridges, furniture, stereos with huge speakers and washing machines, all the trappings of the modern world. Sometimes they bring these things to a longhouse that does not have electricity or sufficient wattage to run them.

We arrived at the shore of the man-made lake that was created for hydroelectricity about thirty years ago. The government flooded the valleys and farmlands of the Iban tribe. They relocated them to higher ground and as compensation gave them the right to bring tourists to their longhouses to supplement their income. We were picked up by four longboats with 15 horsepower motors and driven across the lake and up a river in a light rain. It was a beautiful ride and reminded me of the cottage. The hills were vibrant shades of green. When we arrived at the dock we found a huge traditional longhouse, made of hardwood. The modern world has given them sheet metal siding and roofing, instead of a roof of palm leaves. The main house houses 21 families in one long row and there is a second smaller one behind, for a total of 37 families. The houses are individual and there is an indoor hallway that runs the entire length of the building in front of all the houses. In front of that hallway is an equally long veranda and the whole structure is up on stilts. They are built in this manner as a way of protecting themselves from their enemies (in the old days) and from flooding. The place was amazing. It is totally authentic and genuine. Each house has a few crafty type things for sale. The people were going about their lives paying little attention to us as we walked in. A couple of women were sorting pepper seeds, others were sitting around talking and kids were running about. Selvam gave us a walking tour and we were able to go into a couple of the houses. It was amazing what they had inside considering it all had to be brought over by longboat. All of this had to be brought over by the longboats. They have no electricity except by generator and the voltage is not steady enough to run most of this. We sat on the floor and Selvam and Louis gave us some more information about the tribe.

Selvam told us that when tour companies first approached tribal people about bringing tourists to stay, the locals wanted to know why people from around the world would want to stay in such primitive surroundings. The companies explained that tourists wanted to see the lifestyle for themselves, experience the culture, try the food and learn about the traditions of the tribes. He said that at that point the people became proud and embraced it. They were told that they had to cook traditional meals and perform a dance wearing traditional clothing. In this way the tribes can maintain and celebrate their culture with peoples of the world. Plus of course, it brings in money to help everyone in the longhouse. Families are encouraged to take turns hosting the tourists and sharing the gifts so that it benefits everyone.

From what we saw, the people seem very happy and content with their lives and enjoy having us around. Communication is difficult but smiles were everywhere on both sides.

Selvam and our bus driver helped the family cook our dinner and then served us. There was curried chicken, beef, sweet and sour vegetables, rice, a spinach type plant, and bananas.

After dinner the family hosting us put on a very slow traditional dance that imitated the hornbill, four individual dancers, one at a time. Then they all performed inviting some us up too. This was followed by one member of each family sitting in a circle and dividing up the food stuffs and necessities equally that we had brought. It is the tradition that visitors bring offerings of gifts or food and GAdventure provides all the food that we were to eat. After that they set up our mattresses in the hallway complete with mosquito nets and we settled down for the night.