Flood! (Day 2 - 03/07/2010)

As mentioned in the previous post, a heavy downpour started at around 5pm on Day 1 and it carried on until the wee hours of the night. While everyone was soundly asleep, our Iban boatmen were restless as they feared that their boats will be washed away. The water level of Sungai Ingei is known to rise rapidly whenever it rains so you can imagine what the condition was when the heavy downpour stretched for hours.

True indeed, a bad flood occurred at approximately 2am and everyone in the base camp was awoken abruptly by the Iban boatmen. "Banjir! Banjir!", shouted Cikgu Haji, whom is one of our important Iban guides. The water level of the river was reported to be two metres away from the base camp floor and we feared that even the base camp itself will be flooded. The roaring sound of the flowing river was intimidating and the river flowed with such immense speed. No wonder the Iban boatmen were restless.

There was nothing much we could do and some went back to sleep. Some of the men decided to stay up for the night and constantly checked on the severity of the flood. It is perhaps one of the worst floods that has occured at Sungai Ingei but we're glad that everyone and everything was safe.

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The aftermath of the flood was clearly seen the next morning on Day 2. There was an accumulation of debris around the vicinity of the base camp but the water level went down pretty quick. It was also reported that the highest water level reached by the flood was a mere metre away from the base camp floor. In other words, the water level rose to nearly 6 metres in height.

The water level of Sungai Ingei was still
very high early in the morning of Day 2

Accumulation of debris as seen near the river bank

During the wee hours, the ferns at the
river bank were fully submerged

The flood nearly reached the level of the base camp floor

Debris of wooden planks and loose soil below
the base camp as seen in this picture

Around mid day, the sky was clear and the strong heat helped in drying up the base camp area. A cleaning campaign was held and a few of the participants were eager to pick up as much debris as possible so as to keep the area clean. The Iban boatmen also assisted much during the cleaning campaign.

Cleaning campaign around the base camp

On the other hand, Angus (chief guide) met up with the forest police and discussed about the possible areas in Sungai Ingei in which the forest police could patrol throughout the expedition. The forest police were there for security, patrolling and escorting purposes, so as to assist any of the participants when necessary. With the presence of the forest police in Sungai Ingei, poachers would be intimidated to do their illegal activities there.

Angus and the forest police studying maps

Day 2 also saw the start of one of the research projects of the expedition as leaded by Dr. Zohrah, deputy vice-chancellor of UBD and also a senior lecturer at UBD. Dr. Zohrah's project involved the analysis of the diversity of fishes in Sungai Ingei and she was assisted by her younger brother, Amalul.

Since Dr. Zohrah's project involved surveying the stretch of Sungai Ingei for fishes, she would need the help of the Iban boatmen and their knowledge of the fishes in the river. Her methodology involved the intensive use of fishing nets that were placed at strategic areas along the river. Any fishes caught were then analyzed at the base camp after the field work.

Setting out for Fish Project
L-R: Cikgu Haji (boatmen), Amalul, BB and Dr. Zohrah

Haji Bakhtiar (boatmen) showing one of his catches

Dr. Zohrah in action!

Analysis of fish DNA at the base camp

Dr. Zohrah and Amalul recording their DNA for further studies

While Dr. Zohrah and her crew were working hard in the field, lunch time arrived much to the happiness of some of the jobless participants in the base camp. The menu was simple but good enough to satisfy most of the empty stomachs. But it was after lunch in which the most important task of Day 2 was to be done.

Our Field Coordinator, Samhan, instructed some of the participants to erect the expedition banner as sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank at the front porch of the base camp. The banner would be a welcoming sight for our guests whom were arriving on Day 3.

The base camp kitchen was always a very delightful place

What's for lunch?

Participants erecting the expedition
banner as supervised by Samhan

Happy people with the happy banner :)

To be continued...

Journey From Bukit Sawat To Sungai Ingei (Day 1 - 02/07/2010)

The journey from UBD to Bukit Sawat jetty took about two hours in which we reached there by 9.30am. To those participants who didn't sleep well the night before, two hours of sleep in the buses is more or less sufficient. The Bukit Sawat jetty is located in Kampong Bukit Sawat, Belait District and it is regarded as a common gateway to Sungai Ingei.

As we reached Bukit Sawat jetty, we were welcomed by the Belait River and several beautiful longboats which are locally known as 'temuai'. The boatmen are composed of the Iban and Penan communities who either live in Kampong Sukang or Kampong Melilas, in which both villages are found in the Ulu Belait region. The boatmen are very indispensable to the expedition because they are the ones who use the Belait River extensively and would know their way around without any doubt.

The day was sunny and the water level was very high

The beautiful temuai seen docking at Bukit Sawat jetty

We began to unload all the expedition luggage from the buses and the kind boatmen immediately took the luggage and arranged them properly in their temuai. There were a total of 6 temuai on that day, in which 3 are for carrying the expedition luggage and the other 3 are for carrying the participants. Once the luggage were properly arranged, each participant was given a life jacket and advised to seat properly in the boats.

Prior before departure from Bukit Sawat jetty, a short briefing and doa selamat were conducted and Dr. Joseph Charles (expedition leader) was the one who flagged us off. Dr. Charles didn't leave on the first day but eventually left for Sungai Ingei with the second batch on Day 3.

First batch of participants who left for Sungai Ingei on Day 1:

Ang Bee Biaw (project administrator/camp manager), Samhan (field coordinator), Angus (chief guide), Dr. Zohrah (deputy vice-chancellor of UBD and senior lecturer), Amalul (research assistant), Hj. Roslan (paramedic), Wandy (paramedic), Hj. Ramlee (chef), Azri (chef's assistant), Salwa (research assistant), Ishlah (research assistant), Rosli (research assistant), Metis (research assistant) and Jeffery (research assistant)

Participants leaving for Sungai Ingei from Bukit Sawat jetty

The journey from Bukit Sawat jetty to Sungai Ingei normally takes approximately 5-6 hours by boat and it is indeed a very long and tiring journey! But thankful for that day, the water level of Belait River was quite high and we managed to reach the Sungai Ingei Base Camp by 3pm (5 hours boat ride).

However, we didn't head straight to Sungai Ingei from Bukit Sawat jetty on that 5-hours' boat ride. We made a pit-stop at Kampong Melilas for an hour's lunch-break. In addition to that, the boatmen also took the chance to refuel their boats. The boat journey from Bukit Sawat jetty to Kampong Melilas is about 2 hours whereas it normally takes 3 hours from Kampong Melilas to Sungai Ingei.

Boats arriving at Kampong Melilas.
Weary faces seen on the participants!

Boats docking at the jetty of Kampong Melilas

Participants resting at the entrance
leading to the Kampong Melilas longhouse

And also not forgetting to show some pictures on the beauty and serenity of the riverine vegetation that can be found along the way to Sungai Ingei. The thickness of the riverine vegetation, the height of the towering trees and the lush surroundings show that Sungai Ingei is indeed a very pristine region.

Lush surroundings on both sides of Sungai Ingei

Entrance to Sungai Ingei

Emergent tree found along Sungai Belait

Unique white sand bank found along Sungai Belait

A beautiful sight of flowering trees

As mentioned earlier, we reached the Sungai Ingei Base Camp by 3pm and unloaded all the expedition luggage from the boats. It seemed that the participants have gotten bigger biceps from all the loading and unloading of heavy luggage but everyone did their parts efficiently.

The base camp was bare when we first arrived and hence, the first batch of participants had to 'decorate' the base camp. Who would want to stay at an empty and boring place right? Our project administrator/camp manager, Ang Bee Biaw, gave instructions and jobs to each of the participants and the base camp was 'beautified' at the end of the day! Our base camp hence became a 5-star resort hotel after all the hard work!

So you might be wondering what did we do to the base camp?

We swept the floor, put up tarpauline as curtains, laid tarpauline on the floor as floor mats, cleaned the toilets, fixed the generators and lighting, set up dressing lines, set up mosquito nets, prayer room and tents and even assisted the chef in organizing his kitchen area.

While everyone was busy with their individual tasks in the base camp, the sky decided to pour down heavily. Despite the rain, everyone managed to finish their individual tasks and little did we know that the time was already 7pm.

You will soon find out why 7pm is such a significant and important time during the expedition after these rolls of pictures. :)

The weather was fine when we arrived.
Salwa had the privilege to set up the dressing lines :)

We have our own chief electrician who's in charge of our lighting!
Ishlah is a lecturer from ITB who knows his wirings well

Then the sky decided to pour down heavily on us!

We had to hang tarpauline as curtains to prevent
rainwater from splashing into the main hall area

The chef (left) and his assistant organizing their kitchen space

Despite being busy, they still had a chance to pose for the camera :)

Tents were also set up in the base camp

Tarpauline was used as floor mats

Mosquito nets and air mattresses were also set up
for the participants' comfort in the base camp

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AND WHEN 7.00PM CAME!
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Tambah Lagi!!!

Chef Haji Ramlee will call out for dinner and it's indeed one of the most anticipated moment of the day! The chef and his assistant prepared the best dishes that you would hardly find in any expeditions. Haji Ramlee's favourite quote during the expedition is 'Tambah Lagi!' and he insisted that the participants should eat more for every meal!

Participants resting at the kitchen after dinner

It was indeed a very tiring first day for the first batch of participants and everything went well in terms of preparing the base camp for the expedition. The toilets and lighting were running well and there was also a proper storage of water for consumption. The main generator that was producing the electricity for the base camp was switched off at 11pm every night during the expedition and the participants will head straight to bed when the lights go out.

Despite the heavy downpour that didn't end until the next day, Day 1 was indeed a very productive one.

To be continued...

Flag-off Ceremony (Day 1 - 02/07/2010)

The Sungai Ingei Faunal Expedition 2010 officially kick-started with a flag-off ceremony that was held at the Chancellor Hall of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) on 2nd July 2010, 8am.

Prior before the flag-off ceremony, all the participants of the expedition were instructed to arrive as early as 7am to load all of the 'luggage' into two rented buses. These 'luggage' included our very important 2-weeks' worth of food supply, scientific and logistic equipments and also the personal luggage of the participants that left for Sungai Ingei on the 2nd July 2010.

A second batch of participants left for Sungai Ingei on the 4th July 2010. The amount of luggage was unbelievable but everyone managed to load them into the buses efficiently. The buses then brought the participants to the Chancellor Hall where the flag-off ceremony was held.

You think that's the amount of luggage
that we brought to Sungai Ingei?

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YOU ARE WRONG!

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Now check out the number of luggage that were lined
along the path as the participants loaded them into the buses!

Sacks of rice, gas tanks, tissue rolls, water buckets,
containers, cooler boxes, bags, etc. You name it all! :)


Flag-off Ceremony

The flag-off ceremony was officiated by the guest of honour, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Yahya bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Haji Bakar, Minister of Industry and Primary Resources.

Also present during the event were Hajah Suriyah binti Haji Umar and Dato Dr. Amin Liew Abdullah, Permanent Secretaries at the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, Pengiran Hajah Mariana binti PDNLDR Pengiran Haji Abdul Momin, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources and other officials from the ministry.

Dr. Zulkarnain Hanafi, Vice Chancellor of UBD with Danny Quah, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) were also in attendance. UBD is the current leading institution of the Sungai Ingei Faunal Expedition which is also sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank.

An opening speech was given by the expedition leader, Dr. Joseph Charles, whom is also a senior lecturer at the Biology Department in UBD. This was also followed by a Doa Selamat to bless the expedition.

Official banner of the Flag-off Ceremony

Front L-R: Danny Quah, Dato Dr. Amin Liew Abdullah, Dr. Zulkarnain Hanafi,
Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Yahya bin Begawan
Mudim Dato Paduka Haji Bakar, Hajah Suriyah binti Haji Umar and
Pengiran Hajah Mariana binti PDNLDR Pengiran Haji Abdul Momin

Expedition leader, Dr. Joseph Charles, giving his speech

The Flag-off Ceremony was also attended by UBD admin staffs,
lecturers, press media and participants of the expedition

L-R: Jennifer Kang (SCB Head of Corporate Affairs and Marketing),

Dato Mikaail Kavanagh (Special Advisor/Project Manager - Brunei, WWF Heart of Borneo Programme)
and Ang Bee Biaw (Project Administrator/Camp Manager of the expedition)

Dr. Joseph Charles introducing Samhan Nyawa (Field Coordinator)
to Pehin Yahya and perhaps shared a few jokes amongst them :)

Group picture: VIPs and the overall participants of the expedition

After the group picture, Pehin Yahya was escorted to the entrance of the Chancellor Hall by Dr. Joseph Charles whereby the minister and his entourage bid farewell to those participants that left for Sungai Ingei on the 2nd July 2010.

All smiles! Dr. Joseph Charles escorting Pehin Yahya
to the entrance of the Chancellor Hall, UBD

The very important people of the expedition

Another group picture of the VIPs and the
participants with the expedition banner
as kindly sponsored by SCB

Pehin Yahya and Dr. Zulkarnain bidding farewell to the participants

Hence, that marked the end of the Flag-off Ceremony of the Sungai Ingei Faunal Expedition 2010 whereby the buses departed from UBD and headed straight to Bukit Sawat jetty (Labi area), the rendezvous point between the participants and the Iban boatmen.

To be continued...

We're Back!

Greetings all!

We have all returned from Sungai Ingei safely and we are glad that the expedition (Phase 1) was a huge success! The two-and-half week long expedition (2nd-20th July 2010) was indeed a memorable experience for all the participants and we will update you with lots of pictures and stories. However, scientific results obtained from the various projects of the expedition will only be discussed during the expedition seminar.

Hope you will enjoy yourself as we take you on the beautiful journey to Sungai Ingei. Check this blog for massive updates! :)