VIP's Visit (Day 9 - 10/07/2010)

As mentioned in Day 8, Day 9 was marked as a day on the expedition calender in which an important event occured. Dr. Charles, our expedition leader, declared an off-day to ALL of the participants, much to the delight of everyone. This means that none of the research participants had to go to the field to collect their relevant data.

Although it may seem that we have alot of 'off-days', everyone in the base camp actually worked very hard everyday thus making the Sungai Ingei Faunal Expedition a big success.

Dr. Ulmar and Rosli (Frog Team) also went back to the base camp after several days of camping out at the Batu Melintang waterfall area in search for frogs and other reptiles. The Bat Group also closed their harp traps (used in catching bats) and the same was done by the Small Mammal Group. It was indeed fun to see everyone as a whole in the base camp.

However, the 'off-day' given by Dr. Charles didn't mean that everyone could relax and do whatever they want for the rest of the day. Everyone was instructed to clean up the base camp; which range from the kitchen to the toilets. The 'off-day' was indeed declared for a special purpose.

The Minister of Industry and Primary Resources, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Yahya bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Haji Bakar, decided to visit the Sungai Ingei Base Camp and this news came as a surprise to most of the participants of the expedition. The Iban boatmen were also thrilled upon hearing the good news! Pehin Yahya had also decided to stay for the night and therefore alot of preparations were made on Day 9 itself.

This is also the reason why our project administrator/camp manager and chief guide, BB and Angus respectively, left the base camp on Day 7 along with Dr. Zohrah, Amalul and Hajjah Yatty. BB and Angus were there at Bukit Sawat jetty on Day 9 to greet Pehin Yahya and his delegation and brought them to the Sungai Ingei Base Camp.

Pehin Yahya's delegation included:
(a) Dato Dr. Amin Liew Abdullah (Permanent Secretary at MIPR)

(b) Awang Hj Saidin bin Salleh (Director of Brunei Forestry Department)
(c) Awang Mahmud bin Hj Yussuf (Deputy Director of Brunei Forestry Department)

Pehin Yahya and his delegation reached Bukit Sawat jetty as early as 9am and as mentioned, BB, Angus and two boatmen were there to greet them. The water level was quite high that day and hence, it took them only 2 hours to reach Kampong Melilas by boat.

The minister then decided to visit the Melilas longhouse and of course, it was again another surprise to the villagers. The minister and others then left Kampong Melilas at approximately 11.30am and set their journey straight to the Sungai Ingei Base Camp.

Angus (left) and Pehin Yahya (right) ready to leave Bukit Sawat jetty

At Melilas longhouse
L-R: Dato Amin, Awang Mahmud (and kids), Pehin Yahya,
David (boatman), Angus and Haji Saidin

Haji Saidin, Director of Forestry Department, taking a break

Sungai Ingei here we come!
L-R: Angus, Pehin Yahya, Haji Saidin, Dato Amin and Awg Mahmud, David

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Meanwhile, back at the Sungai Ingei Base Camp...

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The minister was expected to reach the base camp by 2pm on Day 9 and hence, everyone was quick at their feet in preparing the base camp from as early as 9am. Of course, everyone wanted to welcome Pehin Yahya and his delegation to our five-star resort hotel!

The chef and his assistant were also busy in preparing some good lunch while some of the boys decided to fix the wooden pathway that leads to the toilets. Some of the girls were instructed to set up a few air beds and mosquito nets for our VIP guests.

One of the participants, Ishlah, whom is also a lecturer at Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB), took over as the chief eletrician for the day as he connected the wires and set up more fluorescent lights and light bulbs in the base camp.

Our paramedics Haji Roslan and Wandy and a few others also collected some wooden planks and made ourselves a shoe rack! In addition to that, they also used some tarps and made space for a changing room and praying area.

The pictures will paint you a better story. Very innovative indeed!

Azree (assistant chef) and Haji Ramlee (chef) in action!

Importance of tarps!
Space allocated for a changing room (left) and prayer room (right)

Ishlah (chief electrician for the day) climbing
high up to pull and connect electric wires

Innovative idea in making the shoe rack
Materials: wood and nails

A well-deserved dip in the cool water after a busy morning!

While the boys were having a dip in the river, suddenly they heard a faint and familiar noise that resembles the engine of the boat's motor board. Everyone was listening patiently but Ishlah suggested that it was the sound of a helicopter that was hovering nearby the base camp.

However, the noise got closer and closer to the base camp by the second and then the boys realized something, "PEHIN YAHYA IS HERE!". The boys got out of the river like a herd of panicking wilderbeasts and ran back to the base camp to dry themselves and to get dressed. It was a hilarious scene to some of the participants whom were at the base camp.

Indeed, Pehin Yahya and his delegation had finally reached the Sungai Ingei Base Camp at approximately 2.30pm and everyone was happy and excited to meet them! The minister waved and gave a huge smile as the boat docked on the river bank and a few of the participants went to unload the luggage from the boats.

Dr. Charles was the first to greet Pehin Yahya and his delegation and welcomed him to the base camp. The minister was introduced to all of the participants and Pehin Yahya had short talks with some of the older Iban boatmen. After that, the VIPs settled down and were showed to their beds.

Pehin Yahya with a smile upon reaching Sungai Ingei Base Camp

Unloading of luggage from boats
Picture showing Pehin Yahya and Dato Amin

Local communities (Iban boatmen) greeting Pehin Yahya
Picture showing Dr. Charles, Pehin Yahya and two Iban boatmen

Pehin Yahya and his delegation were then invited to have tea at the kitchen with some of the base camp's important people such as Dr. Charles, BB, Samhan, Angus and also some of the researchers. Next, the VIPS were given a short tour around the base camp by Dr. Charles in which Pehin Yahya got to see a short demo on how the small mammal group work.

Tea time! Pehin Yahya conversing with
the important people of the base camp

Happy and satisfied with the food I guess? :)

Dr. Ulmar (right) explaining his work on frogs to the VIPs

Local Iban boatmen explaining
about Gaharu trees to Pehin Yahya

VIPs examining one of the remaining Gaharu
trees found behind the base camp

Haji Saidin and Dato Amin

Awg Mahmud

VIPs watching the demo given by small mammal group

Hands-on experience by Pehin Yahya

Pehin checking out some tortoises caught near the base camp

Another round of tea before going to Batu Melintang waterfall

Serious discussions between Pehin and Dr. Charles

Near evening, the VIPs went for a short trip to the Batu Melintang waterfall area and returned back to the base camp just in time for dinner. The forest police and Angus guided the VIPs on that trip. During dinner, the chef and his assitant received high praises from the minister as he enjoyed the food and even said, "This is the only type of expedition in which good food is served!".

After dinner, a short presentation was given by Dr. Charles and the VIPs were also entertained with a slideshow on some of the expedition's camera trapping preliminary results. The minister was very impressed with the results and gave a few promising words regarding about the future of Sungai Ingei Protection Forest. By 11pm, the lights went out and everyone went to bed.

I will end today's long post with these remaining pictures. Check out the blog for more updates soon! :)

Dinner time!

Bet Pehin was super hungry that night :)

Projector Screen used for the presentation
YES! We do have a screen in the base camp!

Crowd watching the slideshow

Then Dr. Charles (green) gave a short speech to the VIPs

To be continued...

Rehat is the Word (Day 8 - 09/07/2010)

Day 8 was still considered as a 'rest' day as not a lot of participants were out in the field. One week into the expedition and I guess everyone needed a day's break. Apart from the small mammal group and bat group, the rest were busy cleaning up the base camp and helping one another out in their respective tasks.

Several of the camera trap boys were assigned to help out the small mammal group except for Metis, Moon and Bon whom were instructed to search around the forest behind the base camp for Gaharu saplings. Gaharu trees (family Thymelaeceae), which can grow up to an approximate height of 50-60 metres, are considered as one of the most logged trees in Brunei and hence are quite extinct in Sungai Ingei.

Finding these Gaharu saplings now? A very hard task I have to say!

According to one of our Iban boatmen, illegal loggers came to Sungai Ingei during the 50s and 60s and had logged these Gaharu trees intensively. Nowadays, even the saplings are hard to find in Sungai Ingei. However, a few Gaharu saplings were luckily found by the boys as assisted by Samhan (field coordinator) and Haji Bakhtiar (Iban boatman). These saplings were collected for the event on Day 9.

Apart from that, Stephen Hogg (our wildlife photographer) also gave a short demonstration to the camera trap team on how to set our camera traps properly in the field. Stephen is also the designer of the camera traps that are currently used by the Sungai Ingei Faunal Expedition Camera Trap Team and also massively used by WWF in camera trapping sessions.

Here are some pictures from Day 8:

Relocating the Gaharu saplings into soil bags
L-R: Dr. Charles, Bon, Moon and Metis

Stephen Hogg demonstrating the correct
methods in setting up camera traps in the field

I designed these traps so you guys better do it my way!

To be continued...

Posers of the Forest (Day 7 - 08/07/2010)

Dr. Zohrah, our deputy vice-chancellor of UBD, had to return to the campus to settle some official matters and hence decided to leave on Day 7 with her assistant, Amalul and also our project administrator/camp manager and chief guide, BB and Angus respectively. Hajah Yatty from the Museums Department also joined them as she has to return for work too.

Two Iban boatmen were therefore given the responsibility to bring them back to Bukit Sawat in the morning. As a result, 5 people had left the base camp on Day 7.

Dr. Zohrah and Amalul had collected enough fish samples for their research during the first week of the expedition and the results are yet to be analyzed. A doa selamat was recited before their departure and everyone helped out in loading their luggage onto the boats. It was like a casual farewell but no tears were shed of course!

Doa Selamat recited before their departure

Ready to leave!
L-R: Dr. Zohrah, BB and Amalul

Yatty waving frantically. I ride SOLO!

Amalul hiding his tears while the boat leaves the base camp

The water level of Sungai Ingei was very low that morning

Day 7 was also a rest day for the camera trap groups as they worked hard the day before. However, other research groups such as the small mammal group, tarsier group, frog group and bat group had to go to the field to gather more data. You will see how the camera trap boys and the paramedics/chefs actually made use of their relaxing day of Day 7. Work aside, there is always some time to have fun in Sungai Ingei :)

The small mammal group were working very hard as usual
L-R: Catherine, Cikgu Haji and Salwa

The camera trap boys were working hard in the water too! :p

Since the water level was low, it was a great time to take
pictures near the river with all the beautiful landscape
L-R: Haji Ramlee (chef), Arpin, Haji Roslan (paramedic), Metis, Moon and Jeff

Backstreet Boys of Sungai Ingei

To be continued...

Roadblocks (Day 6 - 07/07/2010)

Team Samhan, one of the two camera trap groups of the expedition, set out to the field really early on Day 6 (as early as 7am!) to set more camera traps. Their destination involved taking a boat to another area in the Sungai Ingei Protection Forest called Sungai Berar.

Sungai Berar is another small river that branches out from the meandering, upper catchment of Sungai Belait and is actually quite far away from the base camp. The boat ride from the base camp to the mouth of Sungai Berar took approximately 3 hours, which included stops due to obstructions along Sungai Belait.

According to the Iban community, Sungai Berar is an important area for some rare species of freshwater fishes to breed. Every season, thousands of fry will spawn from this river but ironically, the Iban fishermen seldom visit the area.

The journey to Sungai Berar was a treacherous one because of the unexpected happenings that welcomed Team Samhan. Team Samhan is made up of Metis, Ishlah, Moon, Arpin (borrowed from Team Angus), Haji Bakthiar and Samhan himself. The forest police also escorted Team Samhan on that day and luckily they did!

Team Samhan
L-R: Arpin, Samhan, Haji Bakhtiar, Ishlah, Moon and Metis

The upper catchment of Sungai Belait makes the river narrower and hence results in a lot of meanders. The whole journey from the base camp to Sungai Berar saw 7 trees that had fell and blocked the Sungai Belait. These trees are big and it was impossible for any boats to access further up into the upper catchment.

One of the big trees that had blocked the Sungai Belait

However, luck was on Team Samhan's side as the forest police had brought their chainsaw! The sound of the working chainsaw echoed through the forest and there was also an incident in which an Argus Pheasant called out upon hearing the chainsaw.

These forest police are so tough and they did their parts by sawing all the trees that had blocked the river. It wasn't an easy task and proper methods had to be applied in sawing these big trees. The forest police even climbed onto the felled trees and occasionally dived into the river in planning out their tasks.

The police forest getting their hands dirty on one of the big trees

All smiles after successfully sawing a part of the felled tree

Apart from the felled big trees that blocked the whole river, there were also some trees that partially blocked the Sungai Belait but there were 'gaps' under these trees in which the boat could pass through. The water level that day was quite low and if it was any higher, the boat wouldn't be able to pass through under these trees via the 'gaps'.

Can you see the gap under the felled tree?

It wasn't easy to maneuver the boat to go under
the trees via the gaps...but hey we did it!

So I've mentioned about two obstruction types: 1) big trees that had fallen and blocked the entire river in which chainsaw was needed and 2) trees that partially blocked the river but has 'gaps' below them in which boats can pass through.

The third obstruction type involved smaller trees that had fallen and blocked the river but the boat was able to go through directly above the felled tree. This is also dependent on the water level of the river and involved the boat in moving and sliding above the felled tree.

However, this feat could only be done if the load of the boat is light and therefore, Team Samhan had to step out of their boat a few times and balanced themselves on these trees while waiting for the boat to slide pass the trees. Dangerous balancing act I have to say!

Balancing act on one of the smaller trees.
Lose your focus and you get wet :)

After all these obstructions, Team Samhan eventually reached Sungai Berar and they ventured into an unexplored trail, which includes swamps and ridges and set their camera traps for the next two hours. The forest type in Sungai Berar is composed of riverine forest, kerangas forest, freshwater swamp forest and mixed dipterocarp forest. Team Samhan finished their work by 1pm and safely went back to the base camp after a hard day's work. Here are some pictures taken in Sungai Berar.

Ishlah setting up a camera trap

The trees in Sungai Berar are huge!
L-R: Arpin, Ishlah and Metis

Relaxing after a well-deserved lunch-break

Back in the base camp, our main chef Haji Ramlee wanted to make everyone fatter by preparing a special tea time meal which included his hand-made martabak and curry! Team Samhan made it back just in time for tea time. Here are some pictures to wrap up today's blog post.

Haji Ramlee in action!

and he prepared all meals with a big smile! :)

Azri, assistant chef, preparing the curry

Tea time is ready!

and Amalul was the first to savour his meal! NYAMAN TUU!

Thumbs up for the martabak!
Thank you Haji Ramlee and Azri!

Guess what's for dinner? :)

To be continued...