This is an update I sent from Indonesia back on August 13. Things were going just swimmingly of course. I also posted some photos from Krui.
After several more frustrating impediments, we still have not gone to the forest. Last, Tuesday when we went to the park office in Kota Agung to get the last of the permits to enter the park we were told to come back in 6 days when the head of the office would "maybe" be back. Luca, Heather, and I spent the weekend in a coastal village called Krui, which is north of Kota Agung. Krui had a nice white sand beach and enormous waves (in a village on the way there were literally 7 meter waves). All in all it was a pretty good weekend, if you discount the sun burn I got even after applying 4 layers of sunscreen and the supposed 2 hour bus ride that turned into 6 hours of cramped and sweltering discomfort (there were even chickens riding with us). At least when we went back this morning the head of the park was there, but did not want to meet with us face-to-face. Instead, Opo (the WCS station manager) went to the back room to speak with him and the three of us were left to twittle our thumbs in the front. Good times...good times. Then, when the forestry ladies came to speak with us we were told about the new policy concerning rangers. With every foreigner you get one ranger. Now, normally we would have the great fortune of paying for a ranger everyday we are in the forest, but Opo managed to talk them down to 1 week each month at Rp 100,000 per day. Then, after complaining they came down to Rp 500,000 per month (great a 200,000 discount). All in all it sucks, but at least it looks like we will finally go to the forest tomorrow. Poor Heather will only be there for 9 days when she has to get back to Kota Agung to make a "presentation" at the forestry office (about what I have no idea) and then fly back to Jakarta to leave the country. She sure has gotten the full bureaucratic welcome from Indonesia. I will bascially empty my bank account today and tomorrow so that I have enough money to pay my personal ranger and assistants. Well, that's all for now from here. We will FINALLY be going to the field tomorrow, so I will be out of contact for a while.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Story 1 from Fall 2007 trip to Indonesia
This is a story I emailed to my sister on October 22nd as a response to her description of me as someone "charging through the wilderness." Enjoy.
I had to go out of the forest for the day a couple of weeks ago to deal with a problem with my research permit at the park's office. I really wanted to get back to the forest as soon as possible, so I decided to head back the same day. Of course by the time I left town it was already 4 pm and raining very hard. It was truly the beginning of the wet season timed just perfectly for me. It is about a 1 1/2 hour drive to the place where I start walking, so as I was riding I already knew that I would be walking alone through the jungle and most likely in a rain storm. I have a headlamp, but it is really small, not suitable for mining or the like. But, I was determined that this was a challenge that I both wanted to do and knew I could meet. Under optimal conditions and if walking quickly I can do the walk in about 50 minutes from the river, but I still made it in 55 minutes. Bascially this means that I kick total ass; at least that is my ascertion. This was the first time that I did the walk alone (I had before just with Luca) and the first time at night. There was also the small problem of nobody at the station knowing for sure that I was returning the same day. And, by the time the sun went down I am sure that they assumed I had waited until morning. My plan was just to keep walking and quickly. If I turned around maybe I could get lost and if I actually stopped to inspect any strange sounds I might hear whomever or whatever made those sounds might be just as curious about me. At any rate I survived and did not even trip once. It is a pretty interesting feeling to only be able to see about a foot and a half in front of you and otherwise be in total darkness. Maybe I am a little crazy, but oh well I felt confident that I would make it from the beginning.
I had to go out of the forest for the day a couple of weeks ago to deal with a problem with my research permit at the park's office. I really wanted to get back to the forest as soon as possible, so I decided to head back the same day. Of course by the time I left town it was already 4 pm and raining very hard. It was truly the beginning of the wet season timed just perfectly for me. It is about a 1 1/2 hour drive to the place where I start walking, so as I was riding I already knew that I would be walking alone through the jungle and most likely in a rain storm. I have a headlamp, but it is really small, not suitable for mining or the like. But, I was determined that this was a challenge that I both wanted to do and knew I could meet. Under optimal conditions and if walking quickly I can do the walk in about 50 minutes from the river, but I still made it in 55 minutes. Bascially this means that I kick total ass; at least that is my ascertion. This was the first time that I did the walk alone (I had before just with Luca) and the first time at night. There was also the small problem of nobody at the station knowing for sure that I was returning the same day. And, by the time the sun went down I am sure that they assumed I had waited until morning. My plan was just to keep walking and quickly. If I turned around maybe I could get lost and if I actually stopped to inspect any strange sounds I might hear whomever or whatever made those sounds might be just as curious about me. At any rate I survived and did not even trip once. It is a pretty interesting feeling to only be able to see about a foot and a half in front of you and otherwise be in total darkness. Maybe I am a little crazy, but oh well I felt confident that I would make it from the beginning.
New Old Posts
So I have decided to post some stories from my most recent trip to Indonesia (July - October 2007). As this blog did not exist until today these stories are a bit late in coming, but there is nothing to do about it now, so I will post them anyway. They will be in no particular order, but I will try and provide some photos to make them more interesting. That way you can always just skip the blah blah blah business and look at the cute monkeys/apes. Ahhhhh
- Alice
- Alice
Giving in to Blogs
So I finally gave in to this whole blog business. Just so everyone knows, I am basically a 70 year old stuck in the body of a 26 year old. Either that or a pre-Industrial 26 year old stuck in the 21st century. What I am trying to get at is the fact that I am less than tech-savvy and much prefer reading books than e-whatevers. Therefore, I will do my best at this and try to keep everyone who cares updated about how things are going in my life. In particular, I will make sure that I confirm my corporeal existence on a monthly basis while I am off in the jungle hiding from the world...I mean collecting data for my sure to be fascinating dissertation.
All the best,
Alice
All the best,
Alice
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