Borneo- February 2010 Update

Borneo - Kelabit Cultural Site Project

Freshly jungle trained, we traversed the logging roads from Bario further into the Kelabit Highlands towards our project site – the primary jungle around Kampong Pa’ Main. With brimming rucksacks and riotous enthusiasm, we left the 4x4’s behind and trekked deep into the rainforest.

The group was collectively keen to use their new jungle skills and once we had located a suitably beautiful spot, we set about building possibly the greatest ever jungle camp. Our tireless leaders (Al and Oz) and expert jungle guides (Rian, Andrew, Ramli and Juing) built a massive bamboo table, fire place and firewood rack while Nick (the furniture designer turned jungle craftsman) led the team in building benches, a water collection pier, a bamboo bridge and a wide range of camp mod cons. The quality of personal basha’s varied from the sublime to the ridiculous with Andy and Nick’s palatial residences providing a stark contrast to Fran’s unkempt-back-garden-after-a-child’s-birthday-party.

With camp set up, we began our cultural and environmental project in earnest. We had been tasked by the Kelabit Association (the Kelabits are one of ten Orang-Ulu – ‘men of the interior’ - indigenous tribes in Sarawak) with the protection of ancient cultural sites in the highland region. The cultural sites include stone megaliths (which were carried to their location by Kelabit warriors to prove their strength and mark sacred areas), funeral jars (intricately carved pots jars containing the ashes and heirlooms of deceased Kelabits) and animal salt licks. Their conservation involved mapping the site location and then cutting, marking and mapping 250 square metre boundaries around each site. This process makes it illegal for both logging and palm oil companies to bulldoze the marked areas and so - as well as protecting the cultural heritage of the Kelabit people - the boundaries additionally protect the rainforest and abundant wildlife within. The proliferation of cultural sites in the Pa’ Main area - and our marking of them - means this entire area of rainforest is now protected.

A daily routine of trekking to different cultural sites (lead by our local guides), photographing and GPS marking the sites before unleashing our perangs (traditional Malaysian machetes) to cut and mark clear boundaries was established. The group’s collective skill in jungle navigation, communication, machete-ing and line searching (for lost perangs and compasses) developed immeasurably over the following weeks, despite Simon’s talent for breaking steel perangs (seven so far) and Louise’s hilarious navigational directions (‘The line goes to that tree! The green, normal sized one! The one with leaves!).

The variety of cultural sites was outstripped by the incredible difference in terrain surrounding the area. Any particular day could find us trekking and cutting our way through jungle swamp land, dense primary rainforest, open meadows, wide river channels and up and down sheer jungle cliffs.

Jaki (our beloved hunting dog) and our guides also provided much appreciated variety in the staple jungle diet through hunting and gathering a wide range of jungle food. We have now acquired a taste for all sorts of jungle meat (wild boar, sambo and barking deer, monitor lizard, fish and - the frankly rank - cicada grubs), fruit (mata kuching, bua pua, sun berries, jack fruit, lang sat and durian) and vegetables (bamboo shoots, river ferns and sago palm).

One site – at which we spent two full days – was old British Military site from WW2 and the ‘Konfrontasi’ with Indonesia during the 1960’s. The Kelabit people developed a passionate and lasting bond with the British soldiers stationed there during these conflicts. The Kelabit provided jungle scouts, guides and food in exchange for military support (including the establishment of blow pipe units!), clothing and education programs. We cleared years of relentless jungle growth to discover a huge bunker system and numerous artefacts including shell casings, military clothing and whiskey bottles (sadly empty).

Once we had exhausted the cultural sites within trekking distance of our camp, we packed down our temporary Kampong (village) and trekked yet further into the jungle. Prior to moving, however, Al and Oz sprung a ‘simulated survival scenario’ (SSS) on us. We were taken individually to an isolated part of the jungle and left with 2 packs of noodles to survive for 12 hours by ourselves. Suspicions this challenge was given so that the leaders could enjoy a night of peace, roast boar and moonshine in the guide’s shelter remain to this day. The heavens opened during the SSS briefing and we experienced the heaviest rain of the trip so far for the next 12 hours. Needless to say, many of the group used this as an excuse to sack off building a fire and opting for a very early night indeed.

The following day we trekked over the main mountain ridge and set up Kampong 2. This camp was truly idyllic being braced by two rivers, filled with wild lime and other fruit trees and home to countless tropical birds. The camp even developed distinct areas - such as, the ‘meadow’, ‘village green’ and ‘blue lagoon’, in which to relax and talk cobblers after a hard day’s boundary cutting.

In total, we have now cut, marked and mapped boundaries around 29 different Kelabit sites and in the process protected a huge area of mixed rainforest and the wildlife within. We celebrated completing our main project, 28 straight days in the jungle and our final night there with a massive BBQ of two wild boar yumm.

Two solid days of trekking from Pa’ Main all the way back to our base in Bario and some much needed r’n’r (rest and recuperation? rest and relaxation? rock and roll? rum and raisin?) Followed before we began our final project – building two bamboo bridges for the remote community of Pa’ Umor.

Pa’ Umor is the home of our beloved guide Rian and these bridges would help his community to reach their paddy fields and farms which surround the village. We were invited to stay in the Pa’ Umor longhouse (which houses nine entire families) for the week and were honoured to be truly welcomed into the community.

This more relaxed project involved trekking into the jungle near the village, cutting down enormous bamboos and constructing sturdy bridges over the deep river channels. Each day after work, the group enjoyed football, volleyball and swimming with the local children before being served incredible home-cooked pineapple curry.

Our final night on project was spent celebrating in Rian’s house bar where we were treated to demonstrations of the Kelabit war dance, the traditional ladies dances and some icey cold beers. We suspect that Andy’s interpretation of the war dance and our karaoke talents will remain in Kelabit folklore for some time.