We spent the first two days doing the hardest shuttle runs ever devised – trekking for 3 hours from ‘Chateau Rian’ (Rian’s house) in Pa’ Umor to the site of our project all whilst carrying enough kit, rations, safety equipment and building materials to both sustain us over the coming weeks and aid our conservation shelter project.
We were cheered on by a troop of Silverleaf monkeys on route and so the shelter we have been tasked with building instantly got its name: ‘Silverleaf Camp’.
Finally got our all kit and rations (mainly peas) into the jungle and our thoughts turned to the layout and construction of the perfect camp in this rainforest beauty spot.
The first job was digging the ‘long drop’ and with Oz delicately informing us of effects of our of high fibre diets on our digestive systems, we knew we had to build big. Three days and four tonnes of soil and clay later, we had created a 12 x 6 x 4 foot mega-sized luxury jungle lavatory. We were collectively chuffed to have amazed Oz and Rian with our efforts, and Rian proclaimed that this ‘Jungle Throne’ would last at least 10 years.
Out then on to the trail, and we hacked, chopped and trampled branches into the ground to create a safe and spacious hallway to our jungle throne and a gate to avoid any embarrassments. Although big enough to seat the entire group, we decided it would be best for team morale to visit it individually.
While heading back to the camp to rest and bathe in self-satisfaction, Wawan decided to remake the Texas Chainsaw Massacre on some trees in order to make the poles and planks for the shelter. With immaculate precision and exceptional speed, he ‘domino felled’ fifteen trees straight onto the trail we’d just painstakingly created. Cheers Wan.
Sleeping arrangements ranged from the sublime (‘The Oz Mahal’) to the ridiculous. Despite looking for a suitable site for over an hour and being told not to use certain unsuitable trees, Simon still managed to find the only two trees in the jungle incapable to taking his (minimal) weight. He awoke with some surprise on the leafy jungle floor having bent his two hammock trees in half. Joe didn’t even need a dodgy tree – he just fell straight out of his hammock.
We ploughed on with camp clearance work regardless and only Beth’s discovery of a terrifying snake stopped progress. The six-inch monster was immediately caught, identified as non-venomous and heavily photographed. The serpine beast was followed by a night time visitor; a Civit cat. Sadly none of the group spotted the Bornean wonder – but were collectively pleased that it enjoyed the left over vegetable curry.
Day seven saw a further major group effort – building a trail, stairway and huge slops and fire pits - where we would dump food waste and burn the used bog-roll. Yet another wildlife encounter caused Beth a minor problem in the derriere region. Eight giant leeches had decided that Beth’s bum would be the perfect venue for a dinner party.
With the Hoover dam as a benchmark, the group then got to work on raising the water level of the wash point. Battling against both heavy rain and the sheer weight of the boulders, we beavered away for three solid hours. The net result was a water rise of around two feet and the creation of our very own jungle swimming pool. Top job team.
On our first day of actual shelter construction, our immediate thought was of our families – ‘let’s make them gifts so we don’t have to buy anything’. So we nipped down to the jungle ‘supermarket’ and collected a huge stock of bamboo to make tongs, cups and shot glasses.
After 11 days in the jungle, our limbs ached and minds tired. Oz mercifully elected for a rest weekend and so we packed up and trekked out from our work-in-progress camp out to Pa’Umor on to Bario and back to our house of kings for a much needed rest.
Getting eleven days of jungle grime out of our clothes using a washing machine from the 1970’s proved more challenging than most of our project jobs so far, and so we promptly sacked off washing for card games, feasting and drinking delicious warm lovely beer on the Veranda.
Bring on round two!
