Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia
Monday, October 4, 2010
It wasn’t all too difficult to wake up early, as we’d had an early bedtime and there aren’t really any blinds in the dorm so it gets bright. We downed some breakfast on the front porch of the café and met up with our guide for today’s adventure. Our group was lead to the longtail boats that would bring us up river to the new caves, so we made ourselves comfortable and took in the beautiful scenery. Along the way we stopped at a Penan village for a quick trip to the market; the Penan are a group of people indigenous to the region the park encompasses and make their livelihood off craftwork and the
river. After our trek to the hill tribes in Thailand we aren’t too keen on just stopping in to snap photos of native people as they are sometimes exploited, so we tried hard to strike up conversations with the locals and after learning about some of the processes they use for craftwork, etc. felt a bit better about contributing to their communities. Such amazing people all over the world, but I have to say the Penan have some of the most amazing views we’ve seen. After a steep hike from the river we arrived at Wind Cave so named, as you may have guessed, for the wind that whistles its way through the passages and corridors. It is part of the longest cave system in the world and contains some really beautiful formations including groups of white bubble wrap looking wall coverings called moon milk. The three of us decided to walk to the next cave rather than hop back in the boat and hiked our way through some thick jungle and across some narrow walkways literally built into the faces of the rocks and hanging over the flowing waters of the river; Indiana Jones would have been proud. 
Clearwater Cave is also obviously named; yes it has clear water inside of it. Actually it has a gorgeous, ancient river which carves its way through the smooth inner cavern providing the soothing sound of water against stone. Along with the clear waters the cave is known for some of its formations, one of which looks like the bust of a female sculpture, and it’s phytokarsts which are razor sharp, metallic outcrops that have been worn away by water over the years and provide the cave entrance with a beautiful fluidity in its walls. We were pretty beat after the mornings’ activities (and having just hiked up and down 200
vertical steps) so Josie and I decided to take a dip in the crystal blue pool that forms as the cave river enters the jungle world. The water was absolutely freezing, but once the initial shock was absorbed we tapped into our inner Tarzan and began swimming with the schools of fish and leaping from fallen logs into the transparent 
wetness. It was one of those moments where you just have to sit back and soak in the moment: swimming in a river that was emerging from a cave in the middle of the jungle in Borneo. Whoa. Our boat was waiting for us as we dried off in the sun and took us back to the headquarters where we had some lunch and waited for the Canopy Walk. 5 of us walked along the familiar jungle boardwalk to the first in a series of towers linked
together by suspended rope bridges about 20-25 meters above forest floor. Since we went on the tour in the heat of the afternoon sun, our chances of spotting any animals were pretty much shot, but we did get to see many interesting trees/plants and learned a lot about the various levels of the canopy and about the Rain Forest in general. 
Okay, I’m a nerd at heart. BUT, did you know that there are different types of jungle rivers and some of them are actually so stagnant they become sterile and are basically inhospitable to life? OR that there are parasitic plants that drain the nutrients of other trees in their scramble to reach the sunlight? Cool, I know. The rest of our afternoon was spent lounging about, playing cards, eating our ant infested snacks and wiping sweat from our foreheads. Seriously the jungle could not be any more humid. 
Our third event of the day was the Night Walk in which I hoped to see a bush baby—basically a tiny sloth-like creature with giant eyes and little suction cup fingers. They’re on the cover of the Borneo guidebook and ever since learning we’d be going there I’ve been researching them. While we didn’t actually see any, just knowing we were so close was comfort enough for me, I guess… The walk itself though, was really cool. Bagley, our guide, was shockingly good at pointing 
out little night creatures in the darkness with his flashlight. We saw everything from monstrous moths to stick bugs to spiny lizards to tarantula dwellings, bug eating pitcher plants, and a few snakes among other things. Actually, the first snake we saw made Bagley leap about 3 feet in the air in sheer terror. He informed us that “I not like snakes.” We finally made it home and somehow managed to sleep despite having just been witness to the crazy things that call the night home.
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