These last 19 we embarked on a different type of phase. We werent helping out in a village or the environment but trekking from Basecamp along the Crocker Range.
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On the second phase me and our team travelled to Kampung Lakang, a small rural village located in the middle of a palm oil plantation on the banks of a small river.
For the first 19 days I have been on project in the Maliau Basin Conservation Area. My group is made up of 7 venturers and 3 VM's or Venture Managers. We have been one of the luckiest groups as Maliau Basin is an exclusive project no one else will be able to participate in. We also are among the first 2000 people to actually enter this secluded rainforest!
Our work mainly focused on constructing and repairing the bridges on their jungle walks using Belian Wood, one of the hardest in the world, and heaviest as we discovered! Working alongside the really friendly rangers while learning Malay I carried hundreds of planks and beams, sawed wood, hammered in nails, measured lengths and dug foundations! We also scrubbed clean 27 informative signs about the plants along the "Knowledge Trail". We finished a total of 7 bridges some bigger than others. As we had finished with time to spare the rangers took us on a trek further into the basin, to " Ginseng Camp" where we helped them get it back into a more homely place and bathed in a jungle waterfall! I have seen all kinds of wildlife such as monkeys, black squirrels, mouse deer, barking deer, samba deer, black scorpions, snakes, and hundreds of butterflies, moths, flies, cicadas and mozzies. The plant life is also incredible, with tall trees, lianas, strangling figs, vines and moss everywhere! I have developed my team work and leadership skills and bonded with the rest of the team, making friends and useful contacts for the future! Today I spent the day with Chucku and Lakshmi. When I arrived at theur house in the morning I saw my first wild monkeys which was fascinating. They had black faces and long drooping tails playing high up in the trees. After getting treated to some great scrambled eggs with this english sandwhich dip we went to see the place were my Mum was brought up and the old building had been torn down and a new modern looking one built on top of the previous foundations. We rung the bell but the was a grumpy lady who wouldn't let us have a quick peek at the gardens!
After that we drove past the Lake Gardens and went to the markets for food almost everything was shut down due to Chinese new year but we eventually managed to get some roasted duck, and some tao foo, the theme for today was Chinese! The markets was an experience even though the majority were closed it was quite chaotic and very hot today! Then we went back to the house to have lunch and a friend had brought us some Wonton Noodles which where absolutely amazing, I think I could live off that! Afterwards we had a siesta. When we got up we went to visit KLCC and saw the Petronas Towers and the gardens which were very nicely done and I can't wait to visit them at night when I'm in KL again! We came back and had a drink while we chatted away till super time! It rained this evening and there was even lightning! You could nearly drink the air it was so humid! We finally went out to a Chinese place for dinner and had the special Yeesam, only cooked at Chinese new year! It was amazingly refreshing, rich and tasty with all sorts of vegetables, honey, ginger, coriander, raw samon, sweet little cracker things and probably a few more things that my brain didn't make a note of due to the pure pleasure of eating them! We had some Guinness pork, which was lovely, ginger fish with such a wonderful sauce and some assorted vegetables stir fried. Then we came back to the house were O repacked my stuff ready for tomorrow when I will be leaving the house by taxi at 4:30 am to get to the airport in time for my flight to Kota Kinabalu, the voluntary work will finally begin! Last night I slept like a log, and before I knew it Anita woke me up at 10 o'clock. I had a juice to help my morning pill down and then we headed off to do some shopping in KL.
I think one of the biggest things I noticed was the people, there were so many different types of people from different cultures and I honestly could not tell how old any of them were...everyone seems so young! Also the smells are so different, even in the department stores they use different scents than in Europe and it was terrible because somehow all the smells reminded me of food! We had lunch in the shopping centre which was amazing I had rice with chicken curry, you could really taste the fresh coconut milk, I had lime pickle, Ivan bilis, prawn shavings and this interesting drink that the locals call a Michael Jackson which is a combination of this black jelly and soya milk very refreshing and soothing. After that we went back to the house and I had a nap and read a few chapters of GONE GIRL which is really fun so far! When Kamesam got back from work we went to meet his mum, my adoptive great grandmother as she called it! She had a binding (the bright dot in the center of her forhead), I looked it up on Google and learnt that it represents unity, the third eye and center of consciousness used by Hindus. We went out for Thai food which was amazing! Fish cakes, a fantastic soup, two types of curry, also we had some amazing aubergine that was really light purple, totally different to the nearly black ones in Europe! Then for dessert this cool sweet liquid made from coconut with water chestnuts and mango which was just incredible! After that we went back home and watched some TV about the art of forgery of old paintings and then went to bed! I was restless all night... I even woke up a 2 am and realised I had fallen asleep without putting an alarm on! That was a close call... My alarm went off at 03:45 but I only managed to drag myself out of bed at 04:00. I had a quick shower, said goodbye to my family and hopped into the car with my dad at 04:30.
We arrived at the airport in Seville at around 05:30 and made our way to the check in desks. My bag only weighed 14 kg, a lot less than I expected, and also I managed to get it checked in all the way to KL despite having a change in agency after Barcelona! I was feeling quite nervous, I have a tendency to miss trains and buses... But after a coffee and some breakfast to help my malaria pill go down I said goodbye to my dad and went through security with no problems. After that I just waited in line to board the plane and I felt a lot more calm. The flight to Barcelona was great, I witnessed a fantastic sunrise and could see all the way to Mallorca! Once I landed I went to the transit desk got the rest of my boarding passes and then hopped on to the plane headed to London. The take off was fantastic with great views of the coast, Barcelona and the Pirinees! I didn't get to see any of France due to the cloud cover but once we crossed the channel I could see all the green dissected farmland and then the city of London sprawling down below which wachicken,. Heathrow was teeming with people from all over the world and I had a long wait but eventually my gate number came up on the information screen, and sooner than later I walked on to this enormous plane, I don't even know how it took off! It had 7 seats across and very spacious and comfortable with interactive screens and info on the flight and its itinerary. The food was actually not bad I had chicken rendang for lunch and chicken noodles for breakfast...maybe too much chicken but it was good! I hardly felt we had landed and didn't see much as I was in the middle of the plane. I walked out the door and there I was in Malaysia at last! I went to the baggage retrieval and waited and waited and waited... What I had dreaded the most had happened! My rucksack has been left somewhere on the way! I quickly located a baggage office and talked to a very friendly lady who would call me the next day and gave me a 35£ credit card for my expenses. After that after a awkward but funny conversation with a young girl at the phone company I got myself a Malaysian phone connection. Changed 60€ into Malaysian Ringgit and hopped on the train to sentral where Kamesam, a friend of the family picked me up! After getting changed, we had a chat with his wife Anita and then had dinner, a delicious chicken curry with cous cous and vegetables. After dinner we watched TV and then straight to bed. Finally after many months of working, designing and fundraising...Everything is set to go! I wish to give a huge thanks to everyone who pitched in to the project! A big thank you to LAUDE El Altillo School once again for their donation and to the markets I participated in! Also a special thanks to Mi Ropa Vintage and to NutEco for their fantastic support and fun conversations! Also a huge thanks to my family and their support during this fantastic learning process.
Hello to all,
If you want to contribute to the project by buying a pro change T-Shirt contact me for more information concerning colours, sizes and postage. |
Rafael BernalHere is where I will be telling the world the projects I have participated in and the lessons I learn during my two and a half month expedition to Malaysian Borneo. |