Thursday, December 17, 2009

#best of 09 best rush of the year


the best rush i had in 2009 was seeing an orangutan


i was in a long boat


not much freeboard


on the Kinabatangan river in Borneo


sitting between my two girls


it was hot


we had been pouring water on our hats


and our necks were sore from looking up all the time...


and then Gofanm, the guide turned the boat,


and i scanned the treetops - another eagle? more proboscis monkeys?


and then i saw the burnt orange moving in the trees


and i grabbed the girls hands


and tears filled my eyes


an orangutan


one of the few left in the wild


eaking out an existence on the sparce trees alongside this once mighty river and rainforest... palm oil trees sometimes only one tree back from the river....


and if he lurked onto the plantation he will likely be shot


but today he is there


in front of us


calmly picking figs off the tree


and looking for all the world like someone i would love to get to know


and all the begging and hassle and saving for this trip are instantly worth it...


that was my rush for 2009!

3 comments:

  1. What a lovely experience & memory!!!

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  2. What a precious gift.
    I felt both happy and tearful reading that, faerian.

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  3. thankyou you two lovelies - it made me tearful remembering that moment - Eila had so wanted to see one and she had studied palm oil and the impacts on orangutan and to see it with her was just magic - made me tearful remembering it mollie!

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