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FIELD WORK |
Tioman Island Just a warning this is going to be a long one. This should keep you entertained until I tell you about Taman Negara. Tioman island really is a beautiful place. It’s shaped like an apostrophe and some say like a sleeping dragon (there is a cute legend behind that one). It really is a piece of paradise. Unfortunately, ambition to increase tourism, coupled with the lack of conservation/ wildlife management is going to bring this place down the toilet in the years to come. It’s all very, very sad. The main attraction of the island is the snorkeling and scuba diving, so they are going to build a second airport in the southern part of the island large enough to land 747’s. To do this they will have to blow up the mountain that separated two bays (Paya and Genting)in order to build the runway along the shoreline to connect the bays. This island is only 38 km in length and 19 km wide. Good-bye coral reef! September and October is the low season here. Most places on the island close in October because of the Monsoon season between November and February. Just an FYI. |
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SEPTEMBER Right away I began my investigation on getting into the forest. When I told them that I was a biologist they instantly referred me to this woman named Bridget. I thought this was the owner or something. So they asked me to come back to the reception area and I would be escorted. So I took the opportunity to actually make myself look and smell a little more presentable (after the morning’s trek in Air Batang). Once I looked more decent I waited to be taken to this Bridget woman. So this young boy shows up to escort me and this other guy. We start walking and left the resort. We crossed this old rickety bridge that I was certain that I would fall right through. We continue walking past the second resort and onto a trail into the forest. I wasn’t properly dressed for a hike in my skirt and sandals. I had no idea what was going on until the guy I was walking with said he was there to meet Bridget to train to be an instructor for her eco-field course for undergraduates, which was based in Singapore. The light bulb went on at that moment. We arrived to find a group of students and teachers that were taking surveys in the stream, but Bridget was somewhere in the forest with another group of students. When she finally came I quickly introduced myself and she was a bit confused since she had no idea who the hell I was. When I mentioned leeches, to my horror she said that the leeches weren’t out yet. It hadn’t been raining that much lately. Even though the mountains seemed to surrounded by clouds. This wasn’t what I wanted to hear. With 40 students running around there was surely enough bait. I left there a bit deflated with the news. I
went back to the resort to try and negotiate for a guide to take me into
the forest and to higher ground. I was given two choices: take a 3 hour
trek into the forest where leeches had not been seen or up to the top
of Ganung Kajang which was six hours up and about 4 hours back. I opted
for the latter since going to higher elevation would increase my chances
of finding leeches. They just needed to find someone who would be willing
to take me. These kind of treks are usually organized in groups. Since
I was solo and it was the low season, they were being less accommodating.
So, the guides that typically do this trek were nowhere to be found and
in the end I had to agree to have a local take me into the forest, but
only about 2 hours up the mountain. I said fine. I thought it was better
than nothing. 21
SEPTEMBER It was the most sluggish, most pathetic jungle leech I’d ever seen. Normally, terrestrial leeches are fast moving and aggressive, while this one was barely moving. Regardless, I was excited about Jalel’s finding (I didn’t find it) and happily put it in my tube. We looked for about another hour and half and turned up empty. It was time to go back. The most horrible thing is that the whole time we were there I heard thunder near by. So it was raining somewhere, but not where we were. That same morning the eco field course went north to hike the trail from Tekek to Juara (from west to east) – a 2-hour walk. They were the ones that got poured on. They said they looked for leeches, but didn’t see any. What a disappointment. |
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My transport from ABC to Paya Beach | |||
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Paya Beach Resort - my lodge | |||
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EcoTours from Singapore - students with water snake | |||
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Rickety bridge | |||
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Jalel
searching leaf litter for leech(es) |
Big
Boulders |
Tioman
Leech |
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Blue
fern |
Weird
insect and slime mold |