Brilliant Borneo

We are very lucky. We know that.

To live our crazy, whirlwind-of-a-lifestyle, though, we give up a lot--the joys and challenges of living near family and friends, the familiarity of "home", the safety and ease of completing paperwork and having appointments in our "home" languages, and missing nearly every special event. In exchange for all of those comforts we have experiences that can sometimes seem unreal--someone to do the laundry and dust the house, amazing educational opportunities for our wee ones, crazy cultural adventures (like going to a restaurant, being presented with an beautiful menu, spending time selecting a meal only to learn that despite the copious menu options, only 1 food item is available), and amazing adventures.


So...after accepting new jobs at the Bangkok Job Fair and signing on the dotted line with the American International School of Johannesburg, Rob and I began one of our recurring discussions. It can best be entitled, "What We Will Miss: A Look Back at Our Amazing Home." Glowing with joy from our recent job procurement, Rob and I sat at a local restaurant near the Shangri-La and started "the discussion". What will we regret not doing when we leave Southeast Asia? What quest will we have remorse about if we did not do it?

During "the discussion" we were able to check great things off our list: We vacationed at the beach in Lombok and Bali, embraced a different culture (and animals) while in Thailand, and visited our "international family" in Australia and Japan. What must we do?

And then, the answer came to us like a bolt from above--we must visit Indonesia's last remaining rainforest. Yup, this is the same rainforest that Anouk studied in kindergarten (the education which has resulted in 3 years of us not buying beef). This is the same rainforest that Xavier became so enthralled with in grade 3 when he learned about the decimation of the orangutan population because of deforestation (thanks to all of our teak wood furniture needs) and the world's love of fried everything which has dramatically reduced the palm tree population which makes palm oil (a.k.a. vegetable oil). For these three reasons, our Brilliant Borneo trip was born.

A short 50 minutes from Surabaya is the province of Kalimantan (also known as Borneo). It is the worlds 3rd largest island, shared by three different countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. We lingered on the Indonesian side by visiting Tanjung Puting National Park. After a night in the tiny city of Pangkalan Bun we were picked up by our guide, Iim. Within minutes we boarded our klotok (an Indonesian houseboat) with Iim, a captain, cook, and steward. Our klotok was basic and perfect. The upper deck was ours--set up with a dining table and deck chairs plus two mattresses and pillows (for those necessary afternoon naps). At night, the deck was converted to our sleeping quarters by adding additional mattresses and mosquito nets.

Our journey along the Sekonyer river was a spiritual one. It felt as if we were traveling back in time. Between the neon green colors and the sounds of squawking monkeys and chirping birds I can never explain how vivid and alive the world was around us. And the sounds got even wilder as the sun set on the horizon and the moon took its place. The intensity of cicadas, monkey calls, crickets, and things we cannot explain were hard to block out once bedtime arrived.

And though I could ramble on about this experience for pages... I leave the rest of the story to Xavier and Anouk who were affected, quite deeply, by this amazing experience.

written by Xavier:

Suddenly, a gibbon with gold fur swung from tree to tree. It robbed the orangutan's bananas while a wild [bearded] pig charged out of the bushes towards the orangutan baby. Running away from the wild pig, the baby tripped over tree roots, did a somersault, landed on its feet, and kept running to its mother. The mother was startled and climbed up into a tree with her baby. Then, she took a tree branch and tried to whack the pig with it. The pig just went under the orangutan and continued eating the banana peels totally unaffected by the branch.

written by Anouk:

I woke up in the morning on day 2 with the lovely sunrise beyond me. It was amazing! The birds were squawking, the monkeys were howling, and the cicadas finally stopped "eeeeeing." But all of the animals were strangely hidden. All the monkeys: gibbons, orangutans, macaques, proboscis, lagurs, and other animals were hidden deep in the dark, wet forest. Later that morning, we were amazed to see a small brown squirrel climbing up a tall narrow tree.

There are eighty-five days left until we end this chapter in our lives. I wonder what adventures are in store.