Planting trees in Borneo

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I wanted to do something different and signed up to volunteer for two weeks in the jungle of Borneo. I mainly wanted to see the orangutans, but also learn about the life and the culture of the island of Borneo. We were three volunteers and stayed with our guide in a small camp close to the Kinabatangan river. The cabins were simple, but cosy. We were surrounded by nature and only a small village of 100 people was near by.
Every morning we had to get up at 6am and take a small canoe like boat down the river to an empty plot of land for clearing and planting new trees. We usuallly spend the whole morning helping with reforestation of empty plots of land left by the timber or palm oil industry. Within two weeks we managed to plant 300 new trees.
In the afternoons we usually went back to camp for a bit of rest and later in the afternoon we went back out on the river to do a survey of the local wildlife. Unfortunately I didn't get to see any orangutans, but we saw loads of monkeys, hornbills and even spotted a group of elephants bathing in the river.
After coming back in the evenings we usually had dinner at a local families house, the mom cooked local dishes for us and we learned about life in the jungle. Borneo is a beautiful island with loads of interesting history and wildlife. I really love my stay here as it was very unique.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Baby Monkey
Now that is cute.