{"id":3014,"date":"2016-04-01T10:34:53","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T10:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/tourism\/?p=3014"},"modified":"2016-03-31T16:48:57","modified_gmt":"2016-03-31T16:48:57","slug":"follow-dr-susanna-curtins-blog-wildlife-travels-blog-httprewildingjourneys-com-and-explore-her-recent-field-trips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/tourism\/2016\/04\/01\/follow-dr-susanna-curtins-blog-wildlife-travels-blog-httprewildingjourneys-com-and-explore-her-recent-field-trips\/","title":{"rendered":"follow Dr Susanna Curtin’s blog WILDLIFE TRAVELS blog http:\/\/rewildingjourneys.com\/ and explore her recent field trips"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Day 6: Back to the fieldstation at\u00a0Sicundur\u2026<\/h1>\n
\"IMG_2712\"<\/a>ON MARCH 31, 2016<\/a><\/span> BY SUSANNA CURTIN<\/a><\/span><\/span>IN WILDLIFE TRAVELS<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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We awake at 7am, hot and cramped in our tiny tent after torrential rain had disturbed our sleep as we rescued boots and shoes from under the tent flaps.\u00a0 Breakfast of smoked fish, chillies and rice is already prepared for us and we savour this before packing up our tents and equipment for our journey downriver back to the research station.\u00a0 It feels bitter-sweet to be leaving.\u00a0 As we put the last bit of kit in the boat and put out the fire, we glance back at this idyllic spot.<\/p>\n

Once again the boatmen make the journey possible and despite the heavy rain the river remains shallow.\u00a0 Every time we run out of water or down over rapids, our crew jump out of the boat to manhandle it gently downstream.\u00a0 Despite being very \u2018tippy\u2019, this long wooden seems unsinkable.\u00a0 The men\u00a0are reluctant for us to get out of the boat, so we hardly walk at all on this return journey.\u00a0 Once gain I\u00a0feel rather guilty at watching their physical endeavours; they are nothing but bone and muscles but they are incredibly strong.\u00a0 Their wages for this expedition are meagre by European standards but handsome in Indonesia\u2026 so, on reflection, I realise they\u00a0are just doing their job.<\/p>\n

The water today reflects the changeable morning light; shifting from a glassy rainforest green to a translucent turquoise. The water is contained by the limestone cliffs and enormous tree roots that spread out horizontally from the trunk.\u00a0 Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the difference between rock and tree.\u00a0 Small \"P1010462\"<\/a>monitor lizards skulk along the water banks and eagles fly overhead whilst the now familiar kingfishers and wagtails herald our pass.\u00a0 Eventually the shallow riverbed begins to change into wider, deeper water and the boat\u2019s old outboard flutters into action.\u00a0 The cool air rushing against our faces is welcome after the sultry moist heat of the rising sun\u2026.it is s easy to loose oneself in the moment. Once again I\u00a0smile at where the wild elephants\u00a0have trodden down the banks on their river crossing; their huge feet leaving prints in the sand: how special it is to be in a space once frequented by them. \u00a0Seeing them is wonderful but just knowing that they are there is even better!<\/p>\n

Around the last bend the remnants of the ugly cement logging bridge emerges and marks our arrival back at Sicundur.\u00a0 This quiet reflective time comes to an end as we unload and sort out our kits.\u00a0 Another fabulous lunch awaits us, hot sweet coffee and an even hotter afternoon.\u00a0 There\u00a0is time to take stock, to do some photography and to catch up with the written work.\u00a0 I take my washing down to the river and\u00a0are greeted by an abundance of butterflies mesmerized by the sweet-smelling detergent.<\/p>\n

Of all that we have seen, my favourite jewels in the crown\u00a0are the butterflies and their wings of many colours. I must have seen nearly 80 different species from the tiniest purple butterflies to the feint blue and white ones, the size of birds, that gently glide, flap and glide across the water.<\/p>\n

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\"P1010522\"<\/a>\u00a0\"P1010902\"<\/a>\"P1010533\"<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Back at the hut Mandy and Ross sort out the research equipment and I study the bird and mammal books recording all that we have seen on our expedition:\u00a0\u00a0Purple herons; Intermediate egret; Whiskered tree swift; Little egret; Chestnut-headed bee-eater; White-throated kingfisher; Black-capped kingfisher; Drongo; Grey wagtail; Mountain tailorbird; Oriental magpie robin; Collared kingfisher; Ora\"IMG_2774\"<\/a>ngutan; Asian elephant; Crested serpent eagle; Pallas squirrel; Black giant squirrel; and a Slender squirrel.<\/p>\n

I pick up my camera and potter around the hut looking for spiders, butterflies and lizards to photograph until 5pm when we\u00a0go for a bathe in the river\u00a0 to watch the sun go down. The cool, fast flowing water, soothing the heat, sweat and insects from our bodies. As the orange light turns to dimpsey and the long-tailed macaques on the bankside trees begin to settle down, the night shift\u00a0takes its place in the forest play. We have electricity for about four hours each night when the generator gets switched on; this is generally when we \u2018spuddle\u2019 about, charge our equipment, have supper and put the day to bed. Tonight, however, we\u00a0take our head torches and our cameras for a night forage (another of my most favourite pastimes). Amongst the backlit foliage we see butterflies, moths, bats, centipedes and various enormous grass hoppers and one single firefly\u00a0that dances\u00a0through the forest darkness. Time to call it a day..<\/p>\n

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Day 6: Back to the fieldstation at\u00a0Sicundur\u2026 ON MARCH 31, 2016 BY SUSANNA CURTININ WILDLIFE TRAVELS We awake at 7am, hot and cramped in our tiny tent after torrential rain had disturbed our sleep as we rescued boots and shoes from under the tent flaps.\u00a0 Breakfast of smoked fish, chillies and rice is already prepared… Read more » about follow Dr Susanna Curtin’s blog WILDLIFE TRAVELS blog http:\/\/rewildingjourneys.com\/ and explore her recent field trips<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":327,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[391,62,409,408],"class_list":["post-3014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research","tag-butourism","tag-field-trip","tag-susanna-curtin","tag-wildlife"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/tourism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/tourism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/tourism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/tourism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/327"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/tourism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3014"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/tourism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3015,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/tourism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3014\/revisions\/3015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/tourism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/tourism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/tourism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}