Cleaning and Orangutan Rainforest Cruisi

I had to be ready to work at 7.30this morning!! I keep saying, I'm retired !🤣..to no avail..
But it was OK as I was going to the enclosures to do cleaning with hose pipes...absolutely awesome fun....even though involved clearing orangutan 💩 poo ..Thought I'd left my pooper scooping days behind !...apparently Not !🤣
After cleaning the enclosures, we held the hose pipe steady for each orangutan...to choose if they wanted to use the water for a wash or a drink or both .
One female orangutan( KeKan) decided to use the water for a full on shower. Scrubbing her front bowing her head to get it on her head,was fascinating but also simply reaching out with a hand and just feeling the water running over it is amazing to watch.
Their hands are Huge and their dexterity is incredible..being able to pick up a sunflower seed or small piece of fruit.
They have 97 % human DNA
They stare you out with their really quite small eyes..one orangutans Jj arrived at the project with only one eye .they are all uniquely different and their colourings are different too.
They look gentle but a male orangutan is 8x stronger than a human man.
We returned to the workstation ,where the rest of the group were preparing the enrichment snacks in the Bamboo we had chopped up a couple of days ago .
We put porridge mixed with sunflower seeds inside the bamboo and then press in dried fruit ,apricots and raisins ,plus walnuts and other nuts .These were to be frozen for future use.
It's a messy job .
Some of the group had managed to bring fire hoses and they made a new hammock for the orangutans..using the hose and some very strong plastic type material.
The rest of us sawed more bamboo which would be sent to the special care unit to use .
Returning to the enclosure we distributed treats ..we place sweet potato mash smeared on astro turf ...and add nuts and fruits. The astro turf is on the outside of the enclosures and the orangutans "fish"for it using a stick ...its an incredible experience to witness their perseverance ,dexterity coordination...and patience with this treat.. which they really enjoyed..Some worked out what was coming and had a stick ready.
All that was ,just the morning's work...hard but enjoyable.
In the afternoon we split into 2 groups ,one to collect ferns for nesting. The other which i was in shifting wheelbarrow loads of sand and grit ,to make cement. The sand was wet so heavy and others took more than I did, which did bother me ,but I did what I could.It was quite a long distance to walk with the wheelbarrow and the surface was at best uneven and at worst swampy, muddy and also uneven.
At 3pm. it was my turn for the experience we all relish , a solo trip on the boat with the technician going round the islands 🏝 to feed the orangutans.
This happens 3x a day. It was an incredible experience and huge privilege to be so close to the orangutans, approx 1metre though briefly a bit closer on few occasions. One ,Lesley,was fed at one side of her island and then appeared at the other side of the island, watching us delivering food to Geoffrey. They normally live on the same island, but can't at the moment.
The silence of the rain forest is fantastic and whilst out in the boat, you can here the "long call" of the male orangutan ,letting the females know he's available if they are interested.
You only hear the sounds of nature and the paddle of the boat.
Slightly concerning was the fact that the technician was bailing water out of the boat whilst we were in it in the middle of nowhere, but not to worry!😅
In the evening we had a party🥳 with a BBQ at the Lodge...chicken satay sauces salad and rice.
It's a lovely group and there's a lot of laughing and dancing.It finished at 10pm as it's officially quiet time here after that .
A really good day with more unique experiences, making the hard work worthwhile as well as enhancing my understanding of how the project works.
There are so many pics and videos from today,il add more tomorrow as its a rest day and likely to have less pics .Read more