The Jungle Black

I stayed in Taman Negara, Malaysia's oldest and largest and a lot of other -ests rainforest for the past four days.  Here was the logistical plan: Flag down a car from Jerantut to Tembeling. Then a two-hour river entry into the jungle's gateway, which will take me to basic cabins by the river for the night. Then a  day's hike through the jungle, following the River Tembeling to a hideout, some 11 km away. There, I'll camp for the night, scope out nocturnal wildlife coming out to feed at the salt licks and retrace my steps back the next day. Wildlife will include tapirs, monkeys, panthers, wild boars and possibly an elephant.

So that was the idea...

Until Mother Nature kicked my ass. I wanted to see her in full naked glory, and she bitch-slapped me back to civilization. She was not amused by this city kid's poor imitation of a trekker...

I was lost. I had covered about 8 kilometers. "Shit, Fish," I told myself, "Climbing up that wall next to that brook was a brilliant idea. That wasn't a path, you idiot." I could have gone back, retraced my steps, past the ledge, the thick undergrowth, and the mud back to the point where I thought I had lost the trail, but that would mean making my way over at least 2 km of crap. And now, the jungle played tricks with my mind.

Dark leaves, broad and wet, blanketed the forest's floor, making the trail impossible to find. "Fuck, this is a rainforest after all," I cursed to myself. Overcast skies above made the sun hard to follow, and any sense of direction under the jungle's canopy was a sequence of mirages. The light filtered through the leaves, cascading in all directions. It was 4 pm, and soon, the sun would flicker.

Go back, like any sane person would do, or...

I crashed through the ferns, knocked my elbow on a log and anchored my downturned palms on the soft shit-like mud.  I slid down (and down) until my face came within inches of a pile of branches, all thorns and evil in the glinting light. Now that I've really gone off the trail, the jungle was rough, sinister even.  The trail had been hard: wade through calf-high mud, through fast moving streams, up hills and down vertical drops -- but that had just been a few quick slaps upside-the-head by Mother Nature. Now she was giving me a swift kick to the nads.

I cupped my ears towards the sound of running water and made a beeline towards this 'good idea'.

Running water should lead to the river, and possibly I can pick up a ride.  With the tangle of undergrowth of thorns, some lodged in my pants (although thankfully none in sensitive regions), spiders clambered over my arms, and leeches encroached on my boots, slithering towards my socks. I had lost my sandals tied to my backpack, and my hat was irretrievable.

"Fuck it." I lit a cigarette and exhaled.  Then I burned all the bloodsuckers off, singing myself but "fuck yeas" at my accomplishment.  I pushed at the thorns with my boots, used my fingers to grab at the smooth areas and raised the branches high enough to squirm through. After that, it was easy. The ground gave way with last night's rain, and by going slow, hanging on to vines and tree roots, I came to a trickling brook. I found the river about a kilometer away, washed myself, and waved down an Orang Asli (indigenous tribe to Malaysia) to boat me upriver to where the trail curved out from the jungle... then it would just be another 2 km to the hideout...

A shadow brushed my head, like a dust-sweeper. I fumbled with the flashlight and turned it on the bunk.  A squeak. An orange rat, as large as a plump mango, stared at me next to my foot, then scampered up the timber beams. Another rustle. I turned the light cone on my backpack, and two rats had gnawed through the outer layer, picking at the cookies and trail mix. Shined the light into a corners. Another three sat on their haunches, snouts a-quivered. Sweet mother of holy God. I resisted the urge to scream like a little girl, as I usually do with rodents. They scattered with the sound of thunder.

The rain started at 7:15 pm. And ended abruptly at 8:40 pm.

Then the fireflies came, dancing a slow waltz around the silent ferns, up the branches and vines, and into the blue-glow sky.

Then the cacophony began. The burpings of toads scampered over the drones of insects, and the karaoke of birds swooped and fluttered until they were interrupted by the howls of monkeys. Mother Nature had a thousand and more sounds to tell me to watch it – to not piss her off.

I saw two monkeys jump clear from one tree to another, about 6 feet apart. A wild deer came, just a glimpse and then disappeared.

The rain started again at 9:30 pm, this time with a vengeance. It would rain nonstop through the night, obliterating any chances that I would see wildlife that night. It rained monstrously, bouncing off the tin roof like machine gun rattle.  And the rats were my only companions.

So I began to talk to them...

woo.. love it.

Posted by: jojo | May 19, 2006 at 09:23 AM

i hate leeches.

Posted by: tanabi | May 19, 2006 at 01:02 PM

Take care of yourself!

Posted by: Yuppie Nomad | May 20, 2006 at 10:58 AM