Jungle mushroom

Reza wakes us up a little late so it's 6.30am when we head out for what we think is our pre  breakfast trek. The gibbons are in full voice and we're hopeful. We do see gibbons and red leaf monkeys or red macaques (we're note sure) but not very close up. We also discover what Reza and Saddique say are two recently made orangutan nests so we vow to return at dusk. We continue our search. At about 9.30am we ask what the plan for the day is. Reza says we are going to a view point and not back to camp before lunch. We say, what about some breakfast and he goes into full panic mode again and makes a rash decision without our knowledge. He said he thought we would take some biscuits he laid out for us this morning, we say he should have told us if we needed to do that. In fact, last night we discussed a short trek pre breakfast. He obviously asks Saddique how far we are from camp and says we can be there in 30mins. We say cool and off we go.

The fun and games begin as Saddique takes a short cut which involves beating through undergrowth with his machete with us following. At first its a bit of an adventure but we gradually realise they are lost! They deny it but we know they are ... Reza finally sort of admits it. We continue, the terrain is brutal as we climb under and over things and fight with these horrible sticky plants with hooks on their long stems - they literally hook you and if you continue pulling just dig in deeper - you need to go back and get someone to unhook you like a fish on a line. We get them on our clothes and Andy and Reza both rip their trousers. Worse we also get them on our skin at times. Reza is stressing so goes off ahead with Saddique and we have to call him back on occasion so we don't get lost. We are not happy and he knows it! Eventually we find the river that leads us back to camp about two and a half hours later, along with many apologies. We weren't worried we we wouldn't make it back at any time but we thought there might be injuries. In fact, Saddique has chopped a finger on his machete and ties it up with a rag. They have no first aid kit but we have a few bits with us, so we clean and dress it for him.  Surely they should carry basic first aid stuff? Reza apologises again and asks for feedback ... We say we'll chat later. On return to camp we do see some gibbons quite close up for a few minutes.

Later that afternoon we head to the spot where we saw the orang nests and hide out seeing if anyone returns at dusk. We wait quietly hidden in the undergrowth for an hour ... no orangutan but then we hear gibbons close by ... Reza is on his feet and chasing them and doing his gibbon call  ... of course they disappear. So much for our quiet stake out ... the boy has a lot to learn! We do, however, see some gibbons and more leaf monkeys before heading back to camp with the dusk chorus.

After dinner and chats about prostitution in Kalimantan (cheap in Pontianak but you gotta go in the morning, before work apparently!) we broach the subject of the trek, getting lost, lack of information and looking after your guests. Reza is really keen for our feedback and listens intently ... We feel  bit sorry for him as he's only young and is really trying to make a go of this business on his own. We hope we've helped in some way.

We plan a really early start and Reza sets out our itinerary for tomorrow ... he learns fast!