Bumbling in Borneo: Dr. Gonzo: Teachings From An Orphaned Orangutan

Well hello there.

It has been some time now since I've offered any updates on the jungle life I have now been experiencing for a total of 16 months.

I'm in my last phase now with just about 6 weeks left. I can't deny that I feel a sense of excitement for what's next but all the while there is a sadness to leave this place that has inevitably become my home.

And so I will make the trip from Palangkaraya to Camp one more time, in hopes that it wont be my last.

I will start with the most recent, significant event that involves a baby orangutan that was somehow named Gonzalez, though I prefer the shortened version Dr. Gonzo. However I must begin with the origins of the discovery of this little fellow, which involves what used to be our kitchen; a molding shack of a house, which was sinking on both sides so when you entered there was a sharp elevation climb and then a steep downhill into the tv room. I mention this amusing yet ridiculous piece of architecture because if we had never bought wood to rebuild it, we would have never found the 3 year old male orangutan infant crouched below the wood pile there. At the time, I was in Katunjuung (a village a hour south on the river where Achi and I have just gotten approval to start the education project) at a parent meeting explaining that we want to educate their children about the environment at no cost to them. Suddenly Brigitte (our new Swiss manager who is absolutley amazing, having arrived just a year and a half too late) was there explaining how there is a baby orangutan that she is going to take away to camp so that we can later send him to a rehabilitaiton center.
I had always heard stories about orangutan infants being found, but never had I thought that I would experience it.
So later that evening I came back to camp and there he was, all nestled down in a cardboard box that he chose with a blanket and some branches that he made into his own nest. Later he awoke, looked around a bit, drank so powdered milk and then began to notice the cats taking interest in him and would swat them if they came too close. At one point when he had fallen asleep again, it was heartbreaking to see him do a whimper-shiver (somewhat like dogs) but I imagined that he was dreaming of his mother.
In the morning I had my first contact with him. I was just sitting down to have sweet mung bean porridge when he walked over the table towards me going after my coffee and when I took that away, stuck his face in the bowl, sipping daintily at the bean soup.
I then had the pleasure of watching while he half held onto my neck or arm and ate various choices that were around him; bean soup, rice and tofu, milk, electrolytes.
Meeting Dr. Gonzo was an amazing and tragic moment that I'm thankful to have had but that I would not want to experience again, because the moment an infant loses their mom and is brought into the human world, there is never going back, it will never again live like a wild orangutan and though this is the reality with thousands of orangutans in rehabs, the thought is too sad to bare.

The rest I have to offer is a quick summary. How quickly things change here. Presently I find myself in the most ideal camp situation I have yet to have experienced. There are students! And they are great. We are an international (western) group with 3 students from University of Zurich- Alie (Canadian), Stefanie (French), Markus (Swiss) and then my roomate (camp is so packed now we all share rooms) Rebecca (English). Two UNAS, Indonesian students just arrrived and there are more students to come in the near future.
There has been a constant flow of orangutans to follow with some crazy days that go on until after dark. And there is a lot of fruit in the forest so the forecast is orangutans.
Achi has returned to Jakarta, so I am now officially in charge of the education project, going once a week to the schools to teach about various environmental topics from biodiversity to peat swamps, while monitoring the seeds that were just planted in the greenhouse. It continues to be a challenging task, especially now that the Tuanan School has no teacher, so they are out of practice and it requires all of my patience and enthusiasm. But they are wonderful and motivated and truly want to learn.

I look forward to my final days in the forest with new and old primate friends and in the classroom singing with the children, until the day I must say farewell.

In the meantime, photos: