Imbak Canyon: Into The Heart of Borneo- Life in Virgin Jungle!

Finally.. It's The LAST part of Imbak Canyon Field Work!!!

Sorry for updating late for quite some time..

Cause I'm just super Duper busy with my Lap report and Assignment..

I have change my Blog Skin into really "Blue Sky" feel~ 

Thanks to my "sister" - William from http://sanguinewilliam.blogspot.com

for helping me finding this wonderful skin~ 

P/s: since he grumble that he was too free and had nothing to do~

Well, in this post I would like to talk bout more fun things I had during the Field work.

Lets have a look at the facilities in the Expedition camp first.

This is the tent that we slept in.

Boys and girls each in one big tent.

We were also being provided place to hang and dry our clothes.

P/s: Never hang your clothes outside during the night as it will get even soak after that!

The "LEGENDARY" Toilet in the middle of a virgin Jungle!

It just that you will eventually get your leg dirty again on the way you travel back and forth the toilet.

It was not too bad after all.. at least better than what I expected.

Just that you have to get use to all the insects and spiders that share the bathroom with you~

And NOT to forget the "CUTE" little leeches welcoming you inside too~

This was our laboratory where we processed our specimens here.

We process small mammal that we caught here too~

Cute little mountain rat that was still dizzy after awake from chloroform.

We make it faint to take it's measurement and weight.

The cafeteria where we spent most of our time here chit-chating and watch movie during our free time.

We have a great view of river and mountain from the cafeteria.

I just love to sit there, enjoy and relax~

This is the river located just beside the cafeteria.

It has crystal clear water and a really peaceful environment.

P/s: Except It turns chalky during the rain.

Can you spot me in this picture? xp

We have to pass through this river for many times in order to get to the forest on the other side.

It was quite dangerous as the river stream was very fast and it was very slippery.

I almost fall down and felt like gonna being swept away for few times when passing through it.

Despite the potential danger of the river, it has became our favourite spot to hang out and to have fun during the trip.

Just love to dip my leg into the flowing river and enjoy the chilliness~ 

And off course, how could we miss the fun of bathing in the river?!

We prefer the river than the bathroom provided for us~

We can even get free relaxing massage from the river~

It was a really cool experience to bath and play with friends in the river.

It's just hard to get this type of experience in the city now..

This is Uncle Chris- an experience tour guide in Imbak Canyon.

If you visits Imbak Canyon, he may be the one to guide you though this extraordinary trip~

Although he looks dark, but he is actually a Spanish Mix Chinese!

He is a really funny guy with fluent British accent English and many other foreign languages but don't really understand Chinese~

He has lot of stories and experience to share including GHOST story in Imbak!!

The story was so scary that everyone who listen to it was so worried and scared.

However, I still went to the "far far away" toilet alone in the middle of night due to everyone was asleep.

P/s: Lights off at 12 am... So I walk to the toilet alone with my little tiny torch light..

Wao... Suddenly feel that I am so brave after being forced by the situation~ xp

 After six days of field work, finally it's time to go home!!

Again, after gear up all the leeches prevention and my heavy back pack, its time to walk out from the forest~

This remind me of a poem that we used to learn during secondary school~

~The Road Not Taken~

P/s: But in forest, please don't ever take road that never walked by anyone as you might get lost and never walk out again!

Always follow the trails with marks along it~

After one hour walking, finally we reach the point where our 4 wheels come to pick us up.

Every one was tired yet very happy to go home~

Epic fail "cool" post by my course mates and me~

We say "hi" to Virgo again~

We have some calligraphy session using the car body as back ground~ 

After 8 hours of traveling, I'm finally back to Civilization!!!

After 6 days of losting contact to the world, I came back at one piece~

P/s: Excluded beaten by three leeches at my toes.

Finally the group photo of Conservation Biology!

After six days of field trip, I really do learn a lot and experience many "First time" in my life.

Feel tired yet fun~

That's the life of a Conservation Biologist~

Stay tune for my next field trip to Kota Belud in this Weekend!

Imbak Canyon: Into The Heart of Borneo Part 2- Frogs?!

Thank you for waiting patiently for my part 2 of Imbak Canyon adventure~

In this post, I would like to share about things that I done in Imbak Canyon.

As it's a Field Work, so means I did not go there for HOLIDAY..

But I go there to WORK....

Our class have been divided into 3 groups which were

 vertebrates, invertebrates( insects) and botany (plant).

I have chosen to be in vertebrates group as I will be taking Birds as my final year project.

P/s: Birds are group under vertebrates.

The vertebrates group~

We worked on Frog and small mammals.

There are only six of us in this group.

P/s: most of my coursemates chose to work on plants.

So, what we basically do in Imbak Canyon for Vertebrates group were frogging and small mammals trapping.

P/s: Frogging means catching frog.

In this post, I would like to talk about FROGGING.

Frogging usually carried out during the night time as frogs are active around 6.30-8.00pm.

What you need during frogging includes a torch light, head lamp, GPS ,a Moisture meter, a sling bag and soft transparent plastic bags.

Torch light and head light are essential in spotting a frog in the dark.

Frogs can be spotted by the reflection of their eyes from light of your torch light.

Moisture meter is used to detect the moisture of surrounding.

GPS is needed to track the location and altitude where the frog specimen found.

Soft transparent plastic bags are needed to keep our frog specimens.

We need to blow in air and tie a knot at the end of the plastic bag.

Rubber band and zipper lock plastic bag are not used in keeping the specimens as the large size frog may hop vigorously and release them selves from the zipper lock.

And at last a sling bag to keep all your specimens in it and Off we GO~

We have been frogging for two nights. 

It was raining for that two days.

We need to wear a rain coat to keep our selves dry.

P/s: actually it did not help much.. 

My hair still wet as the rain water soak through the rain coat..

Walking on a slippery and muddy trail in the night was a hardship...

Not to say that it was a hill trail that we needed to go up and down the slippery slopes...

And I fell down when  going down a slope..

My butt was super pain!!! >.<

But at the last night I manage to catch a small frog with my friend~

A great succes~ ^^

So, do you guys ever hold or catch a frog before?

The first thing that might come into your mind will be:

EWWW.... It's slimy and cold!!!

Yup... That's true...

They are slimy and cold blooded animals... 

It took me a very long time until I get brave enough to hold on a frog...

Not that I afraid of frog...

But holding them just seems to be... Yiaks.....

But at last I hold the first ever living frog on my hand..

Feel like I'm a super woman as I think many GUYS out there don't even dare to touch a frog~

During the day, we need to process the frogs and identified which species that they belong to.

We have to take out the frog and measure its Snout-vent length and weight. 

Then we do Exsitu- Indoor photography for our frogs.

Yes.. We do Indoor photography..

This is to prevent our frogs from escaping and taking photo in a field may not generate a good picture.

To take a photograph, firstly,  we need to set up a mini studio using black cotton clothes as background.

Then we have to find props such as leaves, sticks and stone to recreate the habitat of the frog.

P/s: Different species of frogs have different microhabitat.

So, we need to know the specific habitats of the species before we set up the props. 

And before we place our specimens onto our mini studio, we bath the frog with water to cool them down.

P/s: The photography should be carried out at some where cool and shady..

After placing it on the props, we quickly snap as many picture as we can!!!

P/s: The eyes are important in taking pictures of animals!

Remember to focus and minimize the background so that the Black clothes back group could not be seen in your photo~ 

P/s: I not a professional but just to share what I have learn during my field work~

Here are some photo that I took~

Here are some Things that you should be aware of while handling frog.

Always stay in front of the frog while catching frogs.

P/s: they can only hop to the front but not backwards!

Always hold a frog with their hind leg's joint.

P/s: Frogs jumps with their hind leg, by holding the joint it can prevent them from jumping away from you~

Always wash your hand before handling a frog as frog are sensitive to chemicals.

P/s: The chemicals on your hand might KILL them!

And also, wash your hand after touching a frog and before handling another frog.

This is due to some frogs may secrete poisonous chemical on their skin.

Even though it is harmless to human, it will eventually kill another frog!!

Always remember to blow in sufficient air and pour small amount of water into the plastic bags containing the frogs.

This is to ensure they are comfortable and do not die before you process them!!!

After the processing, we released the frogs back to the nature~

P/s: Usually researchers will kill the specimens and preserve them as sample.

However, Imbak Canyon is a conservation area that doesn't allow us to take any vertebrate sample.

So, the frog are SAFE!!!

P/s: I hate the killing too...

Please don't ask me why conservation biologist kill animals to take sample...

The animal won't gone extinct cause we kill few of it as research purpose.

But destruction of nature does!!!

 (Quoted from my lecture who doesn't want his name to be appeared in internet)

Keeping them as sample can aid in the research to preserve the forest and nature!!!

As our Conservation Biology Slogan:

We Care, We Love , We CONSERVE!!!

~My First time holding a living frog~

Stay tune for the Part 3 of Imbak Canyon Adventure~

Imbak Canyon: Into The Heart of Borneo [Field Work Part 1 ( Day 1 and 2)]

Curious of what does a Biologist do?
Well, I have a first exposure during my Field Trip to Imbak Canyon Conservation Area, Sabah.

This was a training to prepare us before we start doing our own research.
Imbak Canyon???? Where is it?? never heard of it..

This was the reaction that I get from most of my friends.

Imbak Canyon Conservaton Area is the last remaining untouched and relatively unexplored area of Sabah. 

It is a Virgin Jungle which means no human disturbance in this area.

Imbak Canyon Conservation Area is located over 300 kilometers south east of Kota Kinabalu, 

 north of Maliau Basin in Lahad Datu and

in the heart of Sabah (almost in the middle of Sabah).

The access to this Imbak Canyon Conservation are  is strictly controlled.

 The permission to enter must be obtained in advance from Yayasan Sabah Group offices in Kota Kinabalu or Sandakan.

1day travelling is required to reach there which includes

4 hours travelling from Kota Kinabalu to Telupid 

then 2 hours  from Telupid to the Base Camp just outside the Conservation Area.

Four wheel drives are needed to travel off track in the forest..

After the base camp, we need to travel almost 2 hours off track into the conservation area.

Then we need to travel 2km by foot to enter the scientific expedition camp.

P/s: OMG.. Tiring is IT?!

Enough of the information, and lets have a peak what is happening during my trip~

As it is a 6 days field work, I bought a super huge Back pack to stuff in all my things.

It weight almost 12kg!!!

Imagine that carrying that to walk 2km in the forest!!

As I mention earlier, 4 Wheel vehicles are essential to travel off road.

My Institution have rented 11 4 wheels vehicles with professional drivers to drive us in..

Well, This is VIRGO.

The Hilux that I traveled in and out of the Forest~

Luckily Hilux is more comfortable compared to other 4 wheels.

The name list for my travelling companies~

And We start traveled after a short briefing~

Along the journey, we passed by Tamparuli Rumah terbalik, Kundasang and Kinabalu park.

Then we stopped by Ranau to have our lunch~

~Ranau Town~

We even meet a bus of juniors travelling to Kundasang there~

And we continued Rolling~

The drivers actually do have great sense of humour while they entertained us with their hilarious joke and singing.

Then we stop by Telupid town to have a break~

Enjoying Ice-cream while waiting~

At last we reached the forest...

It was challenging to travel off road while raining.

The road was so muddy and sticky to travel..

We even need to pass through a river during the journey..

We were so scare when the river water started to flow into the car and soaked our leg..

The bad new was...

Our back pack were soaked with river water...

>.<

After bumping and shaking our head and waist all the way,

we finally reached the base camp.

Yeah!!!

We stayed in tent for the 1st night.

Luckily I bring my sleeping beg along as I can felt all the rock behind my back..

However, I fainted right away after I lyed down~ xp

It's A good night sleep.

Second day started with freezing whether..

I wrapped my selves with scarf and long sleeves~

After packing our tent and had breakfast, we continue rolling ( term used by the driver) ~

Sun glasses are crucial  while traveling under hot sun~

And of course to sleep~ Xp

Opps~ A car broke down during the journey..

The frame that support the wheels broke..

Challenge never ends~

Tougher road ahead while we getting closer to the virgin forest..

After 2 hours travelling in car,we reach the conservation area.

We have to walk in 2km to the expedition camp  with all our back pack..

No roads for car anymore..

Only trail for people to walk.

>.<

To enter a forest, what you need is a cap,

 a pair of Kampung Adidas ( rubber shoe that looks like adidas) for RM3.50, 

a pair of Leech Socks or Stocking Pacat (to prevent leeches),

 long sleeves, towel to cover your neck, tug in your shirt ( well, i Haven't tug in In this picture)

[ all this to prevent leeches].

Our journey into the virgin jungle started.

It was kind of hard to walk as it was slippery and muddy all the way through.

And  super tiring with the super heavy back pack on us..

We need to cross few rivers during the journey..

This is the fast flow river, quite dangerous cause I nearly swept away by the river flow.

After almost 1 hour of walking , We finally arrived the Expedition camp.

After the long journey, we have a lovely lunch prepared for us~

I ate double size when I was in the camp!

They found a snake in the camp!!!

During the night, immediately we started our 1st field work that was frogging.

Frogging means catching frog~

Oh ya.. catching frog in the rain and super dark and slippery forest.

It was a tough!!!

And we need to go frogging for 2 nights!!!

Well, to sum up, day 1 and 2 are mainly travelling into the Imbak conservation area.

Spent most of the time in car, bumping and shaking all the way through.

And I leveled up my sleeping skill where I can sleep even in a bumpy 4 wheel car!!!

That's all for Part 1 of My IMBAK Field Trip~

Stay tune for the 2nd part~

Sleepy face~~

If you are interested to travel to Imbak to explore the nature,

you can contact:

Research & Development Division

Yayasan Sabah Group

12th Floor, Menara Tun Mustapha

P.O. Box 11623

88817 Kota Kinabalu

Sabah, MALAYSIA

Tel: (6 088) 326300 Ext. 6318

Fax: (6 088) 326315/326316

E-mail: albinus@icsb-sabah.com.my

Or

Imbak Canyon Conservation Area

Rakyat Berjaya Sdn. Bhd.

Yayasan Sabah Group

Jalan Sekolah Cheng Min

P.O. Box 1437

90715 Sandakan

Sabah, MALAYSIA

Tel: (6 089) 225836  Fax: (6 089) 210852

E-mail: imbakcanyon@gmail.com

Languages Spoken: English and  Bahasa Malaysia

or 

North Borneo Safari

Lot 31, 1st Floor, Block B4,

Jalan BU 5/1, Bandar Utama,

Mile 5, Sandakan, Sabah,

Malaysia.

Postal Address: 

WDT 49 PPJU 90309, 

Sandakan, Sabah, 

Malaysia. 

Tel: +60-89-235525, 

Fax: +60-89-235526, 

Email: cpu@tm.net.my