Pangaea Borneo Project
The Pangaea Borneo Project's life is punctuated by monthly 10-day expedition events which enable young people (15-25 years old) from Malaysia and Singapore to discover, explore and act for their local environment and the fragile marine ecosystem of Borneo. We welcome international Pangaea Ambassadors to join the project for periods of several months to assist David and Sarah who are leading the project on-site. This is the blog from our Pangaea Borneo Project mentors on location...
written by Natalie Afonina
I arrived in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia at 10 pm with a flight from Moscow, Russia. The airline had lost my luggage, but after travelling to Seattle, Alaska, Nepal, Switzerland and Russia in the past year, I’ve adopted a calm attitude to such misadventures. Instead of venturing out in the middle of the night looking for a vacant hotel, I found a nice corner in the back of the air-conditioned airport, and spent my night avoiding the security guards that desperately wanted to kick me out.
Two weeks ago I was in Siberia planning on visiting the Gobi Desert. After Googling Mongolia’s weather forecast, and realizing that it was -50 C in the areas I was planning to trek in, I decided to send Michael an email about the Borneo Project: “Do you need any help down there?” I asked. Within the week I had a ticket to Sabah and found myself in the Moscow airport digging through all my mountaineering and winter clothing, desperately looking for the one pair of shorts and a t-shirt I had buried at the bottom of my backpack next to my down sleeping bag rated to -30C.
The next morning, I hopped a minibus, then a taxi, then another minivan to Kudat’s shipyard, the location of Ceil VI: the 61 foot sailing yacht owned by David Wharton and Sarah, and the base of operations for the Borneo Project. The minivan overheated, and I had to sit in the vehicle as the owner cooled down the engine with some mucky stream water he acquired from the road-side ditch. The saloon I was waiting in for the duration of the cooling process, began resembling a sauna, so that by the time we finally arrived in Kudat, one hour late, I felt like I had been stuffed in an oven and baked alive.
In Kudat, I was told to look for a red boat, and after 15 minutes of wandering around and yelling at all the red boats I could find in the boatyard, I finally arrived. Ceil VI is a thing of beauty: bright red, with a tall mast, wood detailing and spacious rooms. I was greeted by Sarah, David and their 8 month old Jack Russell terrier named “Russell”.
My days in Kudat have been filled with scraping silicone off decking, grinding away glue with power tools, cleaning screws, and scrubbing overspray paint from metal handlebars. Ceil VI is undergoing refurnishing and maintenance before we sail south and begin looking for a location for the Borneo Project Centre. There have been some hold-ups with gearbox parts, so we can’t set sail yet, but there is plenty to do on the ship while we wait.
Apart from work on the yacht, there are walks to the local market to buy fruits, vegetables and chickens that still have their feet and head attached, as well as bags of laundry to carry back through the heat of the sun. I must admit that the first few days in the humidity and heat of Malaysia were trying. I’m accustomed to cold weather (in Siberia it was -30 degrees when I left), and I’m still acclimatizing to the tropical climate. I have learned to use sunscreen the hard way--after several painful cases when I was burnt to a crisp.
Life in Kudat is simple. You have to walk to the toilets across the shipyard, avoiding the local packs of dogs. Sometimes the water pressure drops, so you have to carry buckets of water to fill up the tank. Frogs and lizards inhabit the sink and gaze down from the walls. The electricity goes out randomly throughout the day, while “Mr. Wong”, the shipyard caretaker, animatedly proclaims that he paid this month’s electric bill. Giant, black rats scamper up and down ropes. Everyone here takes care of one another, and there’s a definite community feeling of “we’re all in this together”. If someone can’t find the right sized socket or is unsure which paint thinner to use, then you’ll find someone who can lend you the right tool or help you out.
I’ve been observing the local culture and customs during my forays into Kudat’s city centre, and it is an unfortunate fact that almost every restaurant in Kudat sells shark-fin soup, and there is clear evidence suggesting that dynamite fishing is still a common fishing practice. Plastic litters the seashore, palm oil plantations have taken over the native jungles, and endangered geckos are caught for medicinal properties. It’s a bit overwhelming and depressing when you first see the scale of the problems in this area. I am so grateful to have this opportunity to learn more about this unique bio-system and help safeguard what’s left of Borneo’s rich ecosystems. Hopefully we’ll be in the water soon and sailing south!
Pangaea Borneo Project - 20110326 - Kudat
