By Ami Li
In the peat swamp of central Kalimantan, hours away from any electrical or water grid, sits the Tuanan orangutan research station. It is a 2-hour car ride from the “mess” house in Palangkaraya to Lahei Mangkutup a remote village along the Kapuas River. From there, it is a 2-hour boat ride to Pasar Putih, the village closest to Tuanan. The water in the Kapuas River runs reddish brown from the tannins and decomposing peat. It contrasts stunningly with the green flora and the white sand that makes up the river banks.
Pasar Putih, named after the white sand of the riverbank, is an even smaller, more remote village, of about ~10 households. Most of these households have at least one family member working in Tuanan.
In Pasar Putih, there rings a constant echo of birdsongs being played from large towers made of aluminum sheets. These towers attract swallows(burung walet), whose nests are then collected and sold to make edible soup(sarang burung walet). The white sand coupled with the blinding sun can make someone feel like an ant under a magnifying glass, scurrying around trying to escape direct sunlight.
Passing through the gate, onto the bridge to Tuanan for the first time feels incredibly strange. Immediately the jungle trees shade you from the sun, and the humidity fills your lungs. It’s like jumping through a portal, straight from the familiar beach-like climate, to the jungle.
At the end of the bridge sits a few buildings connected to each other through boardwalks: Tuanan.
The short course focused on teaching its students primatology field methods. This meant living at the field station(which had limited electricity + cell service) and doing fieldwork for 10 days. While at camp, everyone had to set their circadian rhythms to match those of their research subjects, the primates. For the gibbons and orangutans, this might mean waking up at 3 or 4 am and out in the forest by 4 or 5.
In the forest, If you’re quiet, you might hear the swishing and cracking of branches in the treetops. And if you’re lucky, there might be an Orangutan up there swinging from branch to branch. It is deceptively difficult to spot their bright orange-brown fur through the green canopy.
Orangutan comes from the Indonesian words for Orang(person) and Hutan(forest). They look like large orange men, moving through the canopy. They climb and move through the trees with the same ease as it takes a human to walk. The orangutan’s presence is everywhere in the peat swamp around Tuanan. Dr. Suci pointed out that young trees are sometimes permanently bent at an angle as a result of orangutans traveling through them. William Aguado handed out pieces of bark littered everywhere on the forest floor with orangutan teeth marks on them.
Watching them move, almost lazily, makes one realize extremely quickly that humans are not adapted for the peat swamp. It takes much practice to walk on the slippery man-made boardwalks, and even more practice to learn where to step when walking on the squishy peat. Eventually, you learn that it’s pointless to hope you won’t fall. Bruises stack on top of bruises which stack on top of mosquito bites and scrapes.
One rainy night after dinner, there hung an uneasy air around the camp. Dr. Erin Vogel and Justin Philbois had left camp tracking Mawas(an orangutan) and hadn’t returned. Orangutans typically build nests earlier on rainy days, and at that point, it had been raining since lunch. The jungle blocks any radio or cell signals, making communication impossible even across very short distances. The staff members began covertly planning a search party, to not stress the students.
Dr. Victoria Ramenzoni tasked herself with distracting everyone by introducing the game “Chancho Va.” The loser would be punished as the rest of the players saw fit. We decided to make Vic do a TikTok dance later that night in the middle of her lecture. Erin and Justin also came back to camp! A search party wasn’t needed. Mawas had just decided to make her nest later in the day. There were cheers all around.
There are very few ways to beat the heat with limited electricity. Fans must be small, hand-held, and charged at night, and wet towels provide no relief in the humid, swampy air. Camp is too shaded and wet to allow clothes to dry fully. Eventually, one grows accustomed to the thin layer of sweat and grime that covers the skin and all surfaces. Jack Coulson(pictured here) had his own solution. He brought electric clippers from the US and allowed everyone to take turns shaving his head. Of course, he also allowed everyone to photograph his hair transformation, from hippie to monk.
A week after we departed Tuanan, the short course students had to present their research findings at a small seminar at UNAS(Universitas Nasional). The students divided themselves into 5 research groups while at camp: orangutans, gibbons, flora, fauna, and osteology. Each group took turns presenting at the seminar in front of some press, their classmates, and other UNAS students and faculty. After 3 weeks of non-stop moving, sitting still for a half-day-long seminar was extremely difficult. At the end of the seminar, many tearful goodbyes were exchanged amongst the short course students and instructors.
All in all the short course was really fun!
