Back to the future

I'm finally back in the land of planes, trains and automobiles after more than three months where everywhere I traveled was accessible by my own two feet! It's hard to imagine a more dramatic transition than leaving a small camp in the middle of the woods populated by the same 20 people week after week and moving back to one of the largest, busiest cities in the world. But the long journey home did help ease me back into "normal" life. As I hadn't left camp at all for 3 months, the hour hike and 2-hour boat ride to the closest village of Polipsioman was my first transition. There are ~500 residents in the village, meaning some new faces as well as a shop where I could practice being a consumer again (beer and cookies). I even went to church on Sunday! The next leg of my trip was a 2-hour speed boat ride to a slightly larger village with motorcycles, a cell phone tower and even "restaurants" (really, outdoor tarp-covered eating areas, but a place where I could buy food prepared by someone else—a real treat!). A few hours of relaxation and then I was on my way to Sumatra via ferry (I think I've described this one in enough detail), arriving in Padang just 10 hours later, where there was traffic, air pollution, internet, shopping malls, and most of life's modern conveniences. Despite these steady transitions, when I arrived in New York and got into a shouting match with a fellow passenger, I nevertheless experienced a little culture shock! In any case, I'm settling back into some kind of equilibrium here in the city until I have to pack up my life and do it all again in 2 months.

Now for the pictures...

First, the stars!!


The mysterious and intriguing simakobu


This is my favorite little guy that hangs out by my house


Here he is again, thinking about jumping on my house


Bad monkey! That's MY house!


One day they came to the river to play


Ridiculous things


This one is by the toilet


The one-and-only Hulk, my first habituated monkey


I climbed a tree!!




Using just ropes, carabiners and a harness, I ascended to a height of ~60 feet to get a monkey's-eye-view of the world. While the climb itself was pleasant enough, once I reached the small hand-made platform tied to the tree with no more than a few bits of rattan, I lost a bit of my confidence and held on for dear life for the duration of my stay (the monkeys make it look so easy).


I spent lots of time on the ground too.


A little alone time


My team: Aser (local guide), Edith (Indonesian student/assistant), me, Karta (local guide)


Matias and I sit and wait for the monkeys to come out of hiding



Saw some interesting things down there.


Snail without a shell?


Family of mystery insects (I really have no idea!)


Camo Katydid


Metal robot Cicada


Alien Cicada (it's dead, that's actually fungus growing on it)




Prehistoric Lizard


Tiny Toad




This one changed from brown to green before my eyes


Harmless snake


Not so harmless viper


Nearly stepped on one of these more times than I care to say


Squirrel, though not much to look at, it has a beautiful song


Macaque (local name Bokkoi)




Also spent a little time at camp.


Mama mia! I'm cooking pasta sauce!



My room, just like home


The Indonesian students, me and Nat


Emily (to my right), Edith (2nd from right) and I say goodbye to the cooks


Game night at Camp Pungut has everyone smiling!


The uma at night


Resident kitty, Tiger


Pak Tari and Pak Tarsan


Fauzan and I enjoy our veggies


Group photo!



Some randomly cool stuff.


Unbelievably huge and amazing moth


What's cooler than glowing mushrooms?


Full moon


Dead reticulated python, killed for eating a pig


Sunrise from the ferry



And the following is a list of creatures with which I cohabitated at one time or another:

• A small colony of bats whose favorite sleeping site was directly over my bed. Despite a weeks-long battle involving me chasing them with a broom, shouting and yelling, I ended up putting a plastic bag on top of my mosquito net to keep my sheets and pillow clean.
  

• A GIANT tokay gecko that, when I tried to catch it, barked and lunged at me, so it continued to live peacefully under my bed.

• Several rats (or just one very persistent one) that only came out to visit at night.

• A small colony of ants that tried to take up residence in my battery case. They had already moved all the kids in, but I urged them to find alternative housing options.

• A very large spider carrying an egg sac in her mouth. She also tried to move into the battery case (high-demand real estate) but when I tried to evict her, she started gyrating and billions of tiny spiders ran for dear life!

• A HUGE scorpion! This was not discovered until I was packing my things up on my last afternoon in camp. By far, the worst roommate I'd had until that point.

• Countless other lizards and bugs stopped in for a night or two.

• This one was actually in the toilet...

And there was that one time in the village.


A trip to the beach


Picnic!


Breathtaking sunset


Emily and I feeling cheesy


Polipsioman


Pak Tari makes fun of the vegetables I picked


Emily and I say bye to Pak Tari


And finally, Padang.


Batang Arau river in Padang


Old Dutch architecture


Padang (and a monkey) from above



Monkeys!! These are long-tailed macaques


Nat, Emily and I in awe of our surroundings


That's why!


Emily and I take a snorkeling trip


Here's where we parked