This Is For You, Baron

My dog, Baron, is quite hairy. He sheds this hair wherever he goes - the floor, in the car, my bed, and on the couch (he used to sneak onto it when I wasn't home, but I've since resigned myself to sharing it with all my animals and their hair).

To help control the number of hairbunnies blowing around my apartment, I bought a set of hair clippers and started giving Baron haircuts. It was super fun to watch as all that hair came off in one fell swoop, instead of covering my apartment gradually. I think Baron enjoys having short hair as well, because it means he stays cooler when we play outside under the hot sun.

But I wasn't satisfied with giving my dog a normal haircut. He needed something extra, because he's just that awesome. So I started leaving a strip of longer hair down the middle of his neck and back. That's right - dog mohawk. If he ever got huffy enough about something to make that hair on the back of his neck stand up, he looked extra intimidating.

It's tradition for new sailors, called pollywogs, to shave their heads and swim around the boat (at least on the WTP; other boats have different rituals). After crossing the equator, pollywogs become shellbacks. I was looking forward to this milestone with mostly excitement, and a little bit of trepidation. Would I shave my head? I wasn't sure, but then I thought of Baron and had an idea. I wouldn't quite shave my head, but I would drastically cut my hair. (Sorry mom.)

I copied my dog, Baron, and went with his hairstyle - mohawk!

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Siswi and Elbows

Before our speedboat trip up the river to the Tanjung Puting National Park, we had a long conversation with Jenning.  Jenning is the brother of Harry, who is the person in charge of the company we chose to take our tour with.  While Harry takes care of the business side of things, Jenning takes care of the orangutan side of things.

He showed us album upon album of photos he had taken in the park of all the orangutans, each of whom he knows by name.  He told us stories of how they like to steal canoes and paddle around the river using their hands, how he wrestles and plays with them, how the orangutans know him and enjoy his company.  His favorite orangutan in the park is Thomas (brother of the dominant male, Tom) not because Thomas shows him any kind of attention, but because Thomas is wild.

The orangutan with the most stories, though, is Siswi.  Siswi has been at Camp Leakey for pretty much her whole life, and has learned how to work the system.  Jenning told us that we would definitely see her, because every day she lays sprawled out on the boardwalk that visitors must use to get into the park from the river.  She's learned that good things are usually in pockets and bags, and Jenning warned us that she might pat us down and inspect our bags, so it's best to carry nothing.

As we disembarked our speedboat, we carried only our cameras.  As we walked on the boardwalk toward the park, we spotted something dark laying in the middle a ways up.  Sure enough, there was Siswi.  We slowed as we got closer, and eventually stopped right in front of her.  We wait.  She waits.  She slowly holds her hand out toward us.  Our guide hands her an apple.  She takes a bite.  We are allowed to pass.

We make our way into the park, and watch a video in the information center.  When we exit the building, there is Siswi again, sitting under a tree.  This time we can get around her, but choose to stay and watch.  A ranger asks if anyone would like to sit next to her.  Of course I would!  I make my way over to where she's laying and proceed to sit down next to her.  She lays down.  I lay down.  She reaches over and puts her hand on my arm, just resting it there, not pulling.  She finds my elbow and tugs on the excess skin a little.  She scratches her own arm.  Then she reaches out and puts her hand down halfway between us, and I put my hand in hers.

Siswi and I, now we are friends.

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C'est Chaud

On this last crossing, the WTP was not a sailboat. It was a motorboat.

We check what's called a GRIB before we start our crossings. GRIBs tell us what the wind will do, like direction and speed, and also show any high and low pressure systems we might encounter. As it turned out, there was much less wind than the GRIB we downloaded our last day on Bali predicted.

We timed our departure just right, even waited an extra day to ensure better winds. We needed to make it back up the Lombok Strait, which had proved tough to get down on our way into Bali, and that required good northerly winds. GRIB: downloaded and looked favorable. Boat: packed and ready. Crew: getting itchy to be on the move again. All the proper ingredients to set sail.

The current was against us up the Lombok Strait and sails weren't enough, so we started the engine. The boat made pretty good time and we enjoyed lovely views of the Bali coastline. Once past the island, though, things turned rough. Heavy clouds gathered and we prepared for a storm, which brought rain, lightning, and wind. At one point we turned back toward Bali to avoid the lightning! One rough night later things had calmed down. In fact, they calmed down a bit too much, contrary to what our trusted GRIB showed us.

We had a couple great afternoons of sails up and 6 knots, but other than that we motored. The whole way.* This is unfortunate for a number of reasons. When we motor, we use diesel, and refueling costs money. No wind means no cooling breeze, which means the boat gets pretty toasty, especially during any time the sun is visible. (I originally thought 'afternoon' but it starts heating up at sunrise.) My bunk is also right next to the motor and gets pretty hot, and going to sleep wondering how drenched in sweat you'll be upon waking is, well, gross. Usually if you can just make it to the sleep stage it's alright, but waiting to fall asleep while sticking to your bed is not the most comfortable thing.

Even with the heat and the motoring, some good things came on this crossing. This was our first run on a 5 person watch schedule, and I must say it's pretty awesome. The boat feels no more crowded but we all have so much extra time to sleep, and read, and sleep more. The sunsets were beautiful and most of our nights were clear, cool, and full of stars. And on day 3 we turned the motor off and took a swim break in the middle of the ocean, complete with soap and shampoo. But even with those nice moments, I can safely say we're all ready for the WTP to become a sailboat again.

*Edit: I preemptively wrote this post on day 4 of the crossing. Poseidon must have read it and gotten angry, because two nights later we got wind... and rain and wind and lightning and more wind. The storm hit roughly 10 minutes before my 3am watch, and Adam later said that when he went to drop the headsail he could feel the first front of the storm vibrate the forestay.

We dropped all the sails and put up the storm jib to ride it out, but did get blown a bit off course for a few hours. With sunrise came the calm we're used to, the wind having left us again.

That's the last time I write a post about no wind during the middle of a crossing..

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Bali Zoo!

One of my favorite places to visit no matter which country we're in is the local zoo.  I enjoy seeing all the different animals, how each zoo is maintained, and the level of conservation and awareness each zoo and its keepers have.  Yesterday here in Bali, Halley, Adam, and I took a taxi to the Bali Zoo (with a stop at Dunkin Donuts for a quick breakfast on the way!).

The Bali Zoo, like the Cairns Tropical Zoo, is more lenient than zoos in the United States about letting visitors hold and interact with animals.  After we paid our entrance fee, we were immediately handed a cockatoo and a lorikeet that were stationed next to a table offering fruits and veggies to feed animals throughout the zoo.  We declined the food trays, but did hold the birds!

One of the next animals we saw were these very rotund pigs.  A couple were just lounging around, and this one was rolling in the mud.  After his mud bath was finished, he ambled up the stairs and joined the other two laying in the sun.

These sun bears had very wrinkly, concerned faces and seemed to think that everyone was going to feed them.  They stood up on their hind legs and stretched as far as they could, trying to see what was going on above their wall.  They climbed up and balanced on their wooden trees to get even higher.

Next we explored the aviary, where toucans, cockatoos, parrots, peacocks, and a turkey(??) walked and flew around us.

The Bali Zoo had many varieties of deer, each tinier and cuter than the last.  I think they must practice looking adorable all day, because they were experts.  Halley and I made friends with one little guy who licked our hands through the fence.

Next was the petting zoo.  We lasted 3 minutes in here because this deer at the entrance didn't seem to want us to go any farther.  Halley had quite the battle just trying to leave!

There were many monkeys and apes, like gibbons, an orangutan, leaf monkeys, and macaques (just like the ones in Monkey Forest in Ubub that tried to steal Adam and Halley's water bottles!).  This tiny Maroon Leaf Monkey was only a month old, and he liked watching us just as much as we liked watching him!

Ever since American Samoa when we first saw the giant flying foxes, I've wanted to hold one.  They look like flying dogs and their wingspan is enormous, and it would just be super cool to hold such a huge bat.  Well, the Bali Zoo made this wish a reality!!  As I walked around the corner, a keeper next to a short tree with four flying foxes hanging out on it asked if I wanted to hold one.  Of course I said yes!  The keeper picked one up by his ankles and instructed me to hold my fingers out so he could grasp onto them (upside down of course).  Once I was securely holding the flying fox, the keeper let go... and the flying fox swung up to grasp my forearm with his front legs so he could lick my arm!  They really do look like dogs up close, but the others on the tree were grooming themselves like cats.  Their claws aren't sharp but they use them to get around very well; their wings are leathery and their fur is soft.  One little guy still on the tree was getting jealous of the attention the one we were holding was getting, and launched himself at my arm!  Once the keeper put him back, he launched himself at Halley's head!  Very cool animals!

I especially liked this tiger because he reminds me of my cat, Dart.  :)

Many of the statues in Indonesia are wrapped in cloth.  Even this horse statue at the zoo!

As we were all getting ready to leave and head back to the boat, one final keeper offered us a chance to hold another animal - a binturong, also known as a bearcat!  Adam managed to catch an animal show earlier in the day and had already held one, but Halley and I had only seen them hidden away in their enclosures.  This one was a baby and was very playful.  He would wrap his tail around my neck and slide down my back, then crawl back up to my shoulders and roll over onto his back.  His fur was very thick and soft and he had giant paws!  An excellent way to end a fun day at the zoo!

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