Something's awfully fishy....

Yupper it is... at the Fish Spa!

I'd heard about this and never thought I'd try it... but there you have it, these spots are all the rage in Kuala Lumpur right now, and it was included in a package at a discounted rate at the aquarium which I was visiting, so I tacked it on... and what an experience.

It was early on sunday morning, so i had the place entirely to myself, which was the best part... all the 'fish doctors' turned their attention on me, and what started out as a very strange, tingling, tickly sensation, turned quite pleasant, and eventually therapeutic!

Visa Visits

As a multiple-entry business visa holder, I am now required to leave Indonesia every 60 days... thankfully I don't have to undergo all the rig-a-ma-roll of renewing the visa, traveling to Jakarta to have 'bio-data' taken (fingerprinting and photographing), or re-processing myself and my status in Indonesia... AND, I'm hoping to use this as an opportunity to get to some of the other fabulous places in South East Asia!

When people ask me everywhere I've traveled, I often tell them the story of my 'list' upon coming to Indonesia as a volunteer years ago... I had never been to Asia before and had no concept of how big it truly it! I had a list of places I thought that certainly I would travel to by the time my 26-month volunteership was up... it included, in broad, sweeping strokes, such puddle-jumps as "Australia", "Thailand", "Malaysia", "Timor" (and maybe even "Philippines", "Cambodia" and "Vietnam")... ...hahahahaha...

(put on a deep, hollow, dracula laugh.... and try that again...)

... hahaha....

After being in Indonesia mere months, and quickly realizing how HUGE and incredible diverse Indonesia itself was, this list localized considerably, and became a list of provinces and regions within Indonesia that I absolutely had to see. Well, I have not even done as well on that list as I would like to have thought, but I have enjoyed each and every place I have been in this awesome country, which never ceases to amaze. And now, am taking it up a notch, and looking back at my original 'list'!

My first stop: a visa run to Monkey around in Malaysia in March...

Where, in addition to the fireflies at Kampung Kuatan, I had a chance to hang out and commune with the 'silver leaf' monkeys at Kuala Selanggor!  They are much more amiable than those in Bali... no stealing of sunglasses, or being cheeky... these guys are a much more subdued, respectful clan!

What's Burnin'!?

I have my dear cousin Caroline to thank for the newest addition to my language-learning stories theme.... she has been visiting for the last ten days, and since I immediately dragged her to the far-flung reaches of the earth, to the field with me in Papua (probably one of the most remote place still in existence), where I work in local villages where no one speaks English... she put on a brave face, and started to learn some Indonesian!

The best of her little slips, which I think actually works really well, and may just become the next new, hip, catch-phrase of the decade, was consistently dyslexic.... she likes to ask people "What's burnin'?" instead of "How are you"/"What's up?"  I love it!

She also thought I was calling a perfect stranger 'my love'... which the entire crew and team got a real kick out of!  (I was actually saying "Selamat siang", which means, "Good mid-day"... she thought I'd said sayang (which is like calling someone 'dear one', 'dearest', or 'my love')!!!  I know I'm not generally shy... but really???

Twinkle twinkle little... firefly

Mystical, magical, inexplicable... all words that kept running through my head as I tried to decide how to describe the experience at Kampung Kuatan village with the flickering fireflies...

Last night I was floating along on a mesmerizing rowboat ride around the mangroves outside this little village an hour and a half from the hustle and bustle of Kuala Lumpur.  Why?  To see and experience the natural wonder of the Selangor Fireflies... literally THOUSANDS of twinkling, flickering fireflies light up the riverbanks of the Selangor river.  The most astounding thing about this phenomenon is that they are all blinking... in unison!

Witnessing this phenomenon triggered a vague remembrance of something from a biology course about biological synchronization...  of course, there are many examples of it, which are equally as incredible - chirping crickets, women's menstrual cycles, the pacemaker cells of the heart - but they don't evoke the same emotion for me as the natural light show in the mangroves.  And now for the life of me, I can't remember the explanation for this synchrony, or even if there is one!?!

As our local oarman bore us up the river, there was nothing but the rhythmic sound of the oars plying the water... with the occassional break in stroke as he re-adjusted his grip, got tired, or gave us a small break in complete and utter mangrove silence.  (Mangrove silence, as anyone of you has visited these interesting ecosystems teeming with life will know, is anything but 'silent'... but it's a natural and beautiful thing... until you start to wonder about the crocodiles...).

During an endless moment, as we sat in a complete and special stillness... everything became one... we were surrounded by the fireflies, perhaps one on every leaf of the mangrove tree beneath which we rested.  Their little constant lights were reflected above in the thousands of stars in the clear night sky, and below in the mirror-like smooth riverwater....  I swear my heart started beating in unison with these creatures.  It was peace.

Loss of a Leader

Bapak Leo Saleo
Friend and Conservation Warrior

The photo above was taken at the Grand Launch of the Kalabia Education Program in August 2008 - Pak Leo was performing with a musical group from his village of Yensawai that worked hard to preserve traditional music and culture.  He was a proud advocate of the Kalabia program, and education in general.

We've had some terrible and shocking news from the field on March 1, 2010... a valued member of our field staff, Pak Leo, was killed while working toward the conservation of the area which he loved.  Pak Leo, native to Raja Ampat, was the leader of the sub-area Dayan of our Dampier Strait MPA team (photo of him with part of his patrol team at the Dayan Post in June 2009 below).  Pak Leo was also the head negotiator of the village senate council and a tenure land owner in the area (as part of the first tribe to occupy the land).  There was illegal logging going on in the area, and Pak Leo was very much against foreign people and companies coming in and exploiting his tribe/family's resources and future for their own short-term gain.  He was called to a meeting under flag of truce to discuss a solution to the problem, and when he arrived with his brother, an ambush was waiting for them.  In cold-blood, the savages chopped at Pak Leo with a machete and killed him.  The illegal loggers had set him up.  And the true tragedy is that the police did nothing about it - because the people involved in the illegal logging are so powerful they have the chief of police in their pocket and were able to distort and quell the investigation.

The entire staff went to the funeral together in his village of Yensawai, where we found an entire village in shock and reeling from this great tragedy.  It was the most intense funeral I have ever attended - the mourners were many... his loss is such a tragedy in so many respects.  Pak Leo leaves behind 7 children, the youngest, a mere 2 years old, will never truly know her daddy.  But I am sure that the memory of pak Leo will live on, and the story of this conservation hero will be told for generations to come.

Myself and the Kalabia team were the last of our staff to spend time with pak Leo - we had a 3-day training based at his post on the island three days before he was murdered.  We feel privileged to have had this last time with him, learning more about the team's activities in the area, enjoying his charismatic company, as well as appreciating the impecable dicipline of the team, and how efficiently and orderly things were run at his post.  We can hope that others will be motivated by his initiatives, take up the cause, and continue to work for conservation in his name, and with the same passion and spirit shown by this great man.  Pak Leo was such an inspiration, and a true local conservation leader - he will be greatly missed.