| |
| |
|
|
|
| Sandakan—Orangutans
and Leeches |
|
|
| On the
morning of July 9, we were at Sepilok
Orangutan Sanctuary in the lowland dipterocarp
forest of northeastern Borneo in the Malaysian
state of Sabah. Barbara Harrison founded
Sepilok in 1964 as a sanctuary for orangutan
(Pongo pygmaeus) orphans where they are
prepared for re-entry into the wild. The
baby orangutans would be taught to climb
and swing, use vines, identify and forage
for food, and build a nest. A cute, cuddly
youngster stared at me mournfully with large
round eyes, pulled my hand into his mouth,
and started to suck my fingers probably
for salt. Jumping onto Uncle Steve's back,
my hairy little pal pulled and sucked my
hair and ears like a human baby and reached
for my hat and glasses, which I caught in
the nick of time. He quickly dashed off
into the bush glancing back like an errant
child. |
| |
| A
few hours later, the tone of the trip changed
at nearby Sandakan
POW camp, where over 2,700
Australian and British prisoners-of-war
were imprisoned under poor living conditions
performing heavy labor with minimal medical
care and nutrition. Australia's worst war
atrocity
occurred here. Between January and June
1945, there were three death marches where
over 1,000
POWs were force marched 260 km to Ranau
near Kinabalu. The remaining POWs at Ranau
and Sandakan were executed. Of the 2,700
POWs, only six
Australians escaped and survived. As we
walked around the mosquito-infested swamp
at the site of the POW camp, I felt a warm
wetness on my backside and groin and looking
down I saw a stream of blood trailing down
my right leg. "Take off your shorts" commanded
Margaret, a 40-something nurse who was walking
behind me. "But Margaret, we hardly know
each other". I discretely ducked behind
a shrub and found a round bite mark on my
waist left by a leech
that was probably acquired at Sepilok and
dropped off after it was satiated. At Sandakan
airport, I washed the bite with soap and
water, applied betadyne, and put on a dressing
but the blood continued to flow for several
hours due to anticoagulant enzymes in the
leech saliva. Tiger Leeches (Haemadipsa
picta) drop onto the victim from low trees
and bushes. Brown leeches (Haemadipsa zeylandica)
live on the forest floor and crawl up to
feet and ankles. |
| |
|
|
| Late in
the afternoon, we took a 40-minute flight
back to Kota Kinabalu on the west coast
of Sabah. A day later, we flew on Malaysian
Airlines to the bustling oil port of Miri
in northern Sarawak, Malaysia. There is
a dark side to Miri as I soon found out.
Young men from the oil-rich Islamic sultanate
of Brunei, which has no nightlife or alcohol,
and oil workers from Shell Oil attracted
a rather nefarious underworld of prostitutes,
transvestites, and hard drugs. I went over
to the luggage carousel to pick up a suitcase
and a backpack, which had a broken zipper
on the top pocket, out, of which, spilled
several envelopes with Chinese writing.
Someone had put these strange envelopes
into my pack. Find out what happened next
by opening the image of the Miri street
scene on the left. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
