Day 35 - Sweat it real good!

This morning I took out Peanut again (he is one of my favourites, but just a coincidence I swear!). Chiquita is sick, so she's not allowed out. There was no sign of Yokmil, so we fed everyone and most of them went out to the forest. Jeremy was with us today, he is visiting from the Sun Bear Centre. He is learning how to best deal with the orangutans, because they frequently visit the Sun Bear Centre and the staff need to know how to handle them, rather than always calling the rangers over from Sepilok.

He is really nice and speaks excellent English, and has been one of the first people to actually ask me some questions. It is very hard to make conversation with some of the other rangers. He is responsible for educating the local communities about the bears and discouraging them from hunting them etc. He was keen to see Yokmil, as he had heard a lot about him, and just as we were talking about him, we saw Mimi emerge from the forest with Yokmil in hot pursuit. He followed her up to the top of the ropes and sat there. Suddenly James said not to look, because it turned out Yokmil was a little 'excited'. He started making lots of loud whoops and deep guttural grunts before grabbing Mimi for some private time. I have to say it was quite a feat of acrobatics. I'm still not sure how he managed to hold his weight up on the ropes whilst thrusting away. And the whole time Peanut, who was nearby, was leaning over trying to get as close as he could to observe the action!

Once Yokmil was done, he and Mimi both headed off into the forest. Then Malim decided he would also try it on with one of the semi-wild orangutans – so we got two sex shows in one day! Only Bidu Bidu came back in – and before he did he decided to stuff four whole bananas in his mouth, skin and all. His mouth was literally bulging! Guess he didn't want to risk Yokmil pinching them all again!

In the afternoon, Yokmil paid a visit once more. Bidu decided to drop to the floor and start eating from a muddy puddle. When I went over to grab one of his hands, he decided to use the other one to flick mud all down the side of my face! The macaques were out in force today – so I did a massive run at them, clapping my hands along the way, and they scattered, which is always hilarious to watch. You can hear them all rustling in the bushes, waiting to make another move! No doubt amusing for the tourists! Also had a bit of a stand off with Chiquita. She decided to keep swinging down from the rope, holding on with one hand and dragging the other all around the floor. Then every time you turned your back she would jump down. She kept trying to bite me and swipe at me when I attempted to get her off the ground. She is proper feisty when she wants to be!

Vijan and Jack had the afternoon shift off as they'd been recruited to play football. There was a tournament going on between four teams, which included people from the resthouse, Sepilok, the Wildlife Rescue Unit and other rangers and tour guides in the area (including from Turtle Island, which explains why they had a football field there – lots of training!). This tournament happens every two years and is designed to help strengthen everyone's bond, as they work together a lot. Our team came third, and in the evening they held a party to celebrate and distribute trophies. We paid 30 ringgit each and got plenty of beer, rice wine and food included. I didn't eat much, but the highlight was the donuts! They had done stacks of chicken wings on the BBQ, and Jack was shovelling them down. Bidu Bidu hadn't come back at the end of the day, and was now on the roof watching everything that was going on. Eventually he climbed down to the railing and had great fun sitting on it and then flopping back onto the deck with a big thud. In the end, Amoy escorted him away to sleep somewhere, before he got up to any mischief!

Soon the music started, and there were some great dance tunes, so Sylvia encouraged us all to get up and boogie. After one song I was sweating like I've never sweated before. The party was held outdoors, under a pergola, with just one fan, and as soon as we started to move around the sweat was just pouring off us. By the end, everything I was wearing was soaked through – my dress felt like I had worn it in the shower, sweat was running down my face like a river, and I couldn't sit down anywhere as I was leaving massive water marks! Safe to say I have never been so hot and sweaty in my life! One of the new rangers (Masrin or 'Mas') was an absolute demon on the dance floor. He is so quiet at work, and never says much, but he got so into the dancing, it was brilliant!

Then some Malaysian songs came on, including one where we were encouraged to stand in a circle and go around, flapping like birds. Then the karaoke started, and our work group got up to sing our jungle theme song - California Dreamin, which we always sing when we see an old, brown orangutan nest in the forest – because

'all the leaves are brown' of course! We'd all had a few drinks by then, so I'm not sure it was our best performance! It was great fun though, I think we all had a laugh, but some people were pretty rough the next morning.