A week in the Indonesian Forest for a Non-Biologist

This adventure was better than I ever expected.

Today marks the fifth day of staying in the forest camp with Operation Wallacea Indonesia and we will be heading to the marine site tomorrow. Reviewing back on the past few days of the expedition, everything feels like a wild dream.

To give some background information about me, I don’t really study anything related to biology, ecology, nor geography. I decided to join this activity due to my huge interest in animals since I was very young. Picturing those animals running around in their own habitats has always urged me to see them in real life. Therefore, when my school advertised about this expedition program, I knew that this was the best chance.

Moreover, I also wanted to experience something that is out of my comfort zone. Living in a forest, especially a rainforest, is a huge contrast compared with living in the cities. The first challenge would be a change in my daily lifestyle. There are certain resources that are limited for people here, for example electricity, water and also food. There would be no air conditioners at night and we can only get a limited amount of food compared to back home as there are groups of people living with us at the same time as well. Taking a shower here is also relatively different than usual practice; we need to scoop out water from a huge bucket and rinse it over ourselves. You could feel yourself relax and get kind of excited after streams of cool water passes through your body on every scoop. Sleeping with insects and spiders crawling around you, hearing morning calls from different types of birds and cicada noises are also a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience, and that’s what living in a forest feels like. Of course, they do provide mosquito nets to reduce these small creatures from annoying our well-needed rest.

Everyday, we would wake up at around 5 to 6 in the morning and head for transects to conduct research and learn about the different species around the area. There are 9 transects around the camp, each are 1200 meters long and have their own distinct features when walking on them. We got the opportunity to walk on different transects to discover species in different areas so every journey was great and meaningful, but I will share here the most memorable journeys I had.

Credit: Myron Lee

The first one would be the herp walk. It was actually the first time in the forest for me and I had no idea what to expect. Although the trek there was slippery and muddy, we got to collect and measure different types of reptiles and amphibians that went into pit-fall traps set up by the scientists beforehand. It was very fun and cool getting to see these herps up close and learn facts about them! Next would be the bird survey. We started the trip at half past four in the morning in order to get to the start of the transect and start identifying them as they become active during the dawn. To be fair, the entire transect was very exhausting, but we got to hear a lot of unique bird calls while the guide showed us pictures of the birds that emit these sounds. The best part of the trip was when we found a tree that was full of hornbills. They were very loud and seeing these colourful creatures fly over the canopy just felt extraordinarily surreal.

Most importantly, there were people with us throughout the entire trip. As an introverted person, I am not really fond of socializing, but the people and staff around here were very nice, kind and would try their best to answer every question, and solve any issues we had. We also got to interact with the local people that were living in the forest, where they taught me some basic Indonesian phrases and gave me more information about their culture, I do also remember that one of them said that they want to get a PhD in biology!

You may feel uncomfortable for the first two days of your trip. But I do guarantee that as days go by, you will start to adapt to the environment around, especially when everyone is very supportive, and enjoy living inside this diverse and special rainforest. Though physically demanding, the knowledge I’ve learnt; the moments I’ve savoured; the friends I’ve made; and me constantly pushing myself out of my comfort zone will always be an unforgettable experience. I would like to say “Makasih” (it means thanks in Indonesian) to everyone that supported and contributed to this amazing camp and my time here in the Operation Wallacea Indonesia Forest Camp.

Written and Title Photo by Myron Lee