Thoughts of the Rainforest and Deforestation

    So we took a bus from KK to Sepilok and we saw the land pass us by through the window. We started in a secondary-forest, and saw a giant waterfall from one of the mountains. It was at least 100 meters tall because it seemed long from the other side of the mountain.

The roads were good, but there was a lot of traffic. Houses dotted the landscape from time to time, some looked as if they were leaning to one side and had been built a hundred years ago. They sat, planks of wood upon stilts, cloths hanging and sometimes people sitting on the porch aimlessly.

 I though how quiet their life must be, how they must wait for someone to stop and buy something from their vegetable stand. How that would be the peak of their day. Though perhaps the sadness our aimlessness I thought I saw in their eyes was tainted by my opinion of their lifestyle. I could not talk to them or ask. I though how it must be hard for the women who seem to be tied to their house and child rearing while the men went out to work on the plantations. Sometimes the women would sell vegetables and fruits on a lonely stall next to the road. I saw patches of forest, and the palm plantations kept getting larger and larger till all that was left was the palm trees. I was angry that they cut down the forest. I was angry at the people, but at the same time I saw their poverty.

     According to the Lonely Planet, Palm oil production accounts "for over 40% of global production" and is responsible for "85 % of deforestation in Malaysia". It is the main livelihood of the people in these regions. However, some of the plantations are so huge I doubt that it belongs to the people living in those small little huts. Big company names were printed on smooth round stone taps every so often. I saw the company name NPC, among other that I cannot remember. 

     Two ladies talked to us when we made a stop halfway to Sepilok, they invited us for Sea food. It was very nice of them. They were preschool teachers that lived in Sepilok and went to KK to work. They were on a holiday for the school break.
     When we got to our stop, almost in the middle of nowhere. There were a few closed shops around and a statue of an Orangutan. We saw a sign that said Paganakan DiI 2 KM. The sun was about to set and the road led through a plantation. A man walked up to us and said it was not to far a walk. He tried to call the hostel with  his cell phone, but there was no answer. He said it was safe to walk. Kevin told me when he left that he had stopped his car to talk to us. People are so helpful here.
     So we decided to walk and hoped to make it before sunset. We walked through the plantations, took a left as the man said and kept walking. We saw some birds scurry across the road, and a few dogs. Some people drove by in their cars, but none smiled or waved like they did in KK. After about half an hour we saw a forest merge and we saw the sign Paganakan Dii again. With releaf we walked in and saw some small pounds, water lilies and deer. It was appartently a deer sanctuary. We followed a mini van and found the place.
     It was a beautiful little cabin situated amoungs a little rainforest. We could hear the insects chirping and some birds too. people looked happy as they sat drinking beer and talking. The man helped us and showed us our dorm. The place was so nice. It had screens in the front so we could hear the sounds of the rainforest at night when we slept. The beds were comfortabel and clean. It was amazing. We met a lot of nature loving people and looked at pictures of all the animals you could find in the rainforest as well as pictures taken along the mighty Kinanbatagan River.
     We slept wonderfully. I wrote a few things in my journal here on the forest:

Journal Entry        

     The trees in this forest grow very tall and they are surrounded by dense green that is so thick it looks like a wall from where I sit. Birds, bugs, frogs and toads all sing their morning song. I wonder why they sing. I know some would say it is not like really singing, that this is only a human characteristic, but there is so little that we can know of their natures, their perspective, their feelings. What do they know? Humble as they are. Their home is a place of beauty and danger; tranquility and violence. From where I sit, the jungle seems so pure and perfect. The air blows lightly on my face and I feel peaceful, but something inside me says there is more to the forest than this. There are hardships both human and natural. Despite what the fores may or may not be, still does not gives us the right to cut it down so ruthlessly. It is home to thousands, some like us, and some unlike us. But really, "us"", does not play a role in everything. Sometimes places need to be preserved because they are part of the same world as us. Each having a right to try and survive and live whatever life it may live. Their is a source, a life flow here that plantations or rice fields could never kindle or hold. It is so sad to see thousands upon thousands of acres of rainforest being tuned into rolling deserts of palm trees almost as far as the horizon.

The Forest of Sabah

The trees stand tall

Confident and silent as the breeze

That moves them to a russel

Leaves small as birds that sit on branches

Only revealed by their song

There is not a moment of sound that is silent

But all the voices of the forest chirp lightly and calmly

Their sounds are carried upon the surface of brooks

That flow cool currents through dense trees

Or they are carried upon the soft breeze 

With the stir of leaves all around

Thta softness washes over you like a balmy silk

Bathed in soft sunlight

And if you let it, your body submits to it

It can soften sadness

The clouds in their big sky

Sit above the trees and move

So slowly, lulled by the rhythm of the forest.