It's my third day in Malaysia and my second day in Borneo. I am now at the incredible research station in Danum Valley appropriately called the Danum Valley Field Centre (notice the British/French spelling). I am sitting and enjoying the wonderful view of primary rainforest from my veranda. Everything is tranquil besides the constant drone of the diesel generator placed conveniently downslope from me. It's quite nice to have electricity (and internet!) out in these remote woods and I am sure I will get used to the diesel hum and perhaps hear some birds once my ears are able to tune out the noise.

This place is quite full of people, scientists, researchers and conservationists that are examining plants, insects, bears, wild cats, and primates, most notably the Orang-Utan, which made an appearance yesterday close to the camp (before we arrived). So far the weather has been great. It usually rains every day here, the dry season, lasting only a few hours. But so far it only rained for an hour, naturally it started right as I went for a swim in the river.

Traveling out here was not without its challenges. Like most days, the flight to Lahad Datu from Kota Kinabalu (the Capital of Sabah) was cancelled due to technical issues (meaning not enough people on the plane). We were scheduled for a 10am flight and were bumped up to the 4pm flight. As it gets dark around 6pm, this was quite a drag. So we spent the day in KK checking out the market and eating Philippino food. We went back to the airport at 2pm to find out they scheduled a new flight at 2:05, we caught it in the last minute.

Flying over Borneo makes you witness first hand the impact of the Palm Oil and logging industry. So much of the original forest is gone, massive areas are converted to monocultures of African Palm. Check it out on Google Earth, it is really quite shocking. Once the forest is cleared, the local climate also changes, making reforestation quite difficult. The forest is able to hold moisture and keep the area cool, once it is cleared, only hardy heat-tolerant species can survive, and these are mostly tropical weeds. As the forest does not grow back, they then convert it to palm plantations.

In an hour I am off to Malua, away from all the luxuries we have here. We have fruits, potatoes, cassava, and eggs. I will try to get some meat as much as I can for protein, but we'll see... I will definitely be losing weight out here, no fat, no cheese, no milk and a constant outdoor sauna.

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