In search of the Long Nose Monkey.

Aren’t dawns amazing? They bring with them a fresh day, a chance to do something new. As we wake just after 5am, the boat is still cruising upstream on our way to Muara Muntai. 

The sky has a magical glow - warming and yet more blue than a sunset. There is mist settled on the river banks giving them a mysterious feel and a general haze as the river winds away in front of us.  

It’s a pleasant temperature, a gentle breeze and no insects - perfect. You know it won’t last - won’t be long before it’s in the mid 30’s and the insects are out. Arriving at Muara Muntai we moor up and set off to explore this stilted village. A population of 12,000 make it a small town size. 

We pick our way up rickety planks to get up on to the Main Street. This town is built on stilts above the river, but they have still managed to lay about 200-300m of concrete on stilts which forms the Main Street. 

We are told by the locals that it’s not as good as the iron wood decking that runs everywhere else. It’s quieter though - the main transport is motorbikes and everyone that goes past on the wooden decking makes a loud rattle, too loud to talk over.  

The street has a range of shops selling everything from fresh chicken, dried salt fish, fruit and vegetables to clothes, gold jewelry, nets, electronic bird sirens - everything you might need if you are a local farmer or fisherman.  

I mention the bird siren as this is related to one of the biggest industries here upstream in the more rural area of Borneo. Bird Nests are harvested from the local Swifts and shipped to China.

They sell for $1 a gram here, $25 a gram in China. To farm them the locals build tall wooden houses to resemble caves. To attract the Swifts to nest in them they use these bird sirens to broadcast the Swift’s calls - day and night ! What sounds like the jungle from boat is mostly broadcast from these tall Swift houses ! 

To get to 2nd street you go down a narrow wooden boardwalk effectively going a block back. That block is not full of houses, but land being used for bananas, mangos, sweet potatoes, dragon fruit, palm sugar and the odd chicken.

2nd street is a wooden walkway, still on stilts but 6km long! It runs next to the school, chiefs house and all the town buildings including the new Mosque.

We then are off in a little motor canoe to explore the smaller rivers and lake Jempang. It’s dry season so the rivers and lake are not as full but there is still a safe channel. It takes a while to realize this while the canoe speeds between what look like random poles and clumps of weed. Then you start to see how the poles work, I guess like a skier in a down hill slalom.

Apart from fish farms, the lake is also used for rice at this time of the year. So you get a mirror surface with carpets of vibrant green. Sitting in amongst the weed & rice are varieties of birds, Heron, Great Egret, Javan Pond Heron, Purple Heron, Chinese Egret, Oriental Darters, Cormorants, Cinnamon Bitterns and Black Wing Stilts to name but a few. Eventually the lake ends and we join an ever narrowing river choked by river weed and floating river villages. Here are where the fishermen live. 

The men catch the fish and then the women process them. Like machines they cut off the head, slit guts open, pull out the innards - keep the yellow roe - and then throw the fish in a pot. 

Eventually they will salt it overnight and then dry it on bamboo racks in the sun for 24hrs. Most fish here is processed this way - and stored as dried fish. To use they soak it for 10mins in water and then wash away the salt. 

The river continues - there are white headed Fish Eagles soaring across our bows. Beautiful Stork Billed Kingfishers skim across from one side to another. Occasionally, in the blink of an eye, dropping into the river only to reappear with a fish.  

The odd troop of Macaques play in the branches or walk on the river bank with bearded chins looking at you with wonder. 

As we wind on - the river narrows further. It’s only just wide enough and deep enough for the canoe.

The banks are now dark and mysterious, almost foreboding as the green disappears and is replaced by treen trunks and twisted roots. Ball roots dangle down like bell ropes, all grey an lifeless. Eventually the river runs too dry, we turn around and head back to the lake. As we get back to the lusher river banks we find our prey for the day.  

Long nose monkey as our guide calls them. Proboscis monkey its normal name. In the local language they are known as Dutch Monkey - as the Dutch were known for big noses ! 

They don’t hang around for long as they hug the trees and go back in land at any sound. 

We are lucky enough to see a couple more troops as we head to the lake and then on to Tanjung Isuy. 

Tanjung Isuy is another stilted village. Traditionally the home of the Dayak Benuaq tribe. There are still 2 inhabited long houses here, although half the village is now Muslim. 

While we are there, one long house and the square in front of it is being prepared for a 2mth funeral ceremony. They will exhume the bones of one extended family and then celebrate and give offerings. The key being the sacrifice of a Water Buffalo. These events don’t happen often as they are very expensive, with most of the tribe attending, hence why they do the extended family. 

As always in Indonesia - we are genuinely welcomed in by a family, who turns out to be the daughter of the old Chief and niece of the present one. 

The Longhouse is a bit like a terrace street, just all under one roof. The front room is shared by all, but each family group has its own sleeping area in the middle and cooking area at the back. Away from the bigger, more affluent areas food is mostly dried - dried fish & rice being the staples. 

Then that’s it back to the canoe & a high speed run back to our house boat. Back on board and we set off again upstream. Another overnight cruise. But our sights didn’t stop, just as the sun is dropping I see, what looks like a ball, bobbing erratically. Then it disappears and as it does we see the tell tale sign of a dorsal fin. We’ve found freshwater Dolphins. 

These exist only in three places in the world - The Amazon, The Yangtze and The South East Asian here in Borneo, and a pod of 4 just went across our bow and are feeding near the river bank. The end of a perfect day - oh what a journey :)