Forest vs jungle

OK
Left KL for Kuching & was picked up & brought here on Thurs.

The hostel is lovely, &, as there are 7 of us, I'm on my own - as James & Sal are sharing a room.

Our Iban guide, Francis, came by Thurs pm & told us the schedule, & yesterday he and Acok, the driver, took us to Matang Wildlife Centre where we saw animals being rehabilitated, & some being trained for life in the wild.

We saw one huge male, Aman, who was the first recipient of a glaucoma op (done by a surgeon brought in from S Africa), & he can now see after being blind for about 10 yrs.
He also got into a can of glue years ago, & stuck his tongue up, so half of it had to be amputated. I think he can still call, though.

We had a long chat with Leo, the centre director, who's British, &, as well as seeing a lot of saved animals, we got roped in to help with a bit of upkeep.
I helped a girl called Roxanne chuck a load of river stones over a wall into the croc enclosure.
I knew my shot-putt training would come in handy eventually!
Incidentally, the enclosure was empty, so no crocs were in danger of braining by rock ;-P

Today we went to a nearer rehab centre & saw semi-wild orangs being fed. One had a young baby with her, & the other was her adolescent daughter. Not sure of names, will ask Francis & put them up with the photos - which is likely to be once I get home, though.
It was a very interesting morning, & it's good to think these Orangs are successfully making a go of it in the forest.

Afternoon saw me falling asleep in the sun, yes again! & mooching round shops, before I sat down for a drink & got chatting to an American research scientist, from DC, called Clifford.

We chatted for ages - usual stuff: life, the universe & Orang utans! May still have been chatting, but James walked by at some point & told me the group were meeting at 7 for dinner, so we said our goodbyes about 1/4 to.

Tomorrow we have a 4hr coach journey, then about 2hrs in a boat upriver, so I'll be out of touch until next Sunday (31st)

Incidentally - Francis told us the word jungle came from the sanskrit jonglar (spelling may be wrong?) & which was bastardised by the English on their return home after stints in India.
I get the inpression he'd like us to call it forest (as in rain forest - which it is, after all!)

We can leave most of our stuff here, as we'll be coming back for 1 night before our transfers to the airport, & we're only supposed to take the minimum of stuff upriver.

So, as I need to finish packing the little case to take, that's all tonight.
OAO