Ocean Naturalist

EVERYTHING OCEAN~travel enthusiast~environment activist-fish/invert nerd~boat/SCUBA girl~born on the Big Island and raised on lilikoi and waiwi

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Bukit Lawang, Sumatra, Indonesia Part 3⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ After that first little orangutan baby I was pretty thrilled! It was so innocent and cute and I was able to see it tentatively exploring around/climbing just like a toddler. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ After we left we kept hiking and then stopped at a shelter for a snack. The guides laid out a fantastic array of local fruit on a banana leaf table cloth (bonus! no single use plastics!). As we were sitting and eating I heard some rustling in the tree tops and I sprung up and walked in that direction. There was another orangutan coming straight for us with an older male baby (maybe 7 years old). The guides immediately packed up all the fruit and instructed me to put on my pack. This was one of the orangutans they warned us about. She has been known to steal peoples bags to look for food. A female orangutan has the strength of 3 people, and male has 5! ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ So we were all grouped together and I watched in awe at this "wild" orangutan and her baby crawled to the ground and directly towards us. We kept moving back and away as the guides instructed us. She and the little one walked around inspecting the shelter then move back up into a tree. Once they were back up in the tree the guides said it was safe to get a little closer to them and we got to see some really amazing interactions. I would really tell how much the mom loved her baby, she was gently stroking him with her hand and giving him kisses. The little boy was even giving her kisses, but then whipped about to look at us. Maybe he is right around that age when little boys start to think "it's not cool to kiss your mom in public". ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Like I mentioned earlier I really didn't know anything about orangutans before arriving to Sumatra. I will include more information in my next post!⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #adventure #backpacking #camping #hiking #jungle #jungletrek #orangutan #indonesia #bukit #lawang #bukitlawang #sumatra #chickswhotravel #solotravel #solofemaletraveler⁠ (at Bukit Lawang) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6Rkkj2Fk17/?igshid=167tbty4a9oyw

[oceannaturalist]

Bukit Lawang, Sumatra, Indonesia Part 3⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Before leaving the rubber plantation the guide talked to us about safety and a few individual orangutans that we would need to look out for. I listened to this thinking it was just a "worse case scenario" talk and was very unlikely to happen . . . more on this later. Then we started hiking and we were immediately immersed in the jungle⁠. It reminded me a lot of the jungle in Hawaii (where I'm from) but with lots of different plants, although some looked really similar. It was also so humid! By the afternoon I was completely drenched with sweat, I could literally wring out my tank top. I don't think I have ever had to do that before. The hiking wasn't particularly challenging and we took our time. I did see leeches, so gross! I didn't realize they can crawl around like an inchworm. Thankfully I did not get any but one of my hiking companions had one bite him in his sleep later that night! It must have been on his pack that he brought into the tent. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ The park is about 8,000 square kilometers and home to a big variety of animals like the Sumatran elephant, Sumatran tiger, Sumatran rhinoceros, siamang, Sumatran serow, sambar deer and leopard cat. Which I didn't see, they do up to 10 night treks deep into the park to look for those critters. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ We had about 3 guides with us at one point and they all fanned out to look for orangutans. All the guides from different companies (apparently there are 21!) seem to get along and share information with each other. There is also cell phone service in the jungle 😝so they just call each other when they find one. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ It wasn't long before they spotted one up high with a little newborn who was just starting to learn to climb around. They were eating a local fruit and just hanging out really relaxing. In one of the photos you can see the mom resting on a bed below the baby. It was surreal just watching them do their thing! ⠀ ⁠⠀ #adventure #backpacking #camping #hiking #jungle #jungletrek #orangutan #indonesia #bukit #lawang #bukitlawang #leeches #rubber #chickswhotravel #solotravel #solofemaletraveler ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀#sonyar7iii (at Bukit Lawang) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6PIflIl2Om/?igshid=hfk5detymx2t

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Bukit Lawang, Sumatra, Indonesia Part 2⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ We left early in the morning and made our way into the jungle. There were 1 other couple camping the night with me and another couple who were just coming along for part of the hike for the day. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ In the beginning we hiked through a rubber plantation. Farmers use a special curved knife to carefully cut into the bark and create a channel for the white sap to trickle down into a coconut shell. I rented some fancy shoes that I learned were made from local rubber! So cool and they were nice shoes too. I had only brought my chacos for hiking and later learned that there are leeches. So I was very happy to rent shoes for the trek! ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ After the rubber plantation we entered Gunung Leuser National Park. I feel like I can't talk about orangutans or Indonesia without mentioning palm oil. Protected areas like this are so important especially because of the increase in deforestation for palm oil growing. That is all I saw on my drive up! Newly cleared fields with palms planted. Trucks full of palm fruit heading to get processed. Farmers make way more money growing palm oil and it has increased exponentially. The tree is originally from West Africa. It is the highest-yielding vegetable oil crop, which makes it very efficient, and very popular. It needs less than half the land required by other crops (such as sunflower, soybean or rapeseed) to produce the same amount of oil. This makes palm oil the least expensive vegetable oil in the world. As food, palm oil is used for frying. It is also an ingredient in many processed foods. Industrially, palm oil is used for manufacturing cosmetics, soaps, toothpaste, waxes, lubricants, and ink.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Farmers are just trying to feed their families but it is sad to see so much mono-culture. I have a picture of one I crushed open to see what it looked like inside. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ The adventure will continue in my next post :)⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #adventure #backpacking #camping #hiking #jungle #jungletrek #orangutan #indonesia #bukit #lawang #bukitlawang #chacos #leeches #rubber #palmoil #palm #oil (at Bukit Lawang) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6NyoGFl234/?igshid=1n0iwqtw3132y

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I went on a real adventure! ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ You know when you do just enough research that you pick a great location, but you don't research it to death so there are still surprises when you get there? It's all about balance. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ I went to Bukit Lawang in Sumatra, Indonesia with the hope of having a jungle adventure and maybe seeing some wild orangutans and my experience greatly exceeded my expectations :) ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ It was a long journey to get there. I took a 1 hour flight from Kuala Lumpur. Then spent the night near the airport and took a 2 hour grab (like uber), then a 3 hour bus, then a 10 min rickshaw then a 20 minute walk. All I can say is that I am so glad I started early and arrived to my place around 12pm before the heat, traffic and rain. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ I had arranged a 2 day, 1 night trek with a local company that also included a nice lodge to stay in before and after the trek. I spent the afternoon exploring the little river town and their amazing gardens! Then at sunset another guest spotted an orangutan right across the river from the lodge! It was so amazing to spot one like that. She had a little baby and was eating new bamboo shoots, then she made a nest and spent the night right across the river from my bed. She was far away and it was raining really hard so photos were challenging. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ The next morning we started hiking early and I will continue this thread in the next post. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #adventure #backpacking #camping #hiking #jungle #jungletrek #oragutan #indonesia #bukit #lawang #bukitlawang (at Bukit Lawang - Sumatra) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6LNiXpFiZz/?igshid=8ji7cuduqtje

[oceannaturalist]

Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia . . . Continued⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Here are some more photos from the Batu Caves. There were other Hindu Gods and Goddess's many with their own shrine. It was around 8:30am and just a handful of locals were starting to arrive. They had to wait for blessings because the shrines weren't open yet. Most of them were families with young girls. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ These limestone caves started forming 400 million years ago! Some of them are large and deep and home to a unique array of animals. Unfortunately, that area was close when I was there. In the 1860's early Chinese settlers in the area harvested bat guano for their farms. Then in 1890 an Indian Trader named Pillai began to promote the cave as a place of Hindu worship. He installed the first murti (a consecrated statue) of Murugan in 1892. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Depending on what God or Goddess you are going to see there are many vendors selling traditional offerings like milk and holy basil and ghee candles. The ghee candles were my favorite and had the most amazing smell! ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ It was nice to see the place still being used for traditional practices. Although still very busy and touristy. There was also the token white person flying a noisy drone above the steps as I was leaving. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #traveling #malaysia #kualalumpur #stars #pleiades #constellation #batucaves #hindu #sony7ariii #limestone #caves #photography #travelphotography #chickswhotravel #lotsofsteps #steps #noisydrone #guano #chinese (at Batu Caves Hindu Temple, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6Ha4zdlgNh/?igshid=zogkip3yjhqj

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I promise I have been doing other touristy things too and NOT just swimming in the pool, playing with Kiara the dog. ⠀ ⠀ I went to Batu Caves which sounds like a Kuala Lumpur initiation for most visitors. It is easy to get to and mostly free, with to option to make a donation to any or all 7 of the Hindu shrines in the limestone caves. I went early in the day to avoid the crowds and heat. There are 272 steps leading up into the cave. ⠀ ⠀ The giant gold statue in front is Murugan also known as Kartikeya and this is one of the most popular shrines dedicated to him outside of India. Murugan is mostly worshiped in Southern India by the Tamil people and is the Hindu god of war. He is often represented as a youthful man dressed with weapons sometimes near a rooster and riding or near a peacock. It is said that he had 6 mothers who cared for him symbolizing the 6 visible starts in the Pleiades constellation. ⠀ ⠀ #traveling #malaysia #kualalumpur #stars #pleiades #constellation #batucaves #hindu #sony7ariii #limestone #caves #photography #travelphotography #chickswhotravel #lotsofsteps #steps (at Batu Caves Hindu Temple, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6FPUPSFIVr/?igshid=15cx3wq8vkswl

[oceannaturalist]

A friend recently introduced me to an amazing hike on Oahu called Poamoho Ridge. It was an incredibly scenic hike full of breathtaking views along the way. My friend also pointed out some rare native Hawaiian Palms. I didn’t know much about them so did a deep dive on the internet. I had no idea that the Native Hawaiian Loulu Palm used to dominate the the coastlines on most of the Hawaiian Islands and in the forest’s up to 2,600 feet in elevation. Captain Cook described the palms growing “as abundantly as grass”. Scientists have also discovered proof of this from pollen records preserved in fishpond sediment. Loulu palms are all in the genus Prichardia which somehow became established in the Hawaiian islands well before the first humans arrived. After arriving in the Hawaiian Islands it radiated across the islands becoming adapted to specific niches. Today there are up to 25 described species within the genus and are all considered endangered, rare or vulnerable. Each island has at least 1 distinct species. Some of these palms are so rare they only exits in one isolated stand. I found an interesting Hana Hou article from December 2014 describing a great example of this. A group of scientists and Nick Agorastos repelled over 1,000 feet down some remote cliffs on the Kohala Coast and discovered a new species they called Gordon’s Loulu isolated to a stand of twenty-six palms! These palms grow 25-60 feet tall and are all characterized by fan shaped leaves and large fruit that when ripe can be green or purple depending on the species. The seeds of the Hawaiian Loulu are much larger and less buoyant than their most likely ancestor found in the South Pacific. Once becoming established in Hawaii the trees found themself in a very unique, low-competition, predator-free environment and redirected their efforts into producing larger, more energy packed seeds to help their young fight their way trough the shady forest undergrowth. (continued in comments) #oahu #hawaii #hawaiian #nativehawaiian #native #hawaiianpalms #palm #loulu #endangered #threatened #vulnerable #poamoho #poamohoridge #trail #hike #muddy #hanahou #pejibayes #sonyar7iii #sonya7iii (at Poamoho Ridge Trail) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5RiAdVlXnS/?igshid=1d7lictw1hlsn

[oceannaturalist]

One of the sweetest things about leaving Hawai’i is taking the time to soak up every last drop of warm sea water, cold fresh water, hau blossoms drifting in and out with the tide, sun sets and sweethearts. Knowing you will return soon is also comforting but the space that is created when you leave somewhere you love to be . . . is kind of like adding punctuation marks to the end of a sentence. It adds a ending and a beginning to a story. I know this can be accomplished in other ways but for me traveling has always been the best punctuation for my life. How about you? What does traveling mean for you . . . I would love to know. Leave me a comment below. Traveling helps me stay present, in the moment and attempt to appreciate every single moment, take advantage of every opportunity. I’ll be sailing on Windstar as an Expedition Staff member naturalizing and driving zodiac tours for the next 5 weeks so stay tuned for some fun videos! #hawaii #luckywelivebigisland #bigisland #hilo #hilobreakwall #islandlife #island #ocean #cold #warm #wai #kai #lavarock #floaties #hau #blossom #haublossoms #lava #birdtrip #tide #manakai #alaskatohawaii #alaska #windstarexpeditions #windstarcruises (at Hilo, Hawaii) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1WxbKclBPW/?igshid=13qsvcw7rf6e5

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Very well done demonstration about how coral bleaching happens. 

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Little home sick this week! Missing Hawaii, the sun, the blue water and these beautiful jade flowers that no longer grow at my parents house because my Mom cut the vine down. Can't wait to plant my own one day!

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When taking survival at sea it is important to look like gumbie.

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I went snow boarding on Thursday. 

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Good morning rainbow at Honolua Bay.

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Old hair sheep in my patents pasture

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Waimea Farmers market

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Pu'u Kukui water shed in the Maunalei Arboretum, Kapalua.