A Short Visit, a Pretty Cool Adventure

Before coming here, I knew I’d wanted to go to Indonesia for a long time, and the chance to hang out with some weird and wonderful furry creatures seemed like a good way of spending a month of my summer. Other than that, I didn’t quite know what to expect from either the LFP or the lorises. So far though it’s been a pretty cool adventure. Long nights sat in a tea plantation halfway up a muddy mountain are made worthwhile by getting to watch the lorises go about their nightly business. The people aren’t too bad either.

Looking out over Cipaganti. The view to be enjoyed on the way back from an early morning shift in the forest.
Looking out over Cipaganti. The view to be enjoyed on the way back from an early morning shift in the forest.

Probably because everyone is partially nocturnal, life goes on at a different pace here. We emerge after dark, head-torches at the ready, and come back hours later with full data sheets and a fair amount of mud. Walking back from observation in the pre-dawn darkness to the sound of the imams from about five different mosques competing for attention feels pretty surreal.

We spent last night watching Maya, who seemed to be feeling particularly sociable. At one point we had three lorises following each other through the tree tops, and later on she spent ages playing with Mungkin (her youngest baby). The two of them made up a wriggly ball of loris fur high in the branches, clearly having the time of their lives. My first few weeks here have gone by ridiculously quickly, it’s a shame I don’t have more time.

Little Mungkin. Him and his mother Maya are still seen regularly together!
Little Mungkin. Him and his mother Maya are still seen regularly together! (Photo Credit: Dan Geerah)
  • Gyda Fenn-Moltu, Volunteer