Happy belated xmas

Just got this shot from Leila's dad today... it's too cute not to post. Leila is Avae's older sis'.
We went out a few days before xmas and sang carols on the ridge with little candle lanterns on sticks and musical antlers on our heads. T'was fun!

Activities of late...

Howdy all, been busy as usual, and we just returned from a fantastic trip to Malaysian Borneo, in the state of Sabah. But first, here's a few pics from the last few months.

Climbing Club!
Brent and I started a kids climbing club. There's a 'sports dome' here in town which showcases several events, but outside off the parking lot is a nice, huge climbing wall:

It's about 20+ meters high and we get to climb the scaffolding on the backside to hook up the top ropes. Centered here are two 'speed climbing' routes which locals practice on all the time for such events in the X-Games, etc. Indonesia has produced several speed climbing champions and we've seen them reach the wall in 1/4 the time it takes us to!

we're teaching them all the basics about balance, climbing with 'quiet feet', keeping 3 points of contact, using arms, not legs, safety and communication. It's a great group of kids and we've seen tremendous improvement in a very short time!

Of course, there's plenty of fun to be had, too!

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more riding:

Sir Paul (red helmet) was heading off to a new post so we had 2 or 3 farewell rides. Greg crashed on this one, and Paul had a doosie of a fall and puncture on the last ride which I missed due to illness. Our rides are rough and tumble enough that we average one person crashing per ride.

Here's one of the steep slopes we ride down on our urban jaunts. Not too steep but very slick sometimes.

This is Pak Yayang. He is our 'caboose' and an incredibly strong and gifted rider. He has helped so many people out and is one of the happiest people I know. He is nearly the sole reason I want to learn to speak more bahasa Indonesia!

Sometimes it's not the riders who crash!

Pak Eko (like 'echo'), he has blossomed incredibly in my short time here, and still on an old school bike like mine (though I usually cheat and ride Jill's)


OK, so the hills here are steep, and photos usually don't do it justice. But these are stairs and only 2 guys could somehow manage to get up this ramp on the left... and then even got up the stairs at the top of the hill?! This one's called 'Snakes and Ladders'


this is what we feel like after trying such silliness


another good weeknight ride out!


some local boys enjoying our antics
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Iza update- our little baby is no longer. She titles herself as a 'little girl' (except during a horrible midnight breakdown last night. Ugh!). Now at 27 months, she's getting more and more dexterous doing more wild dances, somersaults and getting more intricate with her drawings with crayons and pencils. She's also learning bahasa Indonesia and her new favorite word is 'sama sama' which means 'same thing/similar'. Her hair has gotten incredibly long, especially in the last month... we can pull it back in a pony tail no problem now, but she and I are due for a haircut, so uncle Develan, sharpen up those scissors! Here's my babe and babes:

Iza and her best friend, Avae


there's my girls!


Iza and daddy enjoying Baby Group
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Teaching Design & Technology (D&T)-
I am the new D&T teacher at the school now, since every other teacher is overbooked with their own classes. It is a hands-on class taught separately to each grade, from K to 8, about a week each. Basically there's a problem that needs to be solved and the kids need to devise a plan to solve it with either restricted or open ended materials (and guidance!). Grade 1 made a cool freight train from milk boxes as the 'seas were rising and the school and its supplies needed to be moved inland to a higher elevation' (they were learning about transportation of goods. Grade K made Chinese New Year's paper lanterns, with designs representing the four season on each side. The older kids had a great time, too. One of my favorite projects was a 'paper column challenge' project. The 4th graders were learning about ancient Greece and I upped the anti by asking them to design 4 to 6 paper columns that will be strong enough to withstand at least 10 big literature books, which were 4 pounds/1.8 kilos each. They could only use previously used A4-sized paper and glue sticks. The kids didn't think it was possible at all...

one unique 'square' shaped design, which held up very well to repeated book crashings because of the previous folds.


One girl won last year's D&T schoolwide challenge (egg drop from 3 stories high) and is VERY likely to become some sort of engineer. Super talented girl! She tied with 2 others with holding the most weight, over 85 pounds!

pretty insane for paper and crappy glue!

Next up was another cool project, a rainforest canopy research outpost! Grade 2 was learning about the rainforests around the globe so I thought I'd put everything into perspective so they can learn what a challenge it is for scientists to learn about everything at such a great height.
they had to design a 'tree house' for their science team to stay/sleep


and a safe, stable canopy bridge


and a mechanism to get them and their equipment up and down the trees (the height of everything is to scale relative to the Lego people)

enjoying the view

Hope you enjoyed the much overdue update... next up our Kinabalu trip!

Samboja Lodge/Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation

Iza and the PRIS orangutan, which she shakes hands with every time she passes it since we've moved here

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A few weeks ago, Jill, Iza and I went up north to visit Samboja Lestari, the orangutan protection and rehab center, which our school helped create back in the 1990s. We were scouting out the lodge and grounds to help finalize details for an upcoming middle school trip. The lodge itself, is very impressive, built of nearly all local materials and based on many traditional designs. The animals, however, are in not as impressive of a state.

the unique looking lodge with its high observation point
(and 2 very nice, expensive hotel suites)

Iza enjoying the view from the highest lookout tower in the lodge.
From here you can see most of the orangutan islands, each either just males, females or those with Hepatitis and other diseases

our fearless guide, Agus, telling us the good, the bad, and the ugly

I know we live in the tropics, but our new home town is pretty urban. The grounds here were much more thick with vegetation, and the main focus of the foundation now is reforestation of all native species, a massive undertaking

the Borneo Sun Bear, which is the symbol of Balikpapan. It is the smallest bear in the world, only about 2-2.5 feet/<1 meter high at the shoulders, a bit like a medium to large dog. Though not all of them have it, they are named this as the patch on the chest often looks like a sun in a dark sky

Look at the size of its claws.
These bears are here because of loss of habitat

little green alien

The other evening I remembered to get out on the balcony and enjoy the cooler night air after another hot-oven-interior day in the tropics. Sitting back in one of our bamboo chairs and just trying to think of nothing as the stars came out, I saw a little green thing wiggle on one of the railing posts. I looked more closely and it wiggled it's torso out towards me, as if checking me out, too.

It was a Praying Mantis,
first one I've ever seen with my own eyes.

I got Jill to come out to meet our new friend. And when we returned it flew somewhat graciously to the ceiling near a 3"/7 cm gecko (young one, but not a baby, they're really tiny!). We could see it was going for a smaller bug that the gecko was after, too. The mantis flew again and nabbed it before the gecko, which was very surprising as geckos are FAST! The gecko then went after the mantis but it couldn't fly... so the gecko went to the corner and pouted and the praying mantis posed patiently for me as I shot about 40 pics. It was definitely aware of me and moved its head and torso appropriately every time I neared it with the camera.

I'm sure it didn't appreciate the flash going off so close to its eyes...

I'd estimate it was about 5"/13 cm long. The skin and/or wings were much more oily looking than we expected. It has lots of tiny barbs on its legs.

We hope it comes by for another visit again.

The weird one pictured on here from August or September hasn't shown up again.

One of my favorite books to read with Iza is, "I am a bunny" by Ole Risom (drawings maybe by Richard Scarry? not sure). Nicklaus the bunny tells you what he loves about the four seasons and what animals he sees and what he likes to do in each season. When Winter comes in the end, he curls up for the long sleep in his hollow tree and dreams about Spring... and in his dream is a Praying Mantis and a few other insects. I hope Iza gets to see it next time.

We're really living in a unique place!

Best of ExplorersWeb 2008 Awards: The longest row, Erden Eruc

Our good friend, Erden Eruc, returned to sea last month near the Philippines and Papua to re-cross his previously rowed path, to continue on with his human powered cross-Pacific row, just one leg of his Around-n-Over project. He was hoping to finally reach Australia or some other major landmass w/o crashing into the thousands of coral reefs.

On February 4, 2009, Erden landed successfully in Finschhafen harbor on Papua, thus completing the Pacific row, with he and his boat in one piece. He will still need to get his boat, or at least himself in a kayak from here to Australia, where he will ride his bike to Australia's highest summit and hike to the top to summit... then continue on to the Himalayas and Everest. Can you say he has, just slightly, a full agenda for the next few years?

Explorersweb/MountEverest.net tracks mountaineers and adventurers around the globe and has honored this last leg of Erden's voyage with their 2008 Explorer award. The direct link is in the title of this post, but their story and pics follow. Congrats again, Erden!


Image from inside a dry cabin.

"Receiving wind from port side, see the ribbons fly..."

"Alaskan fishermen wear these liners inside their boots; so do I on cool mornings," Erden dispatched.

Sam was day-dreaming about Antigua bars; Erden (image) was reading about reasons for why human civilizations developed at different rates.

20 teleconferences with schools around the world, 130 dispatches, 2400 emails, 30 cassettes of high def video and $12,000 raised for charity. Image of the compact Contact hardware solution for emails and dispatches.

The cross bars had a cantilever extending over the side bars with the wheels. The cantilever broke due to metal fatigue. The sliding seat became unusable once one wheel block separated. (Click to enlarge).

Erden's position over Contact 4.0 early March when he decided to beach in Micronesia. But the sea decided otherwise. Currents brought the tiny vessel back out again, and Erden's voyage continued.

A change of clothes: "How much the shirt color had changed became glaringly obvious when placed next to an identical shirt, only new and unused. I am sure by the time I reach Australia, that new shirt too will have soiled."

Never lonely: this Remora's suction plate would stick itself almost by reflex to any surface it touched.

A miniature version of the scary Holywood varieties, this shark had a grey top which faded toward a white underside.

Erden caught another shark, but the meat gave off such an odor that Erden had to throw it out - which made him feel sorry for it and swear to never fish again.

Frazzled looking Red Footed ('bad') Booby on the oars, Brown ('good') Booby on the prow.

A Storm Petrel crashed the party: "Once the bird sensed that it was safe, it calmed down, perhaps enjoying the warmth of my hand," Erden dispatched.

The end; we watched Erden search for increasingly wilder solutions and befriend shrimp.

Erden looking pretty good after 310 days locked up in a tiny rowboat with only birds and fish to keep him company. All images live over Contact 4.0 courtesy of Erden Eruc's Around-n-over website.




06:42 pm CST Dec 28, 2008
In the middle of nowhere on the Pacific Ocean, Erden's rowing boat was slowly transforming into a Noah's Ark. Birds hung out in the crammed spaces, a faithful flock of fish trailed the boat.

Erden's little-big voyage was like a castaway fairy tale. No rower had ever spent so long time at sea and in Erden's live pictures; ancient tales of the shipwrecked came alive.

We have covered close to a thousand expeditions in 2008. It's difficult to choose the best, as they all contributed in their own way, sharing their story - their very soul in fact - with us and the world.

And yet, there are those who linger in our minds long after their final debrief. We have chosen 8 expeditions who have contributed in an extraordinary way to the Spirit of Adventure in 2008.

Today number 4: the longest row, Erden Eruc

It was funny to compare the two ocean warriors' dispatches. While young Britt Sam Williams was bored already after three days out on his 70 day skip across the Atlantic Ocean; on the vast Pacific Erden felt like he had left just yesterday.

Sam passed time putting his alarm clock on and off; occasionally hitting the snooze function. By that time Erden had already done 20 teleconferences with schools around the world, 130 dispatches, 2400 emails, 30 cassettes of high def video and raised $12,000 for charity.

Sam was hallucinating about cold drinks in Antigua bars; Erden was reading books "about reasons for why human civilizations developed at different rates reaching different levels on different continents."

Long after Sam reached shore; Erden broke yet another Mountain House freeze-dried package pondering, "why companies differ in their levels of competitiveness or why the offspring from one family are more successful than those of another."

Answer blowing in the wind

Due to its vastness, Pacific rows are difficult and unusual. Following years of quiet; three rowers attempted the challenge this year, but soon only Erden remained. Where he was headed no one really knew - least of all Erden. The winds and the currents left the lonely rower only to guess his final destination. Samoa, Papua, Australia or China - all were possible options at some points of Erdens never-ending row.

Buried in current- and weather charts, Erden took it in stride: "I am now reading 'The Middle East' by Bernard Lewis," he reported, "which no doubt will prompt further reading interests of its own." There were also recorded books, Spanish lessons, and a collection of about 9,500 songs from all over the world available for a shuffle on the rower's MP3 player.

Plenty of problems to solve

The adjustment was a two step process, Erden told ExWeb afterwards. "First I had to wrap my mind around the fact that I could be alone on a big ocean for seven months or longer."

"Then after about 3-4 weeks at sea, I had to deal with the 'what the hell am I doing out here' question! Internalizing the experience and becoming one with the environment followed. I would say it took about a month to adjust and to accept."

In fact, there was plenty to do and we learned all about it through Erden's live reports and images. A former mechanical engineer, Erden went into detail how the seat construction could have been perfected...in hind sight. "A minor disaster," he reported when the sliding seat broke. "I had to find a solution. I wrecked my brains about what tools and parts were available on board."

The whole point of unsupported exploration is that it breeds invention. Erden had his hands full. "I rummaged around for metal bars, screws, and spare plywood, basically anything that could serve as a cross bar and could hold the side bars in place," he reported.

"Then I started looking for my hand drill. I had seen it on the boat somewhere. It had shown signs of corrosion. Would it work? I had a metal saw, also corroding, which might work to cut pieces to size. But I could not find the drill. Where on the boat was it?"

"This initial flurry of inventory for parts and tools kept my mind from despair and panic. I had a problem to solve. Could it be solved with what was available? My doubt slowly turned to certainty that fixing the seat was going to be a miracle."

Promises to Nancy

By February the tide, the winds and promises made to wife Nancy seemed to have won. Erden decided to beach in Micronesia. "Continuing further will put me in great risk during the typhoon season in the areas around the Marianas and farther west," he explained:

"My priorities are:
A. To stay alive,
B. To save my boat, and
C. To continue the circumnavigation.

My promises to Nancy are:
A. I will not die,
B. I will not lose her,
C. We will not go bankrupt."

But the sea decided otherwise. Currents brought the tiny vessel back out again, and Erden's voyage continued.

How to cook a shark

Erden noted everything, and dispatched it to the world. We got an explanation why one shark smelled foul and the other didn't:

"I received input on the ammonia like smell in the shark meat. It turns out that sharks do not have a well developed kidney; therefore the urea remains in their blood stream. When caught, the shark needs to be bled immediately to keep the urea from infusing into the meat."

"One method suggested was to cut the tail while the fish was still on the hook and to let it bleed. Sounds cruel, but is that worse than suffocating it on deck which takes a much longer time?"

"Then to remove the urea, the meat needs to be soaked in brine. In my case, plain salt water from the sea would have worked."

"This was why I lucked out with the first shark that I had caught. I had then placed the slices of meat in a bucket full of water just to rinse them, which had helped dilute the urea. I could smell it, but that did not stop me from enjoying the fatty meat over three large meals."

"Mr. Murphy is an avid reader of my dispatches"

Time passed. Erden battled his charts, his oars and his state of mind. On a winter night, the boat capsized to 170 degrees. The vessel was almost upside down when a rogue wave hit, throwing Erden to the ceiling and then dropping him back on the mattress when the boat righted itself.

"I lost a few items from the deck in the process. I had to open the cabin door to empty the water which had entered through a vent into a cabin bulkhead, first using a cup then a sponge. Had another rogue wave hit in that vulnerable period with an open hatch, the boat would not have righted itself. Of course after that experience, the vent remained closed!"

One gloomy day though, the situation was getting even to this trooper.

"I am tired of the rain," Erden dispatched. "The tropical rain fall is enhanced by the effects of the convergence zone. I am living wet. It is affecting my mood, it is starting to grate on me."

"I am no longer making announcements on which way I will row. The rumor is that Mr. Murphy has accepted a position at the Department of World Climatology and Pacific Winds, and I heard that he is an avid reader of my dispatches."

Noah's Ark

Somewhere in the middle of the Pacific; we watched Erden's rowing boat slowly transform into a Noah's Ark. Solo sailors who survived ocean crossing in life rafts after losing their boats often told tales of fish and birds keeping them company on their lonely quests for survival. Anno 2008; Erden dispatched live about all his friends.

The Dorado hangarounds skillfully outfoxed the hooks trailing Erden's little boat. There was the 'Good Booby' - sitting on the prow and chatting away after each period of fishing; and the 'Bad Booby' - sitting on the spare oars and pooping all over the deck.

One a rainy day a Storm Petrel crashed the party - literally: "I reached under it, fingers first, gently nudging its chest with my palm so it would walk up," Erden wrote.

"I cupped it with my other hand, to keep it from getting hurt while trying to free itself. I positioned its feet to perch on my left middle finger and its chin to rest on my left index finger. My left thumb was over its back loosely so its wing flapping stopped. Once the bird sensed that it was safe, it calmed down, perhaps enjoying the warmth of my hand."

Running out of water

Returning the bird to the ocean, Erden could well relate to its vulnerable position. The going had been hard lately. Erden had lost distance and fretted over his supplies.

Collecting rain for sweet water was not very successful. "Being so close to the surface, the bucket would be splashed by waves, and at best I would end up with brackish water,” he reported.

He would eat a shark if he had to, but they are rare in the oceans these days. One small guy took the bait finally and then a second one, but the meat gave off such an odor that Erden had to throw it out - which made him feel sorry for the creature and swear to never fish again.

Locked up in a tiny rowing boat and alone with the sea for almost a year; Erden fought with growing despair against the treacherous winds and currents. We watched him ponder increasingly wilder solutions and befriend shrimp.

Record

May 8, on day 304, Erden finally crossed the Equator. Two days later, on May 10, the rower took the record for the longest time at sea by an ocean rower, used to belong to Peter Bird. On day 310 it was over.

A resupply fell through and after the seas started carrying him north at a fast clip, Erden was finally picked up off the coast of the Philippines. "I certainly would have liked to conclude this ocean crossing in one push, taking my boat to a shore," Erden told ExWeb. "This would have meant a lot to me."

Sportsmanship is a big part of ExplorersWeb's awards. Like Peter Bird who too was assisted in the end; Erden never claimed victory in spite of his epic time out at sea. Instead, he told ExplorersWeb:

"This pioneer of ocean rowing [Peter Bird], who was lost at sea, had reached 304 days on one of his legendary rows. It gives me pride that I carry Peter's logo on my boat in tribute, while I now reach the level of his earlier commitment."

"I will cheer on the next rower who will take on the Pacific Ocean, hoping that his/her boat will make it to the distant shore in the best style."

Previous in the countdown:

5. Karakoram new route double, Babanov & Afanasiev
6. Red flares for freedom, Alberto Peruffo
7. The 14th knight, Ivan Vallejo
8. Wintering the Big White - Tara's 2007-2008 Arctic Voyage

Special mention:

North Pole winter, Matvey Shparo and Boris Smolin
B.A.S.E. jump, Valery Rozov
Everest seniors, Yuichiro Miura and Min Bahadur Sherchan
A personal sea voyage, James Burwick and the Anasazi girl

More about Erden:

Out on a human-powered circumnavigation, Turkish born American resident Erden Eruc already rode his bicycle from Seattle to Alaska and summited Denali. He also rode his bicycle from Seattle to Miami and rowed solo across the Atlantic.

Latest attempting to row across the Pacific Ocean, the original plan was to reach Australia, then row to India, make his way all the way to Namibia and row to Brazil. Unfortunately, unusual winds and currents prevented Erden from being able to get south of the equator. He rerouted for Jayapura, hoping that a resupply would give him enough time to beach there.

May 8, on day 304, Erden finally crossed the equator and two days later, on May 10, the rower took the record for the longest time by an ocean rower, used to belong to Peter Bird (304 days). Bird was later lost at sea in another of his legendary rows. On day 310 Erden was finally picked up off the coast of the Philippines.

Erden has now returned to the exact spot where he left off, hoping to resume his journey. Through his rowing, mountain climbing and biking Erden Eruc intends to eventually make his way back to San Francisco in a human-powered world circumnavigation that will also include a climb of 6 summits.