I had just returned to the BSBCC from a week off to attend a my cousins engagement party in Kota Belud. By chance, Wong had left again just as i arrived, so as it was just, Waipak , David and Daniel the main keepers, and Pia the sweetest finnish girl (with a heart of heavy METAL!) were the sole workers for the moment. It felt really good to be back, like returning to a family after a long leave of absence. It was back to work as usual: The husbandry of cleaning cages, feedin, and providing enrichment. I absolutly loved it! Who would've thought that anyone could miss sweeping bear cells so much? The cooling spay of the power washer as it blasted tiny particulates of bear feces all around me and into my face... but miss it, I did. For me, the care of such intriguing animals was well worth the effort. Just the be in close proximity to the sunbears and observe thier individual personalities and behaviors was reward enough. At that time I made some new friends with whom were dubbed "the in-betweeners" as they were the fill-ins between Orang utan volunteer rotations (all of them being past volunteers themselves). In the time that I was away, Bermuda, one of the big males had taken his first steps into the outdoor enclosure for the first time in nearly ten years! It was quite sight to see him finally walking around like he owned the place after previously seeing him only timidly poke his head out of his cell to inspect the new open area. I also managed to meet Tomoyuki of Kyoto University, A primatologist whom worked with the "smartest chimpanzee in the world" Ai. His malay was much better than mine and we conversed a bit and quickly became friendly. it was quite refreshing to finally be around like minded people who care about wildlife as much as I do. Shortly, after I arrived though, Pia had to take here leave and was off to Gunung Mulu national park in Sarawak for some hiking to see the famous Pinnacles. Daniel and I made sure to give her a nice send of party with just the 3 of us as no one else there really drank at all. It was sad to see her go, but she was off to better, more exciting things! Roshan was back a couple days later and we were all glad to have his company again.
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