Nanga Sumpa- Rainforest Hike

We started our first full day at Nanga Sumpa by taking a hike through the surrounding country side. After the hike we would meet up with some of the locals who would take us upstream, by boat, to enjoy a picnic lunch at a tropical waterfall.

Rubber Tapping

Rubber tapping is an important source of income for many people in Malaysia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_tapping

After peeling some of the bark off of the tree they make a shallow incision which causes the rubber to flow.


The sap flows into a little spout that directs the sap into ....


a high tech collection device.


They take the cups of sap and pour them into a contraption that I will call the rubbber storage device. Basicall this was a retangle that was about 2 feet wide, 5 feet long, and two inches deep.


After the rubber had hardened, they picked up the "rubber mat" so they could sell it.


Our guide Zach told us a lot about how the Iban use native plants. It seems like they have a use (food, building, medicine, etc) for virtually everthing that they find in the forest.


These butterflies were a lot cooler when they were flying, but I was only coordinated enough to take their picture when they were sitting still.


Looking down on the river fron the top of the hill.


Because eating orangutans was taboo it is sometimes possible to see orangs feeding in the forest near the longhouse. Sadly, we didn't see any.


Preparing the fields for planting.