Cambodia - 2016: Birds and Primates - Seima Protected Forest

Today I booked a forest with with Pech, from Sam Veasna Tours. They are "THE" birding tour group in Cambodia but have branched out to do a forest and monkey tour in Mondulkiri province in the Seima Protected Forest and part of the Community Development programs here. Just Pech and I, so we arrange for me to be picked up at 5AM to get going. It is dark at 5 AM, with a small crescent moon in the sky, but there are people moving aroung getting started on their day, including a man I assume is my landlord walking around in a sarong putting incense in the Buddhas and spirit houses around the hotel. We drive about 30 minutes to the Forest area, which is controlled to some degree by the Forest Authority and Wildlife Conservation Society, but lived in by a Bunong tribe. It's a bit hard to figure out who actually makes the decisions, a lot of discussion goes on I suspect. Base camp is where tourists stay on overnight trips and where there is a small lounge area - the local conservation education coordinator is working away on his laptop when we arrive.

Eventually the langurs noisily make their exit from where we are, and before we even make a move a troupe of gibbons moves in. They are silent - brachiating from tree to tree with almost no noise, just the movement of the branches giving them away. We heard them earlier this morning, but they are apparently less of a guarantee to see than the langurs so I'm lucky. The gibbon family hangs out overhead for a while as well - our guide has picked a spot where there is something good to eat in the trees, thus increasing our chance of seeing something. Eventually the move off as well, as do we - wandering in and out of dry water courses and following various trails. Apparently we are quite close to camp so it is my choice as to whether we go back to camp for lunch or eat in the forest. I definitely choose camp so we walk back and eat on the shaded porch area, after which we will wait for a while for it to cool a bit before going out again. I promptly fall fast asleep on the couch and hopefully don't snore.

Base-camp

The hand-washing station - bucket above and bucket below

I like the instructions for the composting toilet (outhouse) - its the first one I've seen like this here. And apparently good for wildlife viewing as well.

We meet our local Bunong guide, and head off into the dense forest. There are towering stands of bamboo as well as many large trees, although it seems like they are mostly figs and not many true hardwoods. We hear many birds but see few, which I expected as its very dense. The main point of the morning to is to see primates and forest so we traipse around for a while and eventually come to a flattish spot where we sit to listen to the forest. We actually listen to my stomach making such loud growling noises (its about 7:30) that Pech decided it is definitely time for breakfast, which comes out of the guide's pack.

Large stands of bamboo arching over the path

A large vine on a tree, which when cut into a section drips water.

The cut stem

Me drinking - I thought it would taste a bit like sap, but it just tastes like cool water - and there is quite a bit of it.

The bark of my favourite kind of tree, complete with Khmer grafitti

Out local guide listening for primates - and somehow never looking into my camera

My breakfast - fried rice and hard boiled eggs

The monkeys' breakfast

While we are sitting a troop of black-shanked douc langurs comes crashing through the forest above us. Their method of travel seems to be to leap from tree to tree landing with a lot of noise and activity. They are an endangered species of primate whose main population, at least in Cambodia, is here. There is a whole family of them who leap around from tree to tree, causing whole bunches of branches to wave about in the air above us, settling down here and there to munch a bit. The difference from viewing the acclimated group of gibbons in Ratanakiri is really obvious - here we are creeping around and trying not to make any noise, while there we mostly did the crashing and no one was too worried about keeping their voices down.

Claw marks in a tree from some kind of bear - there were quite a few trees marked like this, with the trail going really high up in the tree

Me with big tree

Spider nest

Forest floor mushrooms

Once it is a bit cooler (a relative term) we set out in the forest again to head to an area that was cleared for rice where it is sometimes better to see birds. We come across the langurs again, and the male is sitting propped up in a tree in the sunshine. Pech sets up the spotting scope to watch him -which is quite funny as its obviously nap time. The langur knows we are there, he's staring at us as much as we're watching him, but I can see his eyes close and then open again, and at one point his head falls backwards - I bet he's snoring too.

Pech and the spotting scope

Do you think he looks sleepy?

He is for sure - eyes closed in this one

We leave him to it and walk into an area that the Bunong decided to clear a year or so ago to plant rice. Not a uniformly popular decision as it was big tree forest and langur habitat. We sit in the shade and do see birds, including the two species of hornbills that occur here so my luck is in. It's the end of the day and we make our way to the road and back a short distance to the base camp, where our driver meets us and back to town we go - a golden orb of the sun dropping over the horizon as we get close to town. Shower definitely needed after a day in the forest!