Hunter by Nature

I think almost everyone who knows me knows that I have two very irrational fears: needles and spiders. I would say that for the most part, these ridiculous fears do not impact my everyday life. I can suck it up when I go to get shots, and I handle most spiders by myself. However, spiders very close to my face do not go over well.

We returned to camp from Kamarora on June 28th. We went right back into our routine, which I will not dive too deep into. On the morning of June 29th, I woke up at 4:30am to prepare. I grabbed my raincoat off the top of my tent, and a spider the size of a clementine came running out from underneath the jacket. I held in my shriek and furiously shook out the rain jacket. No spiders emerged, so I bravely put on the jacket and went through my day.

On the night of the 29th, I had a gnawing feeling that the spider would make a reappearance. When I checked my tent for spiders, there it was, the large spider sitting right above my sleeping bag. Somewhat luckily, it was not directly in my tent. It was between the rain cover and mesh layers of my tent. This was also somewhat unlucky as it made removing the spider extremely difficult. I called over my field assistant Diana, who was one of the only ones still awake. She assisted me in trying to remove the spider (she did all of the work). We swatted at the spider with my shoe and hoped that it would crawl out of the layers to the ground and leave.

After the spider mysteriously disappeared, I apprehensively approached my tent. As I unzipped my tent, there it was, yet again. Two inches away from my face. I would be lying if I said I didn’t scream. Diana reemerged from her tent laughing at me. After several more attempts the spider disappeared. We’re unsure if it fled or if we actually killed it (probably not as the shoe was just rebounding against the tent). However, it did not make another appearance. Thank god.

I loved being in the field. Now that we’re back in the city, I miss the outdoors. The forest was incredible and I am so proud of the progress we’ve made. However, that progress comes with a price: my pride. I would say that I am decently athletic. I played college tennis, and I’ve spent my whole life in sports or dance. I’ve gone on hundreds of hikes and have bushwhacked plenty. However, the amount of rain has resulted in a significant amount of mud.

I would say that for a 5’1 American I’ve done pretty well getting up the mountains. However, getting down is another story. After several falls, I have developed a method, which I call the slip and slide. I stand so my feet face sideways and slowly slide my front leg down until I reach a solid foothold or a tree. Then I grab the tree and yank the rest of my body to the spot. I repeated this method for many of my descents. This method, although slow, has given me the opportunity to really get a good stretch in. As I often have to slide myself into (practically) the splits to reach the next safe spot. Overall, the amount of falls I’ve taken has significantly decreased.

One of my biggest hopes on this trip so far is that my field assistants don’t hate me. Throughout our time together, the assistants have begun collecting forest greens and fruits to feed us. The greens have been cooked into our dinners (by our AMAZING chef Rani), and the fruits are handed to us. I have literally eaten countless random fruits at this point. They go knock them out of trees and hand them to me. I eat them without a second thought. I would be very easy to poison.

On July 2nd, we returned to Palu so that I could extend my visa. Prior to leaving Palu we had discovered several excellent affordable hotels, which were of course completely booked. We’ve ended up at a Best Western, which is very nice but a little pricey.

While in Palu we’ve become very popular. Our field assistants’ families have been so welcoming. They’ve taken us out to dinner, cooked at their homes for us, and continuously checked in on us. We also reconnected with the friends we made in Palu prior to our departure to camp. We’ve taken some time to rest and recover, but we’ve also gotten work done!

Outside of working, immigration visits, and making connections we also made time to experience Palu fully. Team Tarsius took a trip to the beach! The water was so warm and clear. We went out on a boat and some of the team went for a swim. It was absolutely beautiful and it was a great opportunity to spend time with the team outside of work.

We are now over halfway through our trip to Indonesia. And while we’ve had some bumps in the road, I feel great about where we’re at. So many of my goals for this summer have been accomplished, and I’ve learned so much! I’ve had incredible mentors who helped prepared me and worked with me during this trip, and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to do this. I am excited for the rest of July!

Sampai jumpa!