Cambodian Wildlife Sanctuary - there's a mozzie in my ear!

We had a brilliant week at the Sanctuary, we felt like we had done a lot of meaningful work which hopefully will make some difference, even if only small to that area. It is good that Lek, the founder of Elephant Nature Park has taken it upon herself to help animals not only in her own country of Thailand but also of Cambodia. In the future the land will hopefully be managed by the Cambodians under the umbrella of Save the Elephant.

We had many wonderful experiences there and met some amazing people but there was one night that  neither me or David will forget in a hurry, thankfully it was our last night there and not the first. 

Every night we had this military operation to get into the mosquito net over our bed without letting any 

 beasties in, I would get in, then David like a stealth warrior would switch of the light and sidle in,with me clasping as much of the mosquito net together as I could. We would then safety pin it together.  Some nights we were really good, some not. Anyway on the last night we got in and settled down to sleep, I awoke with a tickly feeling at my ear and put my hand up to it. In doing so I think I pushed a mozzie in, if not it was heading in anyway as I could feel it, buzzing and moving about in my lug.  I tried to stay calm and thought it would come out but it just kept squirming, so squealing slightly, I awoke David saying "It's  in my ear, something's in my ear. " he tried to get it out but couldn't , we had to hold a torch beside my ear so it would crawl towards the light, oh my lord, it was awful feeling it wriggling away. It did come out though, gives me the collywobbles thinking about it even now. 

At this David decided he needed to go to the loo, so we had to go through the military operation of him getting out off the net and then back in again. On getting back into bed he said he had a sore armpit, I looked at it and there was a tick firmly latched on. So by torchlight I had to pull it out and then we had to try and kill it , all while in our bed! Lovely, I tell you if it had been the first night I may not have made it to the second. 

Some of the seeds we planted. 

 

 On our last full day we walked through the jungle with orange cloths which had been blessed by 

Buddhist monks, these are tied to trees and it is then a sacrilege to harm that tree in any way. 

                                                  

A couple of mahouts who did the walk with us. 

Saying goodbye to the elephants.

 

Some of the plants we planted and below is the banana trees we weeded.  

In the photo below I was concentrating on the butterfly who was fluttering around for ages. It was only when it moved its head that I realised there was a lizard on the plant in front of the butterfly, if it had stayed still I would have been totally unaware.

We hope to return in the future to see how the Sanctuary is getting on but I will be taking ear plugs with me, keep the beasties out. 

Cambodian Wildlife Sanctuary - protecting the forest

The main aim of the Cambodian Animal Sanctuary is to protect the jungle which has suffered at the hands of logging and over farming, while given a safe haven to animals which need a home. They have monkeys, elephants, geese, roosters and dogs within their grounds but also intermittently have other animals. While we were there a monkey was rescued as mentioned in an earlier post but also two squirrels which had been handed in as kittens a couple of months earlier, were released back to the wild. 

The sanctuary tries to grow as much of its own food for both the people and  animals that live there. This involves a lot of planting, weeding and harvesting of crops.  During our stay we were involved in all of these jobs and more.

Cutting down corn.  Several  times during the week we were given machetes to work with, a first for us! We used them to cut down crops and to chop up melons and banana trees for the elephants. 

After dinner there was a short time for a nap, here David is having a rest alongside Jenny one of the dogs.

Making trellises for the beans, we first of all went into the jungle and got some sticks, which we then sharpened at one end so it would go in the ground easier. We used machetes for this too. 

There were a lot of ants in the jungle, most of them were fine but the red ones were awful, they really knew how to bite, my feet still have bite marks on them now over a week later. Stung like crazy. 

To try and help the jungle to flourish again we planted more trees, especially in areas where there recently have been fires. On one of the days we planted over 200 trees. This is us going out with one load of trees, when we go into the jungle we are accompanied by some soldiers who are based at the sanctuary. The soldiers were really nice, as were all the people in the sanctuary and all pitched in to help.

David planting one of the trees, if you look carefully you will see the soil is very black around him, this is because there had been a fire there recently. The grass was already starting to regrow though.

We also kept an eye on the dam to check that it was holding up after the recent damage from the heavy rain. While we were there the dam held and the water soon built up to its proper height, allowing the elephant to get her bath. 

The water was actually really nice to go into even though it looks a bit murky, David and Chet loved having a swim in it. 

One of the weekly jobs is cleaning out the duck pond, we started doing this quickly and keenly but soon realised it was back breaking work, and once we got to the bottom very smelly. While we did this the geese squawked non stop, I do not think they were impressed. 

The rain brought many visitors to our hut, we often had huntsmen spiders in with us, plus a couple of smaller spiders but still bigger than what we are used to. This spider is about one metre above my side of the bed, thank goodness for the mosquito net! One of the nights we heard rustling coming from the spare bed, David shone a torch on it and something quickly scampered away, he thought it was a mouse, I am saying it was a squirrel as that seems nicer. The squirrels there are a lot smaller and have short fluffy tails. 

We also saw and heard geckos but I do not mind these at all and actually think they are quite cute.  I also had a couple of brushes with what could have been quite nasty beasties. Grabbing my towel from where it was hanging on the wall one day my hand felt something rough and quite prickly. I looked to see what it was and it was a Vietnamese centipede, it was huge and I must admit I threw the towel to the ground. It was only when I googled it that I realised what it was and that it could give a nasty bite, which thankfully it didn't, in fact it made no attempt to attack or defend itself.  We took it outside, still on the towel, and let it crawl away.  

On another occasion when we went out to plant trees, the truck we were in became stuck in the mud, we decided to pile wood under the tyres to give them something to grip onto. Luckily around the place were still bits of wood left over from the burnt trees, me and Leanne the other volunteer went to pick up a bigger piece, Leanne being an Aussie gave the log a kick first whereas I just grabbed it with my hands. On moving it we uncovered a big, black shiny scorpion who was not very happy to be 

disturbed, thankfully again it made no attempt to get me. I also saw a scorpion behind the toilet door one night but it looked more scared than I did. That was a quick visit to the loo for me! 

Some of the geese having a midday nap I felt like waking them up as they had been very noisy during the night. 

This is Jenny one of the dogs, she has recently been in a fight with a wild boar in the jungle leaving her with this nasty scar. She is lucky that no major damage was done and that she lives at the sanctuary so has access to a vet. 

Feeding the elephants.

This is the view from my hut, some of the huts are being done up at the moment.

The sky before one of the storms. We had a lot of thunderstorms there which luckily usually started in the evenings.  However, at times this caused all the midgies from outside into our eating area which on a couple of days was a bit overwhelming, with everybody making a hasty retreat. The volunteers braved it out by sitting at a table in the dark. 

On one of the evenings the rangers, soldiers, mahouts and other members of staff came to the eating area for an English lesson, which was led by Leanne. She was doing a months volunteering there so had done it the previous three weeks. The next day the volunteers got together to make up statements and questions which we thought would be useful both for volunteers and staff, these were written on a board. They all seemed to enjoy the lesson and it was a nice time for everyone to socialise together. Chet really struggled to understand David and told him he should listen to the lesson too, so he could learn how to speak English! 

Cambodian Wildlife Sanctuary - monkey rescue

The Cambodian Wildlife Sanctuary is a couple of hours drive from Siem Reap. On arriving we were shown around the area by Chet who would be leading us during our stay,  our accommodation which was totally different from the Elephant Nature Park was quite airy as you can see below. This really meant we were at one with nature as the days that followed were going to show. The toilets were in a toilet block just beside the hut alongside the showers.

Chet told us that it was a bucket shower and asked if we knew how to use one. We went "Oooh  a bucket shower, no." So he opened the shower door and we saw a bucket and a tap. Ah, now it was clear, basically you chuck a bucket of water over your head. 

We were basically set to work straightaway which pleased David as he wanted to be more hands on and active than at the Elephant Nature Park. Our first job was to help rebuild the dam which had been partly washed away the night before,  due to very heavy rains. This involved us filling sandbags and putting them into position to create the dam wall. The sandbags were very heavy and it was hard work in the afternoon sun. Unlike the elephant park there were only three volunteers for the week, but we did have help from staff at the sanctuary which includes rangers and soldiers. 

Filling the sandbags

The water is usually at chest level so you can see how far it has gone down. This is where one of the elephant comes to have a bath, so the water level needs to be higher.

After  doing this we headed back to the main area and washed the melons to feed the elephants. On the way to the sanctuary we had stopped at a roadside fruit seller, our driver jumped out , priced and checked the melons then bought them all!  She was pleased and amazed, and wondered why we needed so many. An early finish for her as all her stock was sold out. 

                                               

There are only two elephants at the park at the moment as it is still in the process of being set up.  This was the end of our work for that day so it was time for our first bucket shower before tea.

After an interesting night of listening to crickets, frogs , roosters (who can't tell the time) ducks and geckos, who make a lively sound we were ready for the next day. After breakfast our first job was to feed the monkeys. It didn't get off to a good start on entering the first cage one of the monkeys took a dislike to me, jumped on me and took a bite, nothing major , didn't break the skin but it was obviously saying clear off. David on the other hand made many friends.

This gibbon was lovely so gentle.

                                             

                                             This is Nan she looks after the monkeys.


  
David tickling the gibbon's tummy which made them both smile.
 

Straight after this we headed off to rescue a monkey which had been spotted living in horrible conditions a couple of weeks earlier. It was tied to a post close to the Thailand border, after discussions had taken place with its owner it was going to be brought to the sanctuary to live.
 
Here is the monkey tied to its post and then in its transportation cage. The rescue was very straight forward, easy and friendly. The monkey is now at the sanctuary but will not be joining the other monkeys until he finishes his time in quarantine.

After dinner we went up to check on the dam to see if it had held, thankfully it had and the water was already starting to fill up. Then along came one of the elephants for a scrub. Great fun was had by all!

Angkor Thom and other temples

Leaving Angkor Wat we headed straight for Ankhor Thom which was very impressive, within this area is the Bayon Temple, which has lots of face sculptures, 216 in fact. It has 54 towers each with four faces going around the sides. 

The security guard there was determined that I would have this photo taken , with one of the faces supposedly resting on my hand, I am not convinced though. We thanked him and made our escape!

Poor David I always ask him to stand in photos so you can get a proper perspective of size. Look at the base of this tree, huge. At the front entrance to Akngor Thom is the Terrace of the Elephants. It is a long wall with sculptures of elephants on it. 

This is the steps by the terrace.

On our third and last day at the temples we visited 5 temples. 

Some of the temples are a bit precarious looking, with walls and doorways standing at very strange angles, and daylight being seen through what should be solid walls. At times they are supported by wooden sticks, as in the picture below,  or  wooden frames, at other times they are just left. In Britain 

a lot of  it would be closed due to Health and Safety. 

The first one was Preah Khan (Sacred Sword) which has elements of Hinduism and Buddhism in it. 

This bit of sandstone is really red. A lot of the temples are made from sandstone which was quarried a great distance away then floated down the river on rafts 

In the photo below I originally leant on the balustrade bit but it wobbled so stepped back. Could you imagine if I knocked a temple over,that would be a bit of an oops moment. 

The carvings above are of ladies dancing and are in the dancing hall area. 

I know another tree but I like them. 

The structure above is in the middle of the temple and is what you normally see on top of Buddha temples. At this point a security policeman decided to latch on to us and give us a mini tour.  I thought, oh oh , here we go he is after money. Then I thought no, he is a policeman but when it came for us to leave he asked for a donation! 

Next on the route was the Neak Pean which had a long walk way to reach it , once you  get there you see  a large square pool , and four smaller pools on each side.  There is a circular island in the middle which only has the remnants of one water spout left.  There used to be four,  an elephants head, a human head,  a horse's head and a lion's head. This is getting renovated so you couldn't walk all the way around it.  A lot of the renovations that are being done are with the help of other countries such as, India and Germany. 

The last three temples were all small, Ta Som, East Mebon and Pre Rup.

This temple was lovely  and small with a nice walk through trees to get to it , when you get to the end and turn around to go back you get a lovely surprise this amazing tree with its roots growing down over a doorway. 

Our last temple had eight of these elephant statues in it . Four in the corners at one level then again at the next level up. In the wall under where David is standing is a geocache which thankfully he found easily. 

The temples were built by successive kings with each trying to outdo each other in splendour, area, height and decoration. The height in particular was a struggle especially in the heat, as we climbed to the top of temples. Amazing views were seen from the top though and at times we were rewarded with a welcome breeze. We returned to our hotel to collapse in soggy heaps and that was just visiting them goodness knows what it was like to build them.