I’ve been volunteering at Tasikoki for about two months now, and life here has settled into an enjoyable routine. As someone coming from the Netherlands, living in Tasikoki is a big change compared to my home city, Enschede, and I’m surprised at how easily I’ve adapted to the pace of life here.
This morning I woke up at 5.50am but decided to snooze until 6.05am. After two months I found out that I can get ready in 10 minutes 😇. A fellow volunteer, Rose, drove us to a browsing spot where we collected three bags of young leaves. The langurs and cuscus really like the red leaves of mango trees. They are quite rare, so whenever we find them it feels like a big accomplishment. Today I walked a bit further into the forest and found a tree with a lot of red leaves 🙂 On the way back to Tasikoki, Sylvia and Rose were sitting in the front and I was sitting in the back of the truck. Enjoying the view, while occasionally dodging branches.
Then, we made 90 bundles and put the rest of the leaves into bags. We would usually make more, but since there are only three of us today we didn’t have enough time to finish bundling before breakfast. Sylvia and I did the primate round together. There are three Tonkean macaques who rattle the cages and show their teeth whenever you come close. Their cages are really tall so it usually takes me a few tries to throw the bundles on top of it (you don’t want your hands close to the cage). When the bundles fall back on the ground we have to use branches or quickly grab the bundle while the other person distracts the macaques.
After breakfast, Rose and I played monopoly deal (I won 😇 ) and went to the lodge to work on our project until lunch. (Volunteers would usually perform other duties after breakfast, but since we are volunteering at Tasikoki as part of a university module, we also need to spend some time working on our project.) We sat down to eat rice (surprise surprise) with all the keepers.
Dr. Willie Smits arrived and joined us at the table. We talked a bit and wished him Happy New Year in Dutch with the traditional three kisses (of course). At 1.00pm it started to rain, hard. Rose and I put on our rain jackets and walked to the enrichment room. Within 2 seconds my pants and shoes were soaking wet. It didn’t stop raining until dinner. We made enrichment and handed it out in the rain. We already developed a technique where I hold the umbrella (since I’m the tallest) and we hook our arms around each other to walk in the same step. It probably looks ridiculous, but it works 🤷
At 3.30pm we had a “Clinic Meeting” which began serious and ended with an irrelevant question round and Fahmi teaching us phrases in Bahasa Indonesia. Billy fell asleep, drooling on his own arm and we were drawing each other in Robbie’s notebook. It was a very useful meeting. It was still raining when we went back to the volunteer house, so Billy offered us a ride in the rescue truck. I showered, played Monopoly deal with Rose until we walked to the guest house for wifi and dinner.
At 7.00 pm we went to play football at our regular spot. I was dripping with sweat and Rose’s face looked like a tomato (a very cute one). On the way back we stopped by a supermarket to buy DEET. Ours is empty since yesterday and my feet have been eaten alive. I have 31 mosquito bites on my left foot alone… Sylvia bought ice scream at the supermarket: “I can’t believe no one has bought ice cream.” “Why?” “You eat ice cream after exercise!” Valid point 🤔 😂
The two months in Tasikoki has gone by quickly, and our experience has been very varied, from starting at the centre with 10 volunteers around to having only 2 of us as we step into the new year. I’m thankful for the many people I have met, from Indonesia, Europe and beyond, and most of all for the animals here that have brought so much meaning into my everyday life. When I leave, what I will miss most is the sound the little monkeys make when they are hungry.
By Britt M., a volunteer from the Netherlands
For more information on Tasikoki’s volunteer programme, check out www.tasikoki.org/volunteer