Last month I went to Borneo to photograph the island’s most exotic endangered species: pygmy elephants, orangutans, and proboscis monkeys. All are found only on the island of Borneo (except the orangoutang, which is also found on the island of Sumatra) and all are classified as endangered. Heavy rain prevented me from shooting on all but three days of my trip, but I made the most of the time that I had. Here some of my favorite pictures from the trip.
Photography
The People of Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
On my first day in Kota Kinabalu I got a little camera happy and went out shooting the local folks around the city. Here are a few of the pictures.
Taiwan’s Beautiful and Bizarre Coastline: Jialeshuei
On Taiwan’s southern tip is a beautiful and bizarre stretch of coast where a unique geological cocktail of rock, including deep ocean stratum, sandstone, and coastal stone, has been moulded into alien-looking shapes by the violent wind and waves that whip and batter the coast.
This is the what it looks like.
Rainforest Discovery Center, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo
The Rainforest Discovery Center is located in the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve in Malaysia’s province of Sabah on the island of Borneo. The center is just up the road from the Sepilok Orangoutang Sanctuary, and not far from the Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary. The center features a walkway where you can walk above the canopy, with intermittent towers for bird watchers, as well as trails and numerous educational signs. Both monkeys and orangoutangs can often be seen at the center, although we didn’t see any while we were there. We did, however, see a lot of beautiful rainforest. Here are a few pictures from our walk.
Huge Waves at Waimeia Bay
Last Thursday Quicksilver was potentially going to hold the prestigious Eddie Aikau surf competition. The contest is so serious that pro surfers will fly in from around the world to wait and see if it is going to be held. You see, the organizers wait until the day of the competition to decide whether or not the waves are big, and good, enough. If they aren’t, they call it off. It has only been held 8 times since 1984.
A Few Random Pictures from My Trip Home
I’m from a small town in Canada’s Rocky Mountains called Cranbrook. Cranbrook has a population of about 20,000 people. The main industries are mining, logging, and tourism. There are numerous trailer parks and it’s likely there are more people living in trailers than houses. The surrounding area is checkered with farms. Wide brimmed cowboy hats, belt buckles that could double as coffee tables, and blue jeans so dark they look wet worn tight enough to induce infertility are always in style. The vehicle of choice is the pickup truck. Trucks suspended less than three feet off the ground with tires smaller in circumference than hula hoops are considered to be “for pussys”. Bingo night is big news. Hockey is religion.
Yenshuei Fireworks Festival 2010 Photo Gallery
The Yenshuei Fireworks Festival (Yenshuei Fong Pao) is a festival held in the Yenshuei township in Southern Taiwan every year. During the festival millions of fireworks are shot out of large hives into crowds of revelers dressed in heavy clothing and full-face motorcycle helmets. Each hive may contain as many as sixty thousand fireworks. If proper safety precautions are taken, the activity is not very dangerous. However, each year some people are injured. To learn more about this festival, read my post Standing in the Fireworks.