We were the guests and we were to be entertained. Dancers of all ages entered the main house room, with silver bangles, bracelets, and necklaces, twirled, hopped, and leaped about with native handmade guitars and drums in accompaniment. Many of the children played with exotic pets that were cute and cuddly. I don’t know what they were. Some sort of miniature monkey or jungle cat, I think. Others carried around large cicada bugs, when shaken, rattled their sound that we only hear on hot steamy summer days. Mantee translated what they wanted to know and answered our questions on what we wanted to know. We ate rice, some sort of meat from the jungle, possibly wild pig. It was good and spicy. One thing is true in Asia. They love their spices and peppers. I loved it too. We slept on the floor on woven mats. We were very tired and slept through the night, except when we heard a baby cry two doors down or some creature whaling in the jungle. We had breakfast of rice and vegetables, plus some tea that was as strong as tea can be. It was very hot and the kids were swimming in a small stream in the jungle. I joined them and was able to minimize the fleas for the first time. They used some crude soap that worked well and soon the itching stopped and I was flea free.
The Dyaks were very interested in our cameras and posed at every opportunity. They also said they could show us where the jungle man lived, the orangutan. We loaded up our equipment in their dugout canoes and headed into the jungle. The money for permits and the supplies we had brought now belonged to the Dyaks. What a stroke of luck. A few hours later we were in an enchanted land and were near a family of orangutans. With our telephoto lenses we filmed them and another family off and on for a couple of hours. The light was setting when we arrived at the camp. Another dip in the river and I was ready for a nice soft bed or mat on the floor, whichever came first. We left the camp the next morning, after another dip and hearty breakfast of rice, vegetables, and strong tea. Mantee brought us back to the mighty Lubang just in time to wave the boat over and we were on our way back to civilization. Mantee told us that the little river we were swimming in had crocodiles, but they had gotten used to them and rarely did they come near their camp.
The Dyaks are the old headhunters and cannibals, but had forgone these practices because of the introduction of Christianity. They had forgone these practices until the Japanese invaded their island. Many Japanese disappeared during their occupation, only to be found later minus their head. Few incidents have been reported since World War II. Published every Wednesday, at least.
