Despite the long dry season we are experiencing in Sumatra, a few hours of rain can have a dramatic affect on the forest landscape, as I discovered on the research team's latest forest trip.
On one of our first nights, very heavy rain left many of our survey transects impassable the next day, with small streams having risen by up to two metres in some cases. Our eight transects are chosen before the trip and are used to survey mammals, birds and habitat. If we come across an obstruction to our planned route, we must find a quick way around.
Where possible, we use fallen trees to get across the deep waters. In some cases, this could mean a long walk to find a suitable crossing, so a quick swim in the cold water is necessary – not always a bad thing when you’re trekking in 35°C heat and 90% humidity.
The team became adept at quickly constructing little rafts out of fallen branches and vines to carry our equipment across. I learned that it’s always worth removing your boots before swimming across a river as trapped air makes it very difficult to keep them below the water, although this did provide much hilarity for the team!