People generally spend the holidays visiting family, buying presents, taking a break from work and maybe going on a relaxing vacation. This is what passes through my mind as I’m speeding up a hill deep in the Bornean rainforest with a hungry Orangutan chasing our small group. I don’t have time to think about how many leeches or fire ants I’m picking up. It takes us about 10 minutes to get to the top of the hill and to jump in the car. Going downhill had taken more than half an hour but we could take our time since there was no one chasing us. How did I get here? Read on to find out.

After recording soundscapes in the Congo and Amazon rainforests, I felt like the logical thing to do was to go recording in an Asian rainforest. Borneo seemed very attractive for its high rate of endemism and biodiversity. My girlfriend also wanted to join me but she could only travel over the holidays so we decide to spend Christmas and New Year’s in the jungle.

Equipment