My Gibbon Experience

What can I say? After spending time as a challenge course instructor for high and low ropes courses for a little part of my life, how can I turn down an opportunity to play in the trees? That's what the Gibbon Experience seems like at first glance, a "summer camp" for adults, as a friend put it to me. After seeing the land, the people who frequent the space, the work being done by the Gibbon folks and the systems they have in place, I realize it is soooo soooo much more!

Traveling for an hour or an hour and a half East from the Lao border, the mountain climb steeper and steeper. A lot of land is being "managed" (if slash and burn is what one means by "managed") and huge swaths of forest have been removed and replaced with...well....nothing. In places, there are orchards of trees, but they were too distant for me to tell if it was revegitation work or agricultural land. There was quite a bit of forested lands in parts and thick jungle, so one could get a sense of how the land looked before it was "managed" so heavily. Some of the clear cuts were surrounded by some of that old forest space in stark stark contrast. So, taking a turn northward from the main highway and onto a dirt road was quite a relief, as we approached the National Conservation Area and the trees returned to their larger diameters and the undergrowth more and more lush. We got out of the trucks and walked into the jungle for an hour or so and how did that change. Such lovely land! At one point, we saw a man with a semi-automatic assault rifle and the guide said to us "ranger." Make note of that, I'll talk more about that later.

At last, we reached the "kitchen," an outpost in the jungle where the guides slept and much of the food was prepared. He we received our harnesses and instructions on how to wear them. We also got our treehouse assignments. I understood that treehouse 3 was the furthest into the forest we would be permitted to go, so I signed up for it. We walked further into the forest before our first zip which lead into treehouse number one. We received safety talks, again, from our guides and they watched as we clipped in and out of the systems. First zip was a short one, but a nice taste of what was to come. Lush jungle underneath a high treetop tree house with only one way to get in out: zipline! One really gets a feeling of being on an island in the forest with accommodations like this! We zipped out, followed by more walking before we reached the first big zips. More safety instructions. More observation. Two really great zips in the middle of which was a GREAT tree stand platform from which we were told was the best place to see gibbons in the morning. The zipping was fast and phenomenal! Great views of the mountains and the valley underneath, from above, that is.

Tree house number 2 was a little ways off, perched at about 80 or 90 feet off the ground. It was ideal for a couple as it slept only two and we had a couple who happily took the opportunity. More walking walking walking. Up huge hills and down others. Then tree house number three, home for a few days. We zipped in. A very fast zip and a very small perch on which to land on the underside of the house. With the house sitting at about 100 feet or so off the ground, this was quite an exhilarating to get in and out of the house! Our tree house slept five or six and we had two Cannucks and two Aussies and me (And only two hammocks? What will we do?). The zip in and out of the house was so much fun, the Canadians and I got a kick just out of going around in circles zipping in and out of the house (green line means "go", red line means "no," yellow line is safety...ingenious system with colored tapes). Our house had a decent view of the valley and was really high up! We had running water, a small kitchen with a burner and a sink, two hammocks and bug nets (though next time, I plan to bring my own, because their bug nets are more like canopies than nets and trap way too much heat at night) and a bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower and two holes in the floor (Yep, jungle fertilizer! No paper down the toilet, please!). Great great spot!

The two Cannucks and I teamed up to run around and zip to our hearts' content. We went back to the central platform between treehouses 1 and 2 and zipped a few times before making a run to the long zip just beyond our treehouse and between tree house 3 and 5. So incredible, so fast, such brilliant scenary!!! You'll have to wait until I can post video soon!


So, how's it work? And why is it sooooo darn expensive? Who's making a profit here? I believe that this is locally-based ecotourism at its best (well, pretty darn good!)! The Gibbon organization provides the logistics and advertising and makes arrangements with folks interested in the experience (like me!). We each pay an exorbitant amount of money for a three day, two night all expenses paid eco-experience in the jungle. Each group has two guides, who are typically locals from the local Hmong community or local Lao communities. Jobs. The guides must first volunteer to learn about the org, the jungle, the systems and the clients. Once they're hired, they work in shifts, taking a few trips and then a few days off. The Gibbon folks work on their English and pay them a modest (very modest) wage, plus tips. The guides say the like it! They like the zipping and they like meeting all the travelers and working with them in the forest. It's clear from their response to the gibbons that they also really love the gibbons as well. Guides also learn and assist with new constructions. They install new zip lines and replace old ones, repair old tree houses and are working on another new one at present. Meanwhile, a whole corps of "rangers" (also paid, not sure how much though...Jobs) spend their days hiking the deep interior of the protected area, looking for poachers, miners and any others who would do damage to this fragile ecosystem. The folks in the office work with the government land management agencies to further protect the land and obtain funds for projects. It's pretty brilliant work.


So, Gibbons. Each morning, the gibbons are highly active and sing (and by sing, I mean SCREAM!). They call at about the same time each morning and their calls last for about six to fifteen minutes. During that time, their location is quite clear and while they're singing is the only time one may approach them. So, they sing, we determine their location. They stop, we're silent. They sing, we zip/run/move in their direction. They stop, we're silent. Eventually, it's possible, or so they say, to see them pretty close singing in the treetops. That's how it's supposed to work in theory. In practice, it's much much more complicated. First, gibbons move UNBELIEVEABLY fast through the trees. Much faster than I could ever conceive of sprinting on flat ground. Second, their range in the valleys is impressive. They can be on this side of the valley or that; they can be at the top of the draw or all the way down at the bottom. So, being lucky enough to be near where they are when they start singing is important (our guide says 100% of guests hear the gibbons and only about 50% actually see them). Third, with so many guests wanting to see them and zip lines being the fastest way to move around to get to and from places, humans make A LOT of noise in the forest. Attempting to "sneak" up on a gibbons while they're singing with two guides and five guests is akin to an elephant sneaking through a pile of leaves and dry twigs.

My tally: Well, the first day, they were so loud, they woke some of our group out of dead sleep. They sang a little early and were very very close to our platform. I believe the platforms have been constructed to be nearby where the gibbons typically sing in the morning, increasing the likelihood of seeing them. Their song was curious, very primitive, birdlike and extremely loud. I had never before had much interaction with primates (other than my other relatives, the homo sapiens sapiens I know), so this behavior came as quite a shocking surprise to me. We attempted to get closer to where they were singing, but the singing had ended before we made it up and out of our platform and by that time, they could have been a mile away dining on their favorite fruits. The second day, our group became determined to increase our likelihood of seeing gibbons and we obtained permission to zip in to the central platform in the dark, before dawn, and to wait silently until after sunrise when the singing would occur. Complications aside (like other guests zipping in just before the singing was to begin and while the gibbons were at the top of a tree very very close to us), our group got to witness an entire "family" swinging through the trees on the other side of the valley from where we were. They ascended this incredibly gargantuan tree and were getting ready to sing when they realized (because of all our noise) we were watching them, and they slipped back down underneath the canopy. We pursued their location, but we waited ten, twenty, thirty minutes after the normal singing time and no singing from our family of gibbons. We began to walk out when the faint call of gibbons rang out in the air. They had moved very far away from us before initiating their morning call. I ran back up to the zip line and zipped to the central platform just to have a clear opportunity to hear their call one last time. From their lccation, I could tell them moved far down the draw and crossed to the opposite side of the valley before singing (this is like a kilometer or two in under 20 minutes). Their song was, once again, lovely, startling, alien and amazing. It was this morning when I saw the whole scheme of the idea behind this ecotourism. There were three families of gibbons living "happily" in this immediate area. Forest protection and restoration is underway and the guests are the best form of advertising.

So, there were downsides to the experience (like the lack of protein the second day after all the walking/hiking/zipping we were doing, not everyone had forks or plates or cups on every platform at every meal, I didn't have a sheet on my bed, nor did I have a towel like others had, there weren't enough snacks to match the amount of physical activity we were undertaking, some platforms didn't have water during certain times of day, the drivers who drove a little too fast on the dirt roads with a songtau full of passengers and a high center of gravity), but if I was given the opportunity to go back, I'd do it in a heartbeat! Next time, if I can, I'd take the "Waterfall Experience" to have the opportunity to head deeper into the jungle and to experience some of the zip lines even further in. There are good things going on in that forest. For me, it was evidenced by how happy my guides seemed about their jobs and how affirmatively they spoke of their work when I asked them if they liked it. Seeing the armed rangers and knowing that they roam deeper in the jungle, where supposedly many other great beasts like tigers and bears wander, to protect the flora and fauna and knowing that even the Gibbon X folks are evolving (I heard that they are teaching rangers and guides basic GPS skills in order to map relevant events on the land), this is a really great opportunity for all.

I promise to post photos soon.

BTW, for the birders out there: birding in this lush a jungle was near impossible for me. It was all by ear and, unfortunately, the guides couldn't match the song to the bird for me. I was startled one morning by a flock of what the guides called "hard bills" which looked like toucans with huge tails! They were making all sorts of racket because I crossed underneath their flight path. I did LOVE the bird song and heard some amazing call and response. I was surprised that birds that were clearly of different species were singing in a similar key and their songs seemed to go together quite well. I ended up whistling back and forth with my housemates and with the guides, who also appreciate the calls.