Merry Christmas and a Happy 2004.

Dear  friends
This year was absolutely not boring for us. First we had Hans’ second book launch in March. This time it was a book on the Mulu National Park, a spectacular wilderness area, which became a World Heritage Site in 2000. This time the launching was hosted by the Sarawak Tourism Board and The Minister of Tourism was the guest of Honor, a very friendly person.
The book was hidden in a big piece of ice that looked as the World famous Pinnacles and he had to hack it open. Both books are still selling very well and National Parks of Sarawak is almost sold out (6000) and were thinking in making a revised edition.
Also Hans his third book on Maliau Basin is now with the printer and this is the first book that he made for Sabah. It will be launched next year when we are back in Malaysia since we always celebrate Christmas and New Year in Holland with our families.
They are thinking of making it in a very big Booklauch since our publisher is a Sabahan and very proud in having another nice book on Sabah .

Making pictures and writing keeps Hans very busy but he really enjoys this except sitting also for hours behind the computer in Kuching but this is also part of it.

      I keep myself also busy with the Malaysian Nature Society(MNS) and have been the Treasurer already for two years. We had two big trips that I had to organize and were fun to do but busy. These were camping trips to places that’s not open for the public. The first was at Tanjung Datu almost at the border with Kalimantan and the second to a small island were Green Turtles are laying their eggs. This island Talang Talang  was also orientation trips since Forestry want to run it with the help of MNS as a working holiday program.
We had to measure the turtles, count the eggs and clean the hatchery. After cleaning nobody could eat eggs that day because it as a very smelling job an less fun than taking the baby turtles back into the sea.
      We also made an interesting daytrip to Mt Serumbu and this is about an hour driving from our house. The interesting bit on this trip was looking for the summer house of James Brooke(1854) What is left is a few pieces of hardwood poles and the place were they were bathing but now it’s a dry place. It’s described in Spencer St John’s book “Life in the forest of the Far East”.
      Hans and I went also to Sabah, first on a Helicopter flight to Maliau Basin and that was very exiting for me since this was my first flight in a Heli.

He had to take some aerial shots for his new book on Maliau that will be launched beginning of next year.
After this we went to Danum Valley for two weeks and we were so lucky to find a fruiting fig tree at the ridge of a river bank and good spot to see animals. Every  morning we were there at 6 am and had seen 6 different species of Hornbills(there are 8 in Borneo), Orang Utan, and a mouse deer jumping over our feet. It was chased by a throated marter. At least this one saved his live since the Marter saw us and ran away. We couldn’t stop laughing about this funny experience
This time we were also lucky to see Elephants, they are very shy and Hans managed to get good shots from them.
As you know were always celebrating Christmas and New Year in Holland and we also like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2004.
Cynthia and Hans