Stevie Burges, 55
Malaysia Orang-utan experience

Malaysia Orang-utan experience

In total, how long were you away from home?
Seven weeks, as I added on some independent travel at the end of the project.

What was your motivation to take a gap break? I had seen a TV documentary approximately three years before and was surprised to learn there were Senior Gap ‘Years'. I was gripped by the whole possibility but knew this would never happen to me as I had no obvious funds available or the possibility of taking a ‘long' career break. However, a year or so later I went to a Career Gap Exhibition in London and met Gap Year For Grown Ups who were extremely positive about career gaps and spent time and effort explaining how it could be achieved. Suddenly I was talking to my firm about some extra time off and once (easily) granted I was mysteriously booked and planning my trip to Malaysia/Borneo. If pushed for ONE REASON why, I had begun to find that my life needed a challenge and thought this trip might provide the challenge I needed.

How did you feel before you joined the programme? Terrified. The whole thought of going away on my own pushed me out of my comfort zone and required some effort on my part to keep focussed. I found myself spending time in libraries and bookshops trying to find out about the country I was now going to visit. I have never prepared anything before as holidays in the past were going to visit countries that seemed to require little effort from me - i.e. USA (all major cities); Australia (again major cities). The handout Gap Year For Grown Ups sent said something like: the more you put into this trip, the more you will get out of it. The words kept going round in my head and motivated me to make the effort required and 1) They were right, and 2) I had the best trip I had ever experienced in my life, made possible by the organisation for Gap Year For Grown Ups but also by my efforts.

I shared a room with a 25 year old who now only refers to herself as ‘Roomie' and our biggest problem was laughing and laughing like big kids. We were both experiencing a really happy, happy time in our lives whilst working on our project and it was incredibly difficult to switch off at night and stop talking about how the day had gone and how wonderful it all was. After the giggling - whoosh I slept like a log. When we moved into the jungle we ended up almost in a ‘stable' situation where I shared with 5 other women and as the other ‘rooms' were separated by wooden slats we were all really in one room - men and women. This has been one of the best experiences of my life - we laughed, told jokes, left Xmas pressies for each other under pillows, and in between times slept deeply and refreshingly. I couldn't believe how difficult I found it to say goodbye to my buddies and finally book a bedroom to myself at the end of the project.

What was the accommodation like?
Initially I wasn't that keen on the accommodation - when I say initially I mean about the first hour. It just wasn't a 5 star hotel in Central London! When I usually go away the hotels I stay in are frankly probably better than I actually live in. I demand a single room, with ensuite bathroom, a maid that comes in regularly etc. Well no the accommodation was not at all like that. We worked at Zoo Negara and lived in the (old) Directors House, and our official address was Car Park B! The house was plenty big enough for the 5 of us and had everything we could need or want. Apart from sleeping, eating and sitting on the patio in the heat of the night or first warmth of the morning, we weren't there that much. We were in Malaysia having an incredible experience and we all just wanted to get out there and enjoy it - not sit in the house.

When we moved to the jungle we stayed in a wooden lodge, which again was plenty big enough for the 14 of us and for the many visits we received from the tribe who lived up the river from us. The food that was produced was terrific. I will never forget our nights of sitting round the big table, doing whatever we wanted, and being totally entertained by our company. It was one of the best Xmas Days I have ever spent and not an Xmas Tree in sight. Everyone jumped in the river (outside the ‘front door') and had an Xmas Day swim prior to visiting the tribe in the Long House, for a spot of weaving and wrestling!

What did you think of the programme/did it meet your expectations?
If I had actually had any expectations, which I didn't, this trip would have exceeded all and any expectations I might have had.

What was the most memorable moment of your trip? Any anecdotes?

Gosh this is a difficult one. The entire trip was memorable. I thought I only really wanted to go to Borneo and was not really looking forward to working in the Zoo. I thought: Zoos are smelly and you don't really get to see the animals. I was wrong. The Zoo provided so many things, working as a team, hysterical laughter (and that was only the orang-utans!) and being with a group of people, who were as funny, interesting and amusing as the animals.

By the time we had finished our project we had made friends with all 8 orang-utans and the 5 chimpanzees, and all of us had semi adopted a particular animal who we rushed to see each day. They loved us and we loved them. ‘Roomie' and I got into a bit of fright with the mother orang-utan who we had decided to give a drink of water via the hosepipe, and ‘mother' clamped her jaws tightly on the hosepipe and refused to give it back. Roomie and I were in an amazing tug-of-war with a 30 stone orang-utan and a hosepipe, panicking that the zookeepers might tell us off for our stupidity with the equipment (instead they just laughed). In between the tug of war, Roomie and I were try to gain control and talk to Mother as if she was a naughty six week old puppy and not this enormous, large orang-utan and saying really dumb things like ‘Drop it, drop it now!'.

As they say ‘Don try this at home' because very large orang-utans do not look like six month old puppies and certainly do not respond like one either. Mother finally clamped down just a little too hard and bit through the hosepipe leaving myself and Roomie sprawling about on the floor with the main section of the hosepipe spraying water everywhere and totally soaking us. Yes, we could have turned off the tap earlier but we just didn't have the experience of tug-of-war tactics with an orang-utan and got soaked for our efforts. We finally had to crawl on all fours, laughing hysterically to get the tap off. I swear that Mother was also laughing because from that day on she began to really interact with us - I think she thought we were clowns for her benefit. I have a video of Mother coming up and trying to kiss me. The amazing thing I learnt about Orang-utans is that they have real charisma and a terrific sense of humour. Totally adorable.

What do you feel you accomplished during your programme? All the fears I thought I had prior to going just disappeared; sharing with people on a 24 hour basis; wild animals; spiders, snakes, leeches and huge cockroaches; rats that want to move in with you; walking in tough terrain; having to share other people's underwear because all yours are soaked (the rainforest!); a really strong feeling of success surging through your veins (and success can be really terrifying!). The project was tough going in certain sections but you had the choice whether to join in or not. I just amazed myself.