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The Red Ape Trail begins here

The Red Ape Trail begins here

Marty’s photo of the day #3940: This is the waterfall Deb and I had to climb up alongside to begin our epic backpacking trip with the Iban tribe in Borneo. The two of us were only the third outsiders to ever hike the Red Ape Trail (an old Iban hunting trail). Our adventure included losing […]

From the island of Borneo

From the island of Borneo

Marty’s photo of the day #3874: I generally do not post photos of plants or animals that I haven’t identified. I am making the exception today. I photographed this alien-looking flower while backpacking with the Iban tribe on the island of Borneo. I am pretty sure, however, that if you touch the flower, it will […]

Tiger leeches attack!

Tiger leeches attack!

Marty’s photo of the day #3677: When Deb and I backpacked through the rainforest of Borneo, tiger leeches, posed like this one, were an uncommon sight. That’s because we usually didn’t see them until they grabbed onto us, worked their way through our socks, and started draining us of our blood. Fortunately, tiger leeches don’t […]

Orangutans vs Republicans

Orangutans vs Republicans

Marty’s photo of the day #3610: While on the island of Borneo, I watched two baby orangutans comfort each other, when they wandered too far from the orangutan rehabilitation facility and became lost in the dark. Meanwhile, in Montana, our Republican governor and legislature have passed bills taking away women’s rights, taking away trans rights, […]

Land leeches and crabs

Land leeches and crabs

Marty’s photo of the day #3578: Growing up in northern Minnesota, I learned that leeches and crabs lived in lakes and rivers. In Borneo’s rainforests, that’s not always the case. Leeches would get into my socks as I backpacked, and if I looked carefully, I’d occasionally find crabs staring at me from large leaves.

How’s the war?

How’s the war?

Marty’s photo of the day #3564: This excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, tells the story: Our adventure began on Friday, April 11, 2003, when we landed at Kuching Airport. Our guide, Bayang, picked us up with the Borneo Adventure van. He was a muscular, round-faced man in […]

Maroon langur

Maroon langur

Marty’s photo of the day #3561: This is a maroon langur, photographed on the island of Borneo. I’ll never forget hiking through the rainforest during the heat of the day, and finding them draped over branches, like clothes drying on a line.

Nanga Sumpa

Nanga Sumpa

Marty’s photo of the day #3551: For anyone who has read my latest book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, this is Nanga Sumpa, the Iban longhouse that Deb and I raced the flooding deep-canyon river to get to. In Borneo, entire tribes live in a single longhouse, and when […]