Belfast Telegraph (Ireland)
Radio 1 DJ Edith Bowman ventured deep into the jungle in search of these endangered creatures for this week’s edition of the BBC series ‘Saving Planet Earth’. But, as she explains to Jenny Cockle, the beast remained elusive...
When the BBC asked me to make a film about saving crocodiles, rather than a more cuddly species such as orang-utans, I was actually really pleased.
The crocodile isn’t the most obvious of endangered species and it’s often perceived in a negative way. The Siamese crocodile – a small freshwater croc – is one of the most endangered breeds in the wild, thanks to the fashion industry’s demand for its skin. The BBC programme gave me the opportunity to travel to its natural habitat and discover at first hand its important place in Cambodia’s ecosystem.
I’d never been to Southeast Asia, but friends who had travelled to neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam had raved to me about the area’s outstanding natural beauty and the friendliness of the people. Cambodia lived up to my expectations on both counts.
We flew via Bangkok to Siem Reap, the closest airport to the jungle marshes of the Cardamom Mountains in south-west Cambodia where the Siamese crocodile lives. Our trip would last only six days, so we wanted to spend as much time as possible out in the jungle observing crocodiles. But first we squeezed in a day trip to see the famous temples at Angkor Wat.
The ancient city of Angkor was the capital of the Khmer kingdom from 802 until 1295. The temples are incredibly beautiful. They are also very informative because the carvings on the walls depict Cambodia’s history. I’d seen the temples in the first Tomb Raider film – which was filmed there – but it’s quite an experience to walk through them. For one thing, monkeys leap about the place – it reminded me of a scene from The Jungle Book – and, in one temple, elephants roam around, which takes a bit of getting used to. All in all, it’s a fascinating place and the tour guides are all incredibly helpful.
At first light the following morning, we drove out to a small airfield and boarded a helicopter which took us into the middle of the jungle. It was an amazing journey, travelling from the semi built-up area that is Siem Reap, across the enormous paddy fields glistening in the sunlight, to a wall of vast jungle. Viewed from above, it looked like an enormous sprig of broccoli; it was so dense. I must admit that the flight was slightly nerve-racking: when you’re right out in the middle of the jungle you can’t help thinking, if anything happens to us now we’ll be lost for ever.
We visited last November when it was very hot and humid, so much so that the jungle appeared to have steam rising from it. When we landed in the Areng valley, near the village of Chumnoap, it was only 10am but already scorching hot. It takes a while to ac-climatise and, without realising, I didn’t drink enough water and I ended up suffering from sunstroke.
Our crew was joined by a team from Fauna & Flora International. We weren’t given any preferential treatment at all: we were up at sunrise every morning to catch the boat and travel up and down the river in search of crocodiles.
I’m a pretty good traveller and don’t mind roughing it, but I’d been very wary of making this trip to the jungle and was worried I’d hate it. In fact, I really enjoyed the experience. Our base was a man-made camp by the side of the river and we slept on hammocks underneath a piece of a tarpaulin. Our food consisted of rice and boiled river water – which tasted much like wood. Yet I hadn’t slept so well in years.
There is something deeply calming about the noises in the jungle. Jenny Daltry, a reptile expert with Fauna & Flora International who travelled with us, has spent so much time studying in the area that she can identify every sound, even a male gibbon calling for a mate. And once you know what is making these strange noises, your anxieties soon disappear. Still, we could-n’t guarantee uninterrupted sleep, because if one of the rangers spotted a crocodile in the middle of the night, we would all have to go out in the boat and search for it.
Unfortunately, we didn’t see a crocodile in the wild during our trip, which I suppose is testament to the fact that there are only 250 left in the area. However, I did get up close and personal with them later at the crocodile rehabilitation centre just outside of Phnom Penh. I even helped to hold down a 10ft croc while the biologist took a DNA sample to see if it was a pure-bred Siamese crocodile.
Previously, I’d always thought of crocodiles as ferocious, man-eating creatures and I had no idea of their importance to the ecosystem. Essentially, they create waterways from the lakes to the river, which enable water to flow into the paddy fields where villagers grow their crops. The Siamese crocodile is also incredibly placid and there have been no reported attacks by them on humans.
We spent a day in one of the small villages off the river which had about 25 inhabitants. I took my Polaroid camera with me and was photographing the kids, which they found fascinating because it was the first time they’d seen a picture of themselves.
The villagers were so welcoming: it was great just to hang out and join in their games. We played a sort of keepy-uppy game with a shuttlecock for more than an hour and, embarrassingly, I was totally knackered by the end.
As well as my camera, I had packed some whisky and shortbread which I gave to the rangers. They were thrilled. They usually make their own alcoholic rice wine, which I can confirm is lethal. Quite a few of them were former crocodile hunters, so they’ve come full circle and are now helping to save them.
When we left the jungle we took the traditional route out, which entailed two hours on a small boat and four hours on the back of a moped, even riding through rivers. Despite the discomfort, we actually saw so much more of the country than in the helicopter.
Transport in Cambodia is quite basic and cramped, the aim being to squeeze on or in as many people as possible. It’s not unusual to see up to four people perched on one bicycle, a bit like a balancing act at the circus. For buses, they use little Transit vans and as they pass by you just see a mass of faces pressed up against the windows.
I was amazed to see the amount of luggage our drivers managed to fix on to the mopeds as we were leaving the jungle. There were a few times when we nearly toppled over, but that was all part of the adventure.
Back in Phnom Penh, we took some time to explore the city. It’s a vibrant place with wonderful food markets to browse and lots of tailors selling beautiful fabrics. It’s such a mix: there are modern buildings and huge hoardings advertising products such as mobile phones, but you still see cattle wandering the streets. I really enjoyed the food; it tastes incredibly fresh. It’s rice- and curry-based but mixed with exotic fruits such as mango.
But what sticks in my mind is the amazing colours of the country, the different shades of green in the jungle, the intensity of the light and the spectacular birds – you see lots of kingfishers skimming the water looking for food.
We didn’t have time to relax on the beach, but I hear there are some beautiful sandy ones on the southwest coast in Sihanoukville, and there are many spectacular waterfalls, especially Poung Roul. I hope I will return one day to jump on one of those mopeds and speed off on another Cambodian adventure.
Further viewing ‘Saving Planet Earth: Edith Bowman – Saving Crocodiles’ is on BBC1, at 7pm, Wednesday
Best buildings
Battambang, Cambodia's second city, has some of the country's finest colonial architecture (battambang-town.gov.kh)
In the mountains
The Cardamom Mountains are one of the last forest wilderness areas in the mainland south-east Asia (cardamom.org)
Relaxing beaches
For unspoilt sandy beaches, head to Sihanoukville on Cambodia's southwest coast (sihanoukville.com/resort/ index.html)
Ancient temples
Now a UN Heritage site, the ancient temples of Angkor were only discovered in the 1850s, hidden deep in the jungle (angkor-cambodia.org/ eng/angkor.html)
On the water
Take a boat trip on Lake Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Asia (angkor-cambodia.org/eng/tonlesap.html)
When the BBC asked me to make a film about saving crocodiles, rather than a more cuddly species such as orang-utans, I was actually really pleased.
The crocodile isn’t the most obvious of endangered species and it’s often perceived in a negative way. The Siamese crocodile – a small freshwater croc – is one of the most endangered breeds in the wild, thanks to the fashion industry’s demand for its skin. The BBC programme gave me the opportunity to travel to its natural habitat and discover at first hand its important place in Cambodia’s ecosystem.
I’d never been to Southeast Asia, but friends who had travelled to neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam had raved to me about the area’s outstanding natural beauty and the friendliness of the people. Cambodia lived up to my expectations on both counts.
We flew via Bangkok to Siem Reap, the closest airport to the jungle marshes of the Cardamom Mountains in south-west Cambodia where the Siamese crocodile lives. Our trip would last only six days, so we wanted to spend as much time as possible out in the jungle observing crocodiles. But first we squeezed in a day trip to see the famous temples at Angkor Wat.
The ancient city of Angkor was the capital of the Khmer kingdom from 802 until 1295. The temples are incredibly beautiful. They are also very informative because the carvings on the walls depict Cambodia’s history. I’d seen the temples in the first Tomb Raider film – which was filmed there – but it’s quite an experience to walk through them. For one thing, monkeys leap about the place – it reminded me of a scene from The Jungle Book – and, in one temple, elephants roam around, which takes a bit of getting used to. All in all, it’s a fascinating place and the tour guides are all incredibly helpful.
At first light the following morning, we drove out to a small airfield and boarded a helicopter which took us into the middle of the jungle. It was an amazing journey, travelling from the semi built-up area that is Siem Reap, across the enormous paddy fields glistening in the sunlight, to a wall of vast jungle. Viewed from above, it looked like an enormous sprig of broccoli; it was so dense. I must admit that the flight was slightly nerve-racking: when you’re right out in the middle of the jungle you can’t help thinking, if anything happens to us now we’ll be lost for ever.
We visited last November when it was very hot and humid, so much so that the jungle appeared to have steam rising from it. When we landed in the Areng valley, near the village of Chumnoap, it was only 10am but already scorching hot. It takes a while to ac-climatise and, without realising, I didn’t drink enough water and I ended up suffering from sunstroke.
Our crew was joined by a team from Fauna & Flora International. We weren’t given any preferential treatment at all: we were up at sunrise every morning to catch the boat and travel up and down the river in search of crocodiles.
I’m a pretty good traveller and don’t mind roughing it, but I’d been very wary of making this trip to the jungle and was worried I’d hate it. In fact, I really enjoyed the experience. Our base was a man-made camp by the side of the river and we slept on hammocks underneath a piece of a tarpaulin. Our food consisted of rice and boiled river water – which tasted much like wood. Yet I hadn’t slept so well in years.
There is something deeply calming about the noises in the jungle. Jenny Daltry, a reptile expert with Fauna & Flora International who travelled with us, has spent so much time studying in the area that she can identify every sound, even a male gibbon calling for a mate. And once you know what is making these strange noises, your anxieties soon disappear. Still, we could-n’t guarantee uninterrupted sleep, because if one of the rangers spotted a crocodile in the middle of the night, we would all have to go out in the boat and search for it.
Unfortunately, we didn’t see a crocodile in the wild during our trip, which I suppose is testament to the fact that there are only 250 left in the area. However, I did get up close and personal with them later at the crocodile rehabilitation centre just outside of Phnom Penh. I even helped to hold down a 10ft croc while the biologist took a DNA sample to see if it was a pure-bred Siamese crocodile.
Previously, I’d always thought of crocodiles as ferocious, man-eating creatures and I had no idea of their importance to the ecosystem. Essentially, they create waterways from the lakes to the river, which enable water to flow into the paddy fields where villagers grow their crops. The Siamese crocodile is also incredibly placid and there have been no reported attacks by them on humans.
We spent a day in one of the small villages off the river which had about 25 inhabitants. I took my Polaroid camera with me and was photographing the kids, which they found fascinating because it was the first time they’d seen a picture of themselves.
The villagers were so welcoming: it was great just to hang out and join in their games. We played a sort of keepy-uppy game with a shuttlecock for more than an hour and, embarrassingly, I was totally knackered by the end.
As well as my camera, I had packed some whisky and shortbread which I gave to the rangers. They were thrilled. They usually make their own alcoholic rice wine, which I can confirm is lethal. Quite a few of them were former crocodile hunters, so they’ve come full circle and are now helping to save them.
When we left the jungle we took the traditional route out, which entailed two hours on a small boat and four hours on the back of a moped, even riding through rivers. Despite the discomfort, we actually saw so much more of the country than in the helicopter.
Transport in Cambodia is quite basic and cramped, the aim being to squeeze on or in as many people as possible. It’s not unusual to see up to four people perched on one bicycle, a bit like a balancing act at the circus. For buses, they use little Transit vans and as they pass by you just see a mass of faces pressed up against the windows.
I was amazed to see the amount of luggage our drivers managed to fix on to the mopeds as we were leaving the jungle. There were a few times when we nearly toppled over, but that was all part of the adventure.
Back in Phnom Penh, we took some time to explore the city. It’s a vibrant place with wonderful food markets to browse and lots of tailors selling beautiful fabrics. It’s such a mix: there are modern buildings and huge hoardings advertising products such as mobile phones, but you still see cattle wandering the streets. I really enjoyed the food; it tastes incredibly fresh. It’s rice- and curry-based but mixed with exotic fruits such as mango.
But what sticks in my mind is the amazing colours of the country, the different shades of green in the jungle, the intensity of the light and the spectacular birds – you see lots of kingfishers skimming the water looking for food.
We didn’t have time to relax on the beach, but I hear there are some beautiful sandy ones on the southwest coast in Sihanoukville, and there are many spectacular waterfalls, especially Poung Roul. I hope I will return one day to jump on one of those mopeds and speed off on another Cambodian adventure.
Further viewing ‘Saving Planet Earth: Edith Bowman – Saving Crocodiles’ is on BBC1, at 7pm, Wednesday
Best buildings
Battambang, Cambodia's second city, has some of the country's finest colonial architecture (battambang-town.gov.kh)
In the mountains
The Cardamom Mountains are one of the last forest wilderness areas in the mainland south-east Asia (cardamom.org)
Relaxing beaches
For unspoilt sandy beaches, head to Sihanoukville on Cambodia's southwest coast (sihanoukville.com/resort/ index.html)
Ancient temples
Now a UN Heritage site, the ancient temples of Angkor were only discovered in the 1850s, hidden deep in the jungle (angkor-cambodia.org/ eng/angkor.html)
On the water
Take a boat trip on Lake Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Asia (angkor-cambodia.org/eng/tonlesap.html)
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