Photography and Writing by Ian Wood

Thanks to everyone who came on the recent trip to Tanjung Puting national park, Borneo. We had another 50th birthday while we were out there so thanks Jen for deciding to spend it in Borneo ! There is some information on the highlights of this trip below but to make a change I thought I'd start this trip report with some inspiring news from a previous holiday. The day that I returned to England I had an email from Elaine Clueit who came on a trip with me 3 years ago.

The Pygmy Marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea) is the smallest monkey in the world with its body length averaging just 15cm. It is native to the rainforests of Brazil, Colombia, Equador, Bolivia and Peru. Its small weight allows it to reach the very highest leaves of a tree which are unaccessible to most other rivals. However most of its time is spent  tapping trees for sap where it uses its sharp teeth to gouge holes in the bark. Because of its small size and fast movements it is considered hard to observe in the wild unless you know what to look for. The secret is to find a tree with the tell tale signs of many marks in the bark and wait. With time they are actually quite an inquisitive monkey and will come surprisingly close to check out a human visitor. They live up to 12 years in the wild and are usually made up of an adult pair and their offspring which can number up to 6. I recently spent some time with them in the Amazon in Peru which is where this photo is taken.