Conversion

What do you see? A Swiftlet or Soup? - July 2010

Our second day of exploring Gunung Mulu National Park in the Malaysian state of Sarawak got interesting really quick. It also revealed a significant personal transformation that has occurred over the past eleven months.

After making a rope ascent and squeezing through a tight opening, we came to the first of Racer Cave's many large subterranean chambers. The beams of light from our torches cut through the darkness, revealing the mysteries of the limestone walls surrounding us. In one corner they uncovered a small, dark colored bird clinging to the cave wall. Being young and an inexperienced flier, the bird simply sat there as we lumbered toward it. 

Immediately I recognized it. 

"A swiftlet? . . " I half-asked our guide. 

As he was nodding his head in the affirmative, I had little control over the words that came out of my mouth . . . 

"Bird's nest soup, right?" 

Not quite. 

See, there are a couple different species of swiftlet and (unfortunately for some) not all of them use their saliva to construct the nests that are a popular local delicacy in either soup or bottled form. This one, for example, makes it's nest out of twigs and moss and mud. Not too tasty.

Relaying our close-encounter of the swiftlet kind to the one of my internship committee members, she SMS-ed back the following reply: "U see wild creatures and thot of food. Congratulations! U r now a bona fide chinese."

A couple days later, at Bako National Park, my cultural conversion was confirmed; a wild boar crossed my path and my mouth watered in anticipation of a delicious curry.  This could be problematic. As I head home in a couple weeks, I fear what this new appetite might mean for creatures across North America.

Care to whet your appetite? More pictures of wildlife and other potential food sources from the trip I took to Sarawak with my Aunt and Uncle are in the East Malaysia photo album on the right. Follow that link and scroll down or simply click here.