Borneo – On My Way!

Shannon Bushman | December 1, 2009 | 0 Comments

11/29/09 I’m sitting in the airport, about to board my flight to Jakarta.

I’m not a good traveler, I think I might simply despise airports. But I deal with it, a necessary evil I suppose.

I have a song stuck in my head. “I’ve always been crazy but it keeps me from going insane”. Maybe that’s because a lot of people have been looking at me like I’m crazy, insane or both. You don’t have to be crazy to do something like this Borneo Expedition, but it might help. Maybe it would keep you from dwelling on things like broken axels.

The jungles of Borneo are full of fantastic creatures but I have decided there is one in particular I would like to see. I suspect it will be the most difficult of all to spot, only six specimens have been found. The worlds largest insect is a Phasmatid and has been given a biological name of Phobaeticus chani (AKA Chan’s Megastick), a walking stick measuring over 22 inches long, was discovered on Borneo. Apparently its perfect disguise has kept it virtually invisible until 2008. Hey, it was selected as one of the “Top 10 New Species”. The previous “largest insect” record has been held for over 100 years. Makes me wonder what else is hiding there.

I will have a Thrane & Thrane Bgan, a satellite internet connection that I will use to make daily blog like posts, with plenty of photos here on UTVweekly.com. If you are inclined, you can follow me live in ten minute increments via my SPOT satellite messenger, visit my google map page located here: http://www.atvutah.com/spot/redman/index.htm. Keep in mind that when its 6pm at my home in Denver its 8am tomorrow in Borneo. If I’m not moving I might be asleep.

Time flies when you’re in a panic. When I made the decision to join the Borneo Equator Expedition 09 it seemed like I had lots of time. Of course by the time I worked backward and figured out when I had to ship the RZR-S to make it to Indonesia it turned out I had very little time. Panic number one was figuring out how to get a stock RZR-S into some kind of “Expedition Ready” shape. I’m fairly pleased with how things worked out but as I approach my flight time I find myself seriously regretting not putting a snorkle on the rig. I think I will survive not having spare axles or tie rods with conservative driving. But dealing with multiple swamped motor events has me worried.

The build was just the start. It seems like it’s been a constant job simply sorting out all the details. After the RZR shipped I had to keep in mind that everything was going with me on the plane after that. Simply dealing with a ton of crap in airports was not something I was looking forward to so I had to work to get it all into two checked bags and two carry-ons. From the get go I knew I would have a good sized waterproof Pelican hardcase for electronics. I have two onboard cameras, an HD video camera, a mid sized still camera, a laptop, three external disk drives, a Bgan satellite system for Internet access, and lots of cable, batteries, chargers, microphones, mounting systems, stabilization tools, lenses, hoods etc etc.

I thought it was no problem until I realized I had to carry my winch anchor, a 40″ LED light bar, an impact wrench and a ton of parts. In the end, after working really hard to distribute things between my checked luggage to stay below the 50lb limit on each, the nice lady at the ticket counter informed me I was over, by two pounds. I think she could tell I had really tried to get it right and simply said “Merry Christmas” and reminded me to be more careful next trip. Hey at $50 for overweight bags she just gave me a $100 gift.

The TSA officer who completely unloaded my Pelican case while swabbing for dangerous dust was very nice and interested in the trip. Of course he really had no concern for the fact I spent two hours figuring out how to pack everything just right and left me with a table full of electronics and an empty case after he determined I was insane but harmless. It didn’t all fit this time. Go figure. I’m flying with my pockets full of junk now.

The phone has been ringing pretty steady for the past few weeks and my geographically challenged friends still seem to think I’m going to Central America. Still getting lots of “What the Hell?” looks so I know it’s the right thing to do.

My RZR-S was supposed to hit the docks in Jakart on 11/21. Last I heard this was delayed until 11/28 which is the day all the other rigs are suppose to ship from Jakarta to Borneo. Leave it to me to hold up the show. There is no explanation from the shippers. Apparently seven days on international cargo shipments isn’t worth worrying about in their world. It is what it is, I just hope I don’t get all the way there only to find out I was left behind.

I still have work to do when I get there. I have to rework my iTi door install. Apparently doing this at 3am the night before the boat leaves makes you incapable of reading the instructions. My Trail Armor Skid plates are in a box on the roof. My large duffle is holding a 40″ light bar from Rigid Industries and a small matter of making the winches work.

There are personal things to be done when I get to Jakarta as well. I need to remedy the fact that I am headed into the jungle for weeks and I have no food yet. They frown on you importing food, so grocery shopping should prove to be an adventure. As it turns out your typical US auto insurance policy is only in force inside the USA. All bets are off overseas so I get the pleasure of negotiating a short term policy in Jakarta. I have no idea if this going to be a relatively painless process or a bend over moment.

Stay tuned, it’s just like any day at the races. Time flies when you’re in a panic.