Here I was, in the Malaysian jungle, treating the trek like a project to complete, self-conscious of my slowness, unhappy to be exhausted from the inundations of a most holy place. At least the awe of the place didn’t elude me – even if I was angry, I was angry in awe. That’s how powerful the jungle spirit is.

The pilot announced in our headphones that the boundary of the Canyon was ahead. What I could see was a forested mountainside rising to the same altitude as our aircraft and stretching away to either side. The top of the ridge was hidden in cloud and we feared that we would not find a break which would allow us to cross. We were flying into the sun and the cloud seemed blinding white and impervious, the jungle almost black by contrast. A gap appeared and we altered course. ‘Oh lucky day!’ announced our pilot ‘welcome to the lost valley of Imbak’.

    ‘Ripe Hairy Red Fruit’ introduces several subjects and questions that have been cropping up over the last two years: Imbak Canyon, Maliau Basin and Danum Valley conservation areas The ‘economic value’ of rainforest conservation Forest rehabilitation and management   On the Arkitrek itself we had an architectural design brief to work to but [...]