Inspiration for "After you..."

...which is what I said when faced with a 50m climb up a mengaris tree on my second day in the jungle. The series of aging metal ladders casually bolted to the tree as it vanished up into the heavens would have frozen the heart of an OSH inspector. I made it to the viewing 'platform' to enjoy a fabulous birds eye view of the world coming to life, while plucking up the courage to climb down.These trees often harbour colonies of giant wild bees, in honeycombs up to 2 metres across which local tribesmen still harvest - they climb the tree on spikes driven into the trunk as the tree grew, and carry a smouldering torch to drive the bees away while they load their baskets with the precious honeycomb. The honey provides a protection of sorts for these great trees, as its value to these people exceeds that of its timber - one tree can provide a climber with 500kgm of honey.

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