Osman's tantrum
One of the cooler things to do in the Sabah province of Malaysian Borneo is a safari along the Kinabatangan river. At the suggestion of a group of 4 Germans I befriended near Kinabalu national park, I contacted a man named Osman, who ran a homestay and did two daily river safaris. They had seen some amazing sights on his safaris: pygmy elephants, tons of monkeys, even a clouded leopard eating a proboscis monkey in a tree (which is basically once in a lifetime). Osman allegedly took David Attenborough out on the river, was an extremely talented guide, and had a very nice family. However, I read some reviews of his homestay on TripAdvisor and there were several pretty alarming ones about his temper. The Germans had said he was a bit crazy, but didn't mention anything about a fiery temper. I decided to go anyway on their recommendation, and the assumption that the reviews were being a bit dramatic.
After contacting his wife, Yanti, through WhatsApp, I boarded a few local buses to get to Sukau, a village on the river. The bus came to a boat launch and Osman was waiting for me in his small speedboat, wearing a poncho as it was pouring. I hadn't been on a boat in a while, so I was all smiles for the ride even though my raincoat was buried in my backpack and I was getting soaked. When we got to his homestay, we had some tea and talked about safaris. Pretty good first impression - the guy seemed like he had his head on straight.
Then the rest of our party showed up. I had kept in touch with Tim and Laura, a Dutch couple who I had also met at Kinabalu park, as we had agreed to do the safari together. They arrived with more girls they had met, Bebe and Dana. Tim, Laura and I greeted each other with waves and smiles, and chatted while the four of them unloaded their bags onto the porch and took off their wet ponchos. A few minutes later, Osman asked us to gather on the porch, and proceeded to, out of nowhere (to me), completely chew Bebe out. It was an angry tirade about disrespect and condescension. Spit was flying, feet were stomping. Bebe was crying and yelling back at him. I was standing there completely dumbfounded and at a loss for words, wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into. It ended with Bebe and Osman both storming off in opposite directions.
Osman and I had a pretty friendly first interaction, so sometime later, he pulled me into the kitchen and sat me down. Apparently Bebe had been rude to the driver who brought them to the pier, a friend of Osman's, chiding him in English after he mistakenly gave her incorrect change. She then dramatically demanded to be helped down the ramp and onto the boat, and refused to carry her own bags, as she had hurt her ankle recently. He asked me to talk to her about respect, which I politely refused to do, because there was no way in hell I was getting in the middle of this weird argument I knew nothing about.
Eventually they had a chat and agreed to let bygones be bygones. Thankfully, that was the only tantrum we witnessed while staying with Osman's family - after that, we just had to deal with his weird jokes about monkeys having sex.
After contacting his wife, Yanti, through WhatsApp, I boarded a few local buses to get to Sukau, a village on the river. The bus came to a boat launch and Osman was waiting for me in his small speedboat, wearing a poncho as it was pouring. I hadn't been on a boat in a while, so I was all smiles for the ride even though my raincoat was buried in my backpack and I was getting soaked. When we got to his homestay, we had some tea and talked about safaris. Pretty good first impression - the guy seemed like he had his head on straight.
Then the rest of our party showed up. I had kept in touch with Tim and Laura, a Dutch couple who I had also met at Kinabalu park, as we had agreed to do the safari together. They arrived with more girls they had met, Bebe and Dana. Tim, Laura and I greeted each other with waves and smiles, and chatted while the four of them unloaded their bags onto the porch and took off their wet ponchos. A few minutes later, Osman asked us to gather on the porch, and proceeded to, out of nowhere (to me), completely chew Bebe out. It was an angry tirade about disrespect and condescension. Spit was flying, feet were stomping. Bebe was crying and yelling back at him. I was standing there completely dumbfounded and at a loss for words, wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into. It ended with Bebe and Osman both storming off in opposite directions.
Osman and I had a pretty friendly first interaction, so sometime later, he pulled me into the kitchen and sat me down. Apparently Bebe had been rude to the driver who brought them to the pier, a friend of Osman's, chiding him in English after he mistakenly gave her incorrect change. She then dramatically demanded to be helped down the ramp and onto the boat, and refused to carry her own bags, as she had hurt her ankle recently. He asked me to talk to her about respect, which I politely refused to do, because there was no way in hell I was getting in the middle of this weird argument I knew nothing about.
Eventually they had a chat and agreed to let bygones be bygones. Thankfully, that was the only tantrum we witnessed while staying with Osman's family - after that, we just had to deal with his weird jokes about monkeys having sex.
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