The following text is taken from a memoir entitled The Man Who Climbs Trees by James Aldred. I had been woken by a sudden downdraft of air that left my hammock gently swaying. Lying on my side, I stared in drowsy amazement at the huge pre-historic looking bird that had just landed next to me. The two of us were 200 feet off the ground in the top of a tree in Borneo, and I'd never seen a rhinoceros hornbill so close-up before. It hadn't noticed me yet and was using its long beak to preen its breast feathers. A huge colourful casque¹ curled up from the top of its head like a flamboyant Turkish slipper – fiery reds and yellows glowing brightly in the half light of dawn. I was entranced. A few seconds later it froze, then raised its pterodactyl head to peer at me with a ruby-red eye before launching off the branch into space. Immense black wings unfurled to catch its weight and it was gone. Swallowed in an instant by the thick morning mist. Rolling onto my back I lay staring up into the giant branches above. It had been a long night. The sweat from yesterday's climb had long since congealed into a clammy grime all over me. My clothes were dank, gritty and torn and my skin crawled with biting ants. I had a burning rash on my chest from who knows what, and I'd been stung twice on the face by a night wasp sometime around midnight. But it was worth it – all of it. Encountering a hornbill like that was what it was all about. I was immersed in my very own dreamworld of swirling mists and fairy-tale creatures. There was nowhere else I'd rather be. The sun hadn't yet risen and I was cold for the first time since arriving in Borneo, a welcome change from the usual stifling heat of the rainforest. Sunrise couldn't be far off, but for now I was happy to lie back and watch the individual droplets of water drift past. They swirled in the visible currents of air, condensing as shiny beads on the metal of my climbing gear. I had slept in my safety harness attached to a rope, my only direct link to the other world far below. * * * Ten storeys above ground I was halfway up and the tree trunk still measured five feet in diameter. These Borneo trees are on a different scale to any other hardwoods in the world. I span round to take a look at the view. I had been saving this moment until I was way above the understorey, in a place that would do it justice. But I had felt its presence lurking behind me the whole time as I climbed. An almost palpable, brooding watchfulness, as if a thousand pairs of hidden eyes were boring into me from the surrounding jungle. As I twisted round, I was greeted by one of the most breath-taking views I'd ever seen. Dense rainforest swept away from me, cascading steeply down from the ridge to merge into an enticing landscape of giant trees far below. Many miles away on the horizon the forest rose back up to swarm over a ridge of tall, rugged hills. A vast ocean of unexplored, virgin jungle. What hidden wonders lay out there in those trees? ¹casque: a decorative growth on the beak