BORNEO.

Wild Places of the World

by John MacKinnon

Borneo is one of thirteen volumes in the Time-Life book series The World's Wild Places. In this lavishly illustrated series of books, readers journey to distant and exotic places in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. This book presents the flora and fauna of Borneo. Author John MacKinnon has done an excellent job of relating to the reader his first-hand experiences in the jungles of Borneo; he was bitten by a centipede and supplied blood to some leeches during his time in the jungle. MacKinnon also hunted wild pigs with the natives of Borneo. The first chapter describes the geology and geography of the island. Chapter Two looks at the plants and animals of the forests in Borneo. Primates such as slow lorises, tarsiers, gibbons, and orangutans are featured in Chapters Three and Four. In Chapter Five we learn about the tropical birds and the fables told about them by the indigenous peoples. Mangrove swamps and proboscis monkeys are the main subjects of Chapter Six. The last two chapters look at the rivers and caves of Borneo. The book includes numerous photographs of the plants and animals of Borneo as well as short descriptions of some of the native peoples. I especially enjoyed the chapter on orangutans. In short, this is a great book about the forests, rivers, and swamps of this unique jungle island.

Genres: Nonfiction, Asia, Nature

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Dee Renee Chesnut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Armchair traveling can also help set priorities for where I want to travel and can drop places down on that list. Borneo just dropped down on the list of places to go with one phrase from this book, "...multitudes of leeches..."
I can enjoy this book without bringing a box of salt and cigarettes with which to burn off the leeches.