By D’Drift Team
ULU BARAM, March 16: Tweet, tweet, Tekiwit; did you know that Tekiwit Waterfall of Long Sela’an here got its name after the ‘tekiwit’ bird, which is also known as swiftlets?
The story began when the ancestors of the Penan villagers in Data Bila were resting by the river when they came across a bird resting atop a sago tree.
Equipped with a blowpipe, the ancestor shot the bird with a dart and it landed upon the waterfall, thus its name Tekiwit.
“The bird is called tekiwit because it makes the sound tekiwit, tekiwit, tekiwit,” the chief’s son of Data Bila, Daud Sedin, told the D’Drift Team today.
Tekiwit Waterfall has a single cascade with a high drop of approximately 100 metres. It is almost hidden amidst the rock formation but is still visible due to its height.
To head closer, we had to scale the sides of a nearby smaller curtain waterfall, which was only about three metres tall.
Tekiwit’s waters that run along the waterfall and its rivers are cold and have a reddish tint. According to one of our guides, Jok Ding, he said that the red is because the water passes through a swamp before it reaches the waterfall.
We left for the waterfall from Data Bila village at 11.40am and arrived at Tekiwit at 12.45pm. This journey took us a little over an hour and was led by two Penan guides, Jok and Phillip Sedin, who is also the brother of Daud.
The path towards Tekiwit waterfall passes through an uphill muddy logging road before entering the forest, both of which took us half an hour each at a moderate pace.
The weather was clear and sunny during our visit, and despite its heat, the coolness of the waterfall upon our arrival provided us with a brief respite.
We considered ourselves lucky, as the weather started to take a turn for the worse not long after we left Data Bila and headed to our homestay of Segah Sela’an. It was a great relief for us.
However, we sent our prayers to the group of nine trekkers we encountered during our return and hope that they are safe amidst the rain.
Tekiwit Waterfall has so far received five groups of visitors, with us being the fourth.
Our stay in Long Sela’an will only last for this one night as we will continue with our sojourn tomorrow, making our way out of Ulu Baram.
This will then end our rendezvous with Baram for D’Drift trip 2024.
Looking back, it was our smartest choice to revisit because the many villages in Baram and their people have never ceased to surprise and impress us, leaving us with unforgettable memories.
We look forward to reaching Ulu Baram and visiting other villages such as Long Liam, Long Jeeh, Long Laput, and Long Kevok, whose names were frequently mentioned by the locals we met.
Goodbye, Baram. Till we meet again. — DayakDaily
