Whining about long waits for white goods, high delivery fees or a lot of stairs to navigate? Try getting a new fridge/freezer to a jungle house with no roads in the Philippines!

If we want a new fridge/freezer, dishwasher, washing machine etc. we pop into our local Curry’s or visit AO.com. Pick the item, select a delivery date and pay £20-£40. Getting it through the door and winding stairs is the problem of the two deliverymen. There will be a road to the location however remote and perhaps we will tip the drivers once done. They can even plug the new appliance in and dispose of the old appliance if we pay extra.

Now let’s shift 11,000 KMs to a house outside of a town which can barely be described as a village in Southeast Luzon (Philippines). If you live on the concrete road, it is fine but what happens if you are 1 KM+ inside a jungle? Firstly, you head to an appliance store in the nearby small town or city, select a new fridge/freezer, pay them £15 to deliver it from the warehouse in the city and leave it at a relations house who lives on a slim road.

So far this does not sound too bad right? Yes, however the road ends here with no professional path to the house and you need to cross two rivers!

What is next? No vehicle can fit due to width and terrain, so the next best thing is a damulag. Next you will ask what is a damulag? A water buffalo native to the Philippines and also found in Malaysia + Indonesia. Also called a carabao it is usually blackish and does not have much hair.

Great, how do you put a large heavy fridge/freezer on top of an animal? You do not – you build a sled (no wheels). Once you hit a river you carry the new appliance on your back and then use the animal post crossing to deliver it to the remote house’s front door. After the back breaking mission you of course wait a few hours before turning it on.

One: get the fridge/freezer to the end of the paved path and start of the jungle/forest.


Two: load the appliance on the home-made sled.


Three: fetch the mother damulag and tie her to the sled. Child damulag will follow the mother automatically.


Four: move at decent speed through the muddy track to river #1.


Five: cross a tiny river with the damulag attached to the sled..


Six: place the appliance on your back.


Seven: carry the appliance on your back across river #2.


Eight: take the appliance off of the sled and deliver it into the final destination.