Orangutans

Borneo was the next destination, more specifically Pangkalan Bun in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. This is the nearest airport to the biggest orangutan reserve in the world, Tanjun Puting National Park. We were met by our guide for the following 4 days, Hakim, who took us to the river town of Kumlai where we got on a boat to go up the Sekonyer river to our resort - which is only accessible by water (for all intents and purposes). 

The river is really the heart of the experience in this part of the world, as it runs along the edge of the park, which is a jungle with few other means of access. Dotted along the river are a series of feeding stations for the orangutans and in between, the game is wildlife spotting along the banks. There is a steady stream of boats up and down the river, mostly with just couples aboard during the time we were staying, although there were a few bigger tourist groups. We were one of the many groups of two. The most popular accommodation is sleeping on board, parked somewhere along the river. We had a proper room with air conditioning! 

Although we didn't see anything on our way up to the camp, the action started on the very first afternoon as we checked in. In addition to orangutans, the area is home to a huge variety of other wildlife, and the resort is a popular place for proboscis monkeys and macaques. There was a troop of proboscis monkeys in the trees around the resort to welcome us as we checked in. We became reacquainted with them the next morning at 5am or so when they decided to jump out of the trees and onto the roofs of the cabins. 

After a brief chance to get our bearings, we were off to the first feeding station to see our first orangutans. We joined a group of tourists as bananas were dumped on a platform (roped off so we couldn't get too close. We had spotted a bunch of orangutans hanging around (literally) and about 10 descended onto the platform to attack the bananas. Proceedings were mostly controlled by a large matriarch, although quick hands allowed some of the junior monkeys to grab bananas without permission occasionally. It was pretty amazing to see them all up close.

Most of the orangutans who attend the feeding stations are either rescued or "second generation" orangutans, habituated to human presence. Numbers depend on the current food sources ,and occasionally none will show up at all for the regular feedings. Ten was a relatively small number, a good sign for conditions in the jungle. The main goal, however, is to spot orangutans in the wild, feeding close to the riverbanks as you cruise past in your boat. We were lucky enough to do just that on the way back to the resort, which was a genuine thrill - for our guide as well who was quite excited to show us wild orangutans, even after doing the job for 18 years. 

The routine for the next couple of days was set, and early morning cruise up the river, siesta after lunch, followed by another cruise along the river from 3pm until around sunset. We got a spectacular experience of a lot of the jungle wildlife, with macaques and proboscis monkeys featuring regularly (we saw enough that we got bored with them!). We saw 12 orangutans in the wild, which was apparently a pretty large number, along with a variety of birdlife including the stork billed kingfisher and the pied and black hornbills. Even though we were there for the orangutans (mission accomplished!), the highlight might have been seeing a sun bear eating honey from a wild beehive, high in a tree next to the river. This was an incredibly rare sighting, as they are quite shy of humans, and only the second Hakim had seen in 18 years. We were also fortunate to see some Storm's storks (appropriately, about half an hour before a massive downpour), of which there are only about 500 left, spread through Malaysia and Indonesia.

We also had another visit to a (different) feeding station, where only 4 orangutans showed up. Good for them, not as good for the tour groups, except that the alpha male who was present walked right by us to get to the food, which was a pretty spectacular up close and personal interaction. 

The rest of the stay included a night walk through the jungle, with reflective spider eyes everywhere, a viper spotting, several sleeping birds, glowing fungus and a couple of tarantulas. Gillian wasn't super impressed with the guide inducing them to attack a stick from their hidey holes... We also took a canoe trip up a small tributary, where we saw lots of macaques and proboscis monkeys, a crested serpent hawk and a mock viper. 

On the final day, we visited the local village and planted a tree each in the school grounds, which was a nice experience. Part of the package we signed up for included contributions to local conservation efforts, and the whole thing was geared around tourism-based employment for people in the local area, rather than working on palm oil plantations, including the resort staff. There was a lot of relaxing on the boat up and down the river, and a LOT of food (tasty, but we could never finish a meal). It was a great experience. 

We finished up with a visit to a traditional long house of the Dayak tribe on the way to the airport, which included a chance to try out our skill using a blowdart. James was quite impressed with himself after hitting just outside the bullseye of the target provided, doing better that Hakim. Gillian, however, topped both of them for accuracy and was declared the expert. The only downside to the whole visit was a long delay for our flight back to Jakarta, after an impressive rainstorm forced the incoming plane to divert to another airport, causing a 3 hour delay. It was a price we were happy to pay.