Up the "Windy River"
Trip Start
Dec 28, 2009
1
48
74
Trip End
Apr 20, 2011
Where I stayed
On a river boat!
Kumai, Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Upon arriving in Kumai, there are only about 2 hotels in this really small town but the taxi driver didn’t seem to know any of them, we were saved by a man from one of the tour companies who randomly pulled up next to our taxi, he could speak some English, and directed us to the hotel. We got to the hotel and arranged quite easily the boat for 3 days, 2 nights, you pay for 1 guide 1 driver a cook and a helper man, + ours and their food. On the trip you spend the time travelling up the river and you sleep on the deck of the boat, under a mosquito net, out in the open. Our next destination is Sulawesi so before getting on the boat we booked a boat to Semarang (Java) which is a better place to get flights or other boats. We set off the same day with our guide Dodi, the boat was lovely and we had it all to ourselves, with loungers to relax on. There are 3 camps you can stop at to see the semi wild orangutans at the feeding stations.
On our way up the river it wasn’t long before we saw our first wild ape, they sit in the palms breaking the leaves off to eat, so you can see the branch shaking in the distance. They don’t stick around for long so it was only a short glance we got. The first camp we stopped at, we stupidly didn’t cover up for the mosquitos, even though we had spray on we were getting bitten to death, we stayed at the feeding station for about 5 minutes with Justin wacking me with a branch to get the mozzies off and we also had a wasp flying around our heads, you can imagine the scene, so we quickly headed back with many bites.
Travelling up the river was very relaxing and we saw more wild orangutans which was amazing and wild proboscis monkeys. Dodi was fantastic at spotting wildlife. The first night we moored away from any other boats and we had a family of proboscis monkeys very near to us, sitting in the trees on the river bank. We had a lovely dinner, the best that we have eaten in ages and the stars were unbelievable, there was no light pollution so the sky was filled with them, we could also hear lots of grunts and noises from the jungle and a monkey choking aswell which was funny. We got into bed about 8pm, if nothing else just to get away from the bugs, and lay there for ages listening to the sounds of the jungle.
The next morning we woke up at 4.30am, didn’t see the sun come up as it was really cloudy but early morning is the best time to see birds and some monkey action. We spent the whole day travelling up the river and stopped off at 2 feeding stations. We saw lots of black hornbills flying and loads of nice birds one being a Hawk eagle awesome to see, but couldn’t make out which kind!!
To get to the main head quarters for the rehabilitation centre you have to go of the main river and join a fresh water river that looks like it is black because of the minerals in the water, it is actually very clean and clear. Jungle rivers kick ass!!
At the main feeding station it was about a 20 minute walk, on the way we met Princess who has been on TV as she can use a row boat on her own! Amongst other things ,and her baby. Dodi know here very well and she can understand Bahasa , so he asked her what she wanted and she did the sign for food, before he would give her food he asked for payment and she picked up a leave and gave it to him. It was so amazing to watch him communicating with these incredible apes. Justin also had a go, which I caught on film, it’s on our Facebook page if you want to have a look. Justin and Dodi also walked up the path holding her hand. In normal circumstances this is of course a big no no, but she has been around humans pretty much all her life and is very used to people. She has also been on tv as she can also paddle a canoe on her own. With all the new baby Orangutangs they are trying to cut down the contact at the feeding stations, and get them more independent, and more cautious of humans.
At the feeding station, lots of orangutans came down, they don’t get food everyday and today they just got milk, Princess came and sat right next to me and fed her baby and after much entertaining and when all the milk had gone she walked away, but first stopping to wave goodbye to us. On the way back from the feeding station we were very lucky to see some red monkeys, which are very rare and managed to get a picture.
That evening Dodi sat with us for ages and he taught us some words in Bahasa and we helped him with his English. He couldn’t say the R in rocking it came out as a W, was funny. We didn’t manage to see any crocodiles but they are easier to see when it’s dry season as the water is much lower and they don’t have so many places to hide.
This is probably the best wildlife trip that we have done so far and was well worth making the effort to get here. We are also getting better at Bahasa and can order food and ask how much etc. You don’t have to be able to speak too much but the locals seem to really appreciate it and some find it funny to see you try, plus if we didn’t speak some Bahasa I think we would starve and be sleeping on the streets.
