> Travel Journal: ''A trip into the jungle of borneo''

Tanjung Puting National Park

Kalimantan

13-16 May 2010

Rita. Sofi. Riyadhi. Mas Feri

I really dont remember exactly when I first heard about Tanjung Puting National Park. But I know it’s several years ago. And I know that I’ve marked the pages of an article called ‘slowboat to orangutans’ on a December 2008 edition of ‘Jakarta Post Weekender’ magazine. A year later, I started to search more info about the place and the right tour agent with the right price to fulfill my wishes to see orangutan in borneo. And of course the right kinda friends to accompany me to go to such place : )

Finally, after two cancellation on december 2009 and april 2010, my time has come to go to pangkalan bun, and then to kumai and then to the river of sekonyer. It’s a very very unique trip and a very memorable one. Loved every single minute of it. Thx to our very entertaining and helpful guide, Mr Anang Emen, the captain of the boat Mr Aris and his ‘assistant’ Mr Iwan Paluy, Ms Nia the chef, and of course Mr Herry who introduced us to those guys. And not to forget my beloved travel mates: riyadhi, sofi and Mas Feri : )

So here’s the story of the trip served to you with a mixed language (soalnya kadang suka males mikir, hehee)

Day 1, 13 May 2010

Trigana Air from Jakarta 3.10 pm. Arrived at Pangkalan Bun’s Iskandar Airport around 4.30. And then we drove to Kumai (about 20 minutes) and got on our slowboat (they call it ‘kelotok’) when it was already dark. We spent the night at the kelotok, on the shaded top deck, with mattresses and mosquito nets. Some sparkling stars and sparkling fireflies accompanied us that night, along with the sounds of nature

: )

Day 2, 14 May 2010

We got up early, around 5 to 5.30 am coz it’s already bright. Crew kapalnya ampe bingung gara2 mereka bangun lebih siang dari kita. Hahaa..

We had nasi goreng for breakfast.. itu setelah mereka menyulap ruang tidur kita jadi ruang makan : )

 Lalu dimulailah perjalanan itu..

4 hours cruising along the river of sekonyer. Saw bekantans along the way. A very funny-looking creature. our first stop for the day is camp leakey. Somewhere along the way to camp leakey, the river changes it colour from brown to pitch black. Later we found out that it was not black, the color is actually like a tea, a bit red.

Arriving at camp leakey around 11 am, we still had a lot of time before the orangutan feeding time at 3 pm. So we did a little trekking led by
Mr anang (of course). Our first encounter with orangutan is Percy.

percy

Abis liat Percy, trus muter2 bentar liat pohon2 (dan poto2), mampir bentar di Information Center.

Abis itu balik ke kelotok, lunch. Istirahat bentar. Lumayan banyak juga tuh kelotok yg lagi parkir di sana. Tp semuanya bawa bule. Hehee..

Abis makan, balik ke dalem lagi. Sempet nunggu bentar, sembari ngeliatin uwa uwa minum kopi (ato ngejilatin kopi?) ama ngeliatin babi bolak balik :P

Feeding time! Time to see the orangutans at the feeding platform of camp leakey. The rangers serves milk (dancow) and lots of bananas. Ngeliat orangutan lumayan banyak, mostly mothers and their babies : )

Kita nongkrong di sana ampe sore n ampe puas moto2. Trus balik ke kelotok lagi,

mandi2.. dengan air berwarna teh itu :P

But they have a shower on the boat :D

Istirahat... dinner... chit chat with Mr Anang..

Time to sleep : )

Day 3, 15 May 2010

Pagi itu kami masih di area air berwarna teh, jadi kami masih bisa mandi :D

Sekitar jam 7, lanjut perjalanan.. today we have 4 pit stops to make.


doyok

Camp Tanggui

We saw the king at the feeding platform. His name is doyok. Kinda creepy :P

Oiya, di hari ketiga ini, guide kami sepertinya jadi aga gila (ato mulai menunjukkan keasliannya? Ato mulai beradaptasi dengan kami? Hahaa..).

Well anyway... ntar diceritain lagi.. hihii..

menanam pohon

Pesalat

We want to plant a tree!

Saat ini, katanya ga ada donatur untuk daerah pesalat. Dan memang kerasa banget bedanya ama camp untuk orangutan (pesalat ini bukan camp orangutan, mereka lebih fokus ke tanaman). Jembatan untuk ke posnya aja udah tua dan berlumut gitu. Hmm.. semoga lekas ada donatur..

Ktemu dengan Pak Laden dan pak Dulah di sana. Diterangin tentang beberapa pohon. Lalu lalu, kami memilih pohon yg siap ditanam. Rita, Yadhi dan Sofi milih ulin. Karena ulin (kayu besi) ini udah mulai abis dan kecepatan tumbuhnya lamaaaa banget. Mas Feri milih gaharu, pohon ini juga udah mulai abis.

Yg mau kami tanam ini usianya 1 tahun 2 bulan. Gw milih yg kecil aja. Bukan apa2, kalo milih yg tinggi, berat euy. Heheee.. soalnya kita harus jalan dikit buat menuju ke lokasi nanamnya. Kami menanam pohon kami di blok 8. Ulin gw tingginya cuma 55 cm. Wahai ulinku, semoga dirimu bertahan sampai seratus tahun yaaa : )

Poto2 poto2. Pak Anang, karena udah tau kalo kita suka moto (dan dipoto di setiap spot) mulai nawarin motoin. Mulai dr di depan pohon bambu, ampe di depan mesin.. wakakaa..

main sepeda

Camp Tanjung Harapan

Feeding time at 2 pm. Sebelumnya maen sepeda dulu di deket pos : )

Abis itu langsung masuk hutan mnuju ke feeding platform. Ternyata eh ternyata, nyamuk2 di sini ganas2. Ngegigitnya nembus baju. Celana gw yg warna item pun dikerubungin. Hueee...

Gerah gerah... gatel gatel... lengkeettt.. balik ke kelotok, eh di atas meja udah ada 4 mangkok.. apa itu? Apa itu? Waaahh.. ternyata es campur... oooh nikmatnyaaaa :D

Sembari makan es campur, sembari motoin bekantan yg lg nongkrong di atas pohon di sebrang kelotok.

Desa Tanjung Harapan

Bought a souvenir.. walked around the village.

Wah, malam terakhir nih.. huhuuu...

Sempet ujan deres. Alhamdulillah siangnya ga ujan, jadi kami bisa beraktivitas : )

Ngobrol2 lagi ama Pak Anang. Ketawaaa terus ngedengerin cerita beliau tentang tingkah turis2 yg dtg ke sana. Dan ternyata grup kita itu termasuk yg aneh. Wisatawan domestik. 4 hari pula nginep di kelotok. One of a kind! Kayanya sampe sempet menimbulkan diskusi panjang di antara guide2 yg lain. Ada yg sempet ngira kita dr thailand ato malaysia. Hihii..

Last day, 17 May 2010

Mnuju kumai. Time to say goodbye to the kelotok and the river. Hiks..

Sedih sedih.

Karena bener2 bersama mereka terus (pak anang n the crew) selama 4 hari, lama2 jadi akrab.

gelang

Kegiatan pagi itu... dibuatin gelang dr bruta sama kapten aris, trus dipakein. Ngeliatin sang kapten nyetir dengan kakinya, hihii... ngeliatin kelotoknya lupa disetirin karena pak anang lg nelpon, hehee... dan merasa sedih karena harus kembali ke jakarta...

Nyampe kumai lagi.. muter2 bentar di pangkalan bun.. berpisah dgn pak anang n aris di bandara. Till we meet again ya pak. Hopefully in 4 years.. or sooner :D

Epilogue

A very very memorable trip indeed. when an amazing place.. meets a unique experience of spending 3 nights on a kelotok.. and with very fun and helpful people... perfect.. just perfect...

poto keluarga



Special thanks to my friends: sofi, yadhi and mas feri.. for sharing this trip with me. amazing...

Let’s save our rainforest.. the home of orangutan, bekantan, uwa uwa and other cute primates. Oh, not to forget ulin and gaharu.

Let's get to know 'em, love 'em and save 'em : )

For other pictures of tanjung puting, please click traveling.. food for my soul: di Sungai Sekonyer, kalimantan tengah (ritaaza.blogspot.com)