Tanjung Puting Day 3 (Last Day)

Last Day of #rtanjungputingtravelog.

07:28. We had fried rice and egg as our breakfast, with ultra sweet orange syrup that I couldn't affort to drink it.

We also tried to eat our comfort food: pop mie, and also other snacks, so we didnt have to bring them to Jakarta. In the end, we gave some of the remaining untouched food to the crews.

Such a good breakfast experince.

09:42. Heading to Kumai. The water is not black anymore. and well, back to civilization, phone signal, and real life. Wait, it's kinda irony when I wrote real life. Does that mean the forest that I just visited wasnt real? Or I was just too naive and segregate between my usual daily life and wildlife, while they are actually interconnected in a way. Since forest is one of the core supports for our life, whether we wholeheartedly conscious about it or not.

10:35 Arrived at Desa Adat Pasir Panjang, Pangkalan Bun, where inhabited by Dayak Pasir Panjang tribe.

This village was located around 15 mins from thr airport. Btw, I didn't feel like I was in a village. Perhaps there were houses around there somewhere.

Anyway, this is inside Rumah Betang, where few families were lived in.

Okay, the next paragraphs are taken from Indonesia Tourism web article. I know my English is far from perfect, but this is another different level, wk.

Usually, Betang built in rather big size with about 30-150 meter length, 10-30 meter width and the mast about 3-5 meter height. Betang built using high quality wood, the ironwood.

This wood can stand over hundreds of years and anti termite. This is the real best wood.

Betang House common inhabited by 100-150 people and you may imagine how crowded inside. Betang can be said as tribe house because it led by a Pambakas Lewu (the tribe leader). Inside, you will meet several rooms that inhabited by each families.

Last pic: Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil, See No Evil.

Betang has its unique points that can see from the elongated shape and there are only a staircase and entrance into the Longhouse. The stair which is used for enter to the Longhouse called 'hejot'.

Betang has built in high position from the ground in order to avoid the trouble things for residents of the Longhouse, include avoiding enemies that can come suddenly, wild animals, or floods that sometimes hit the Longhouse. Almost all betang can be found on the outskirts of major rivers in Kalimantan.

Tanjung Puting Day 2

 

06:53. Day 2 of #rtanjungputingtravelog. Breakfast with a view. The breakfast was surprisingly and thankfully good! I enjoyed it. Perhaps the additional ingredients that made it special: the surroundings.

Do you ever wonder whether we took shower or not? Of course we did. There were two bathrooms in the boat where we could take shower as well as performing other rituals. Well, it's quite a clean one, but actually I didnt dare asking from where they could get the water. lol..

Nevertheless, taking a shower was necessary for me. Since well, we sweat a lot.

 

Pondok Tanggui

08:39. Arriving at our next destination: Pondok Tanggui. We came here to see, well, orangutan of course. It seems there were several klothok ahead of us! There was this elevated wooden platform where we walked on it that reminds of similar platform in Tarakan. It seems that it's built on top of swamp or mangrove. We had a brief halt at the ticketing office, I guess. Then entered the area to reach the feeding station.

08:55. Entering the forest. Well, it's clear that some part of the area was the result of reforestation, since the appearance was more like a garden, or field, instead of a forest, like low trees and shrubs. At the feeding station, there were already some people waiting. Waiting for orangutans of course, not us. A family of foreigner put some yellow sticker on the back side of their tshirts, that I guessed were mosquito repellent. I always curious on the effectiveness of this kind of repellent actually. Have you tried it?

9:07. Apparently, the orangutans hadn't been there. Well, we should be patiently waiting then. We saw some other guests heading to the right side, going a little bit far into the forest, perhaps around 200m. Being FOMO, so we followed them. and some others followed too! 

 

High above in the midst of leaves, there was an orangutan. I am not the kind of person who could easily spot an object from afar, so yeah, not easy to find the famous animal.

 

 I intentionally didn't post edited video with background music, since one of the special things of the forest atmosphere, for me is the sound of it. In the last 2 pics, there's a girl put a spider (I guess) on the palm of her hand. A brave one.

09:53. Some people were rushing to go back to the feeding station. Woohoo, there's an orangutan coming. Well, almost an hour late, but what can you expect from orangutan?

It's enjoying its meal gently, unlike the one that we met in Tanjung Harapan, that ate like no tomorrow.

Well, I only brought my cellphone, and no sophisticated camera (since I didnt have it as well). So, it's kinda difficult to take good and sharp photos. But @ratri_kartika got a nice idea where she combined her camera and binocular. Btw, itu pake kamera belakang ya, wk.

After finishing its meal, the orangutan then climbed down the platform and went back to the forest.

Well, upon watching (and listening) to the videos, I just realized, and I'm quite amazed at how silent the people were. No one talking, and what we could hear was only careful steps.

The orangutan then peacefully back to the middle of the forest again.

10:27. We also saw the Kantung Semar plants, which was apparently quite abundant. I rarely see the plant in my normal days. Well, rarely seeing it with your own eyes, doesn't mean it's near extinction. In the classification, it's even least concern.

Nepenthes ampullaria (Latin ampulla meaning "flask", aka kantong air semacam botol) is a very distinctive and widespread species of tropical pitcher plant.

Unlike other members of its genus, has evolved away from carnivory and the plants are partly detritivores (aka pemakan bangkai. I had to google it since udah lupa artinya apa), collecting and digesting falling leaf litter in their pitchers. Altho in its appearance, it's still kinda scary, perhaps due to thorns on its side.

It was an exciting sight seeing this plant.

Sometimes seeing a huge branch crossed horizontally made me want to sit above it. Well, not so fast. Ants in the forest are noticeably large.
And they have this kind of red body. not all of its body, but the rear part only, but it's kinda terrifying. So need to double check prior sitting.

Do you know how the forest's floor like? There were parts that the falling leaves piling up over the years, that it feels bouncy when you stepped on it. Having writing that, I'm not sure whether it's the correct reason why it can be bouncy as that. lol.

Got lost? Umm, not really. That sometimes we ought to follow the not so obvious trail. That's why I think we shouldn't go without a guide.

Off we go out of Pondok Tanggui

10:50. Back to our klotok, floating on Sekonyer River. Who would have thought, arriving at the klothok, we were served with this fresh and cold drink! Alhamdulillah.

Altho not that difficult, but trekking surely was tiring. We charged our energy by eating none other than pop mie, while waiting our lunch.

On the left and right side, we often saw wild animals like bekantan and birds.

Occasionally, there were houses that I couldn't help wondering, how does it like living in the middle of nowhere like that.

Last pic: that was how the view from inside the klotok look like: jemuran everywhere.

 

Camp Leakey

11:41. Entering Camp Leakey, the final and furthermost destination among three stations that we visited during our trip.

Camp Leakey Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre was founded in 1971 as the first place in Indonesia to become a rehabilitation centre for orangutans at Tanjung Puting Park Central Kalimantan Indonesia.

Camp Leakey was established by Dr. Biruté Galdikas (photo #2) and former spouse Rod Brindamour.

It was named after the legendary paleo-anthropologist, Louis Leakey (photo #3), who was both mentor and an inspiration to Dr. Galdikas.

Famous blackwater river! I never knew or expected that the river located far in the middle of the forest could be black. I always thought that water would be crystal clear and pristine. Well, apparently that's not always the case. Black water might be pure in a sense that it's not polluted.

Blackwater river is a type of river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. As vegetation decays, tannins (ini macam zat yg ada di akar atau batang tanaman) leach into the water, making a transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling black tea. 

So, it really depends on the type of soil or plants surrounding the river.

Never thought that I would encounter traffic jam in this very place. The river was narrow and there were klotoks halted in the middle of the river.

Curious we were, what's the cause of the traffic jam. Well, apparently the klotoks' passengers were watching the main object of the national park: Orangutan.

Yes, finally we met orangutan outside the feeding station, it's sitting on a branch of a tree, watching upon us.

Can you spot it?

12:54. Arriving at Camp Leakey. We saw some signages (good that nothing too glossy here), telling that we shouldn't swim on the river, since there're lots of crocodiles. Whoa! I knew that the guides told us that there were crocodiles. Some of us had already seen them as well. I hadn't seen it myself. And, reading the warning was just like confirming that the crocs were real!

To my surprise, many visitors were ahead of us. Not the fact that they were ahead of us, but seeing that actually MANY people in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE was just unbelievable. I mean, from the way they acted, it's like they were Jakartans going to Taman Mini or Ragunan. Soo casual.

Well, perhaps for them, it's not that rural I guess.

Originally consisting of just two huts, Camp Leakey is now an assemblage of permanent wooden structures designed to provide a base for scientists, staff, students, and Park Rangers (kata wiki).

Carolyn Townson Information Center. There's a small building constructed as information center. I've tried to googling who Carolyn Townson is, but cannot find satisfying answer.

So, inside the information center, we found the facts about orangutan, as the result of research that has been held over decades.

There's an interesting family tree of orangutan, complete with their photographs, with very diverse names, from Robert to Siswoyo, from Princess to Siswi.

13:45. Heading to the feeding station. As mentioned before, the camp was founded by Galdikas. Do you know how it started? The first book she borrowed from the Toronto Public Library was a tale about a mischievous little monkey named Curious George. As a young child, her head was filled with visions of far off forests and exotic creatures.

Galdikas is graduated from UCLA, and a Professor at Simon Fraser University. In the field of primatology, Galdikas is recognized as a leading authority on orangutans.Prior to her field study of orangutans, scientists knew little about the species.

Leakey (her mentor) and the National Geographic Society agreed to establish a research facility in Borneo.

On the way to the feeding station, we did some foraging, lol. Of course our guide was the one who pointed out which plants or fruits that were edible.

Anyway, foraging (bhs Indo: meramban), is the activity of obtaining or seeking food, in this context, in forest.

Arrived at the feeding station, many people were already there. It was the largest crowd among 3 feeding stations that we visited during the trip. Maybe because it's Sunday? So the families were on holiday.

Waiting, waiting, and waiting.

The ones coming unfortunately not orangutan, but, celeng aka wild boar. Huft. And after looking some blog posts about Camp Leakey, it seems that wild boars are regular visitors at this feeding station.

15:29. One hour and a half from the schedule of feeding time (14:00). No orangutan was seen. I, and I guessed everyone, got bored.

I tried to read my kindle, then sat on my sandals, but still no orangutan. Some people then went back to their klotok. Sooo, now there's vacant chair for me.

I used the chair for lying down. Enjoying the moment, where I could stare at the sky in the middle of forest, listening to the sound of the birds and insects (and also the rangers who still tried calling the orangutan).

15:53. We gave up! Back to our klotok. On the way, saw a signage warned us to see orangutan encounter. Well, didnt see one. Anyway, thanks Camp Leakey!

16:10. NAT GEO moment! Swipe to see a crocodile eating a biawak! (what's english for biawak?). Yes, it's biawak, not chicken like when you feed crocs in croc park. We accidentally spotted it when our klotok was moving.

I really enjoyed my klotok lyfe, lying on a hammock, looking at the black water and plants on the riverside.

17:46. Chasing sunset

18:01. Such a beautiful sky, in a magnificent setting. and there was few minutes of "party" where like all insects and birds were shouting and chirping just before the night came. such a humbling experience

 

Fireflies

 

Chasing FIREFLIES aka kunang-kunang! There were thousands and thousands of fireflies decorating the Nypa trees on both sides of the river. Sooo beautiful. Twinkling and dancing in the dark of the night. and that night, we saw them A LOT. When was the last time you see fireflies?

I was aware that with regular camera phone, I wouldnt be able to capture it properly. So I didnt even bother.

and do you know the family of fireflies is called Lampyridae?

Moreover, I dont know whether it impacts the phototaking or not, but fireflies produce a "cold light", with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies. Umm, should be fine kali ya. lol.

So we were singing, then, sleeping. lol. Of course with mosquito net, that preventing not only mosquito but all kind of strangers animals to sleep together with us.

Tanjung Puting Day 1

Arrival

Welcome to day-1 of #rtanjungputingtravelog. First thing first, please throw away your perv mind.

Tanjung Puting is located at Central Kalimantan/Borneo, but to go there, there's a direct flight from Jakarta. No need to go to Pontianak (correction: Palangkaraya), capital of Central Kalimantan first.

From Pangkalan Bun airport, it's only 20 mins car ride to reach this port. Oh well, the port was very modest that there's no way to spot it if there's no locals or tour guide letting you know. At first actually I was afraid that we got scammed. Since well, it doesnt look like a spot for tourism.

We put our bags at the boat (let's just say it 'klothok', perhaps from the way it sounds). Since some other participants hadn't arrived, or perhaps because it's just not the departure time yet, so we were able to find some breakfast.

Well, not many warongs were open, but we were able to find a nasi kuning kiosk then had some meal there. 

Kumai River

Kumai River is actually quite wide, so vessels could go through it. The color of the water is brown though, I expected a clear one since for me, we're like already in the middle of nowhere. So the pollution should be very minimal. But apparently, there are many factors affecting the color of river water.

At around 12pm, our klothok was finally departed from the port. It was heading to the downstream part of the river. Yes, going to the sea. There were other guests too departing with us, some of them were Indonesians, and some of them were foreigners (hi guys!)

On the right and left side of the river, we could see many nypa palms around. It's kinda unique scenery for me, since well, in Java it's not that common afaik

We had our lunch on the boat! The weather was good, and I knew the journey was gonna be exciting!

 

So, the klothok actually went from Kumai River to Kumai Bay (Java Sea), then the klothok turned to enter another river: Sekonyer River (see the pic on the last slide).

We would go to three destinations in Tanjung Puting National Park, and to go there we would use klothok only. Yes, those were located by the river.

If you wanna know how what's on top of klothok look like, just slide the pic. Yes, you could put a bed and the lying on it while enjoying the scenery during your river trip. But ours didnt look like that. Well, perhaps the size of our klothok was similar but the number of passengers is different. If you could put a bed on the "main space" during the day, that means it's like a "private klothok" with very few or no other passengers.

Tanjung Harapan

4:40. First stop: Tanjung Harapan. This area was developed for ecotourism, and hosts the information center, guest house, watch tower and camping ground.

To get off from the boat, we ought to pass thru other klotoks first, by hopping from one to another. Yeah, that's what we always did whenever we want to get to land during our 3 days trip. Sometimes even the parking lot was kinda full, that our klotok had difficulty to find vacant spot.

Actually, when I read the photo, the name of the spot is Tanjung Harapan, but there's a signboard written Pesalat. Actually I'm confused! Even looking at the internet doesnt satisfy me, since it tells me that Pesalat is 45 mins boat from Tanjung Harapan. huft.

Aha! I remember, I have my super-guide, Mas @zulham_tri here in Instagram. Mas, could you let us know the difference between Pesalat vs Tanjung Harapan? :D

And here we go, entering the rainforest! I don't create video with music background, so you could listen what we listened.

14:53. In Tanjung Harapan, the feeding time is scheduled once a day at 15:00. 7 minutes from the time and we ought to not miss it!

The feeding station fortunately wasn't that far from the dock, it was shortly reached by easy trekking.

Well, it's not guaranteed that we could always see the orangutan tho. Remember, this is national park where they supposed to live in the wildlife, not zoo or safari park.

If they're supposed to live in the wildlife, so why they feed them? Is it only for tourist attraction? Please stay tuned for the answer 🤪

Anyway, at the feeding station, we see some staff preparing bananas for the orangutans.

15:04. It's coming! Apparently, the orangutan was pretty on time! It came from the middle of the forest, hanging and swinging from tree to tree, beforing approaching the feeding station.

Ambil dari artikel di liputan6: Feeding yang disiapkan bukanlah sumber makanan utama orangutan. Makanan mereka tetaplah ada di dalam hutan, sementara feeding hanya bersifat sebagai suplemen sekaligus indikator kondisi hutan di Tanjung Puting.

Bila saatnya musim buah tiba, tetapi feeding tetap habis dilahap, itu pertanda ada yang tak beres dengan kondisi hutan. Feeding juga untuk mengabsen populasi orangutan. Jika sudah tak datang lagi, ranger akan mencari tahu kondisi si orangutan.

15:59. We didn't see other orangutans coming, so we decided to leave the spot, and back to the river. Well, when I see some articles, it's said that sometimes the orangutans come even until 5pm.

Found an interesting insect! It's mimicking the shape of a leaf so it's hard to recognize if we don't pay attention.

16:44. Floating by the river, and we found some things. Curious? Stay tuned!

17:00. So, a group of Bekantan were spotted on the trees by the river. Few klothoks ahead of us were already reaching the riverside to get a better view of the Bekantans. You know Bekantan, right? umm, the mascot of Ancol's Dufan is Bekantan. The primate with big and long nose. Well, not elephant's long.

Can you see them? Their color is reddish-brown so they're easily spotted (esp when they're moving of course).

It is endemic to the Borneo and is found mostly in mangrove forests and on the coastal areas of the island.

Apparently, its conversation status is Endangered. What does it mean? Endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction.

So happy that we're still be able to see them in their natural habitat, and hopefully we would be able to see them for a long time coming.

After satisfied watching Bekantan fam, the klothok then moved on.

The sun was gonna set, so where would we go next? where do would stay that night?

 

Sunset at Sekonyer River

Apparently, the driver was seeking which spot where we would stay. Yes we would spend that night on the klothok! Finally the driver and crews found the proper spot (no idea what's the criteria of the spot), but then they hooked up the rope from the boat with the plants.

18:01. Sunset @ Sekonyer River. Look at how beautiful the water mirroring the shapes above.

Well, in the national park, most of the location has no cellphone coverage. No wifi of course, no data network, even we couldnt do simple phone call.

I loved listening to the sound of nature (water, insects, birds, breeze, other animals). But well, you know, growing up in hectic city like Jakarta, sometimes it feels weird. It feels like I miss something if I dont do anything. So, I turned to my kindle and opened it up, since I could read while listening to the nature sound right. But I opted to not put my music on..

18:53. Candle light dinner. So romantic, weren't we? We had our dinner on our klotok, served and cooked by the crews.

Well, the electricity was limited, but that doesn't mean we were totally off the grid. Every once in a while, the genset was turned on and we hungrily charged our phone and other batteries.

After having our dinner, the crews then prepared our beds! so they moved our dinner table as well as the chairs on top of the roof (well, you know what I mean). Then, they spreaded out the bed for us. Not only bed, but they also set up the mosquito net for us. It was necessary since we were basically in the middle of the forest, kinda, where many types of insects were around.

20:13. Not long after everything was set and we entered our "sleeping area", we could see some insects on the outer part of the net. Well, not the scary ones, but it.wouldnt be really nice if they're inside the net.

Aside from that, the crews also set tarpaulin on the sides of the klotok, so the wind didnt enter easily, as well as if there's any rain.

Since there's no signal whatsoever, so we could only do offline activities, such as playing charades, and sleep!