Kalimantan Cruise: Orangutans

The main event during the Kalimantan cruise is the sighting of monkeys... mainly orangutans.  I learned so much about these wonderful creatures during this time.  Firstly, the name orangutan actually is an Indonesian word!  It means man of the jungle.  Who would have thought that the entire world uses an Indonesian word.  Kalimantan is one of the only places in the world that still has orangutans in the wild.  The other place is, I believe, Sumatra, another Indonesian island.

Our boat would arrive at a dock, where ten other boats would be docked.  We would hop from boat to boat since they were all double parked along the river bank and meet up with the rest of the vacationers, trek into the jungle to watch the orangutans.

Each of the kinds of monkeys that we saw seem to have their own way of getting around, and it was hysterical to watch them all!  The orangutans were climbers, and I now understand why we call kids who like climbing on things monkeys.  You could see them coming from a ways away because the trees would be bending and swaying as they swung from branch to branch.  It was as if they said, "Here's a branch that is the size of my little finger.  I'll go ahead and let it support my full body weight as I swing from tree to tree.  And you know what, I think I just want to stay here and eat my sugarcane.  Good thing these branches can hold me.  And good thing I have four arms."

 There was actually a large group from SPH Kemang Village that was on a cruise, so we got to meet up with them multiple times a day.  And my friend Janna was also on their trip, so I got to see her quite often!

One time, our boat was stopped, but it wasn't time for the feeding yet, so we just chilled on the boat.  And right next to us was a monkey chillin along the water.  Monkey's without tails cannot swim, so as our guide threw him little pieces of fruit, we watched the monkey maneuver through the branches along the water to retrieve the snacks.

Our guide was raised in the jungle, and he's been a guide for a number of years since returning to Kalimantan after studying in Bali.  So he is friends with some of the orangutans at one of the areas we stopped. So he called them over and we got to give them little peanuts.

We got to see a few other monkeys.  This little funky guy that was like a comic show.  He sneaked around the orangutans eating the food, but always seeming like he new he was breaking a rule.  

As we drove down the river, we passed a lot of monkeys in the trees, mostly proboscis monkeys.  It was funny to pass by and see them hanging out and jumping from tree to tree.  While the orangutans "gracefully" climbed from tree-top to tree-top, the proboscis monkeys jumped.  It wasn't like a ballerina jump.  It was a "let's throw myself off of this branch towards another tree and hope that I am close enough to grasp onto a branch at the last second."  Very un-graceful.  But very fun to watch.  And... this it was fun to watch the other people who were watching the monkeys.  

These aren't proboscis... not sure what these ones are called

Our guide

Thanks to Rachel and Lauren for being willing to share and trade photos!

Kalimantan Cruise

We had a few days off for Easter last week, and I had a friend from university, Rachel, who was coming (another blog post about my time with her later).  So we decided for a simple, relaxing, inexpensive, yet crazy awesome vacation: a boat cruise through the jungles of Kalimantan to see orangutans.

The premise of the vacation: Fly to a tiny town in Kalimantan with a name I cannot pronounce (Pangkalan bun) on the only flight of the day on the only airline to fly there (KalStar... actually a good experience!).  Be picked up, driven to hotel for relaxing evening at the pool and big comfy bed, and picked up at 9 the next morning.  Drive to the river, get on the boat, ride to the national park (Tanjung Puting). On the boat, we read, play card games, eat, read, stop along the way. We walk through jungle, see orangutans. Back on the boat, we watch the sun set, sleep and then repeat the next day.  So... I was excited.

Not even a half hour into the trip I was completely relaxed.  My feet stretched out in front of me in the bright sunlight (getting sunburned for the first time in a long time!), a book open, new parts of creation to see, and three wonderful girls to do it all with.

The view of my town from the plane

The center of Jakarta

The little river that you see is where the national park starts.  And somewhere back there is the
smaller river we also traveled

One of the first stops we made was to a little village.  I'm not sure how close this village is to villages in the middle of the jungle that never get visitors, but it was still a cool experience to see the simplicity of the way these people live, not in p

The deck was turned into a mosquito-free tent each night

On our second day on the river, we turned onto another river.  Our guide prepared us for this  moment, expressing how the water we would be turning onto is not polluted like the larger river.  And because it is still pollution free, it is a black river.  Well, in our minds we pictured the waters off of Jakarta... the black water produced by the worst case of sanitation and care for the environment that I have ever seen.  But when we turned on the narrow winding river, we were in for a surprise.  We didn't realize how dirty the water was previously until we saw the perfect reflection of the sky above.  Until we saw the bottom of the river or the plants growing below.  We really didn't realize the contrast until we turned back onto the big river the next day and the stench returned. 

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Our last evening on the river was filled with Kid President's "brain pictures."  There's no way that a camera could capture the perfect evening.  It was Good Friday, and at first I was a little sad knowing that I wouldn't get to have a normal Good Friday service.  But sitting on the front of the boat, driving straight into the sunset in the middle of the jungle, I couldn't hope for a more serene place to reflect on Christ's sacrifice.  The colors pained not just the sky but the reflecting river below and as darkness fell, the stars filled the sky.  We read the story of Passion week in the light of the setting sun and had a beautiful worship time, trying to remember all the verses of our favorite Good Friday hymns.  Down below, our guide was singing choruses of pop songs, which added to the ambiance.  

Once it was dark, we could see a million stars above us, so thick that we could see the Milky Way cluster across the sky.  And beside us, in the trees and bushes lining the river, were thousands of fireflies.  The filled the trees, creating an almost fairy-like presence.  The driver parked the boat along one of these clusters of firefly-filled trees and we ate a candle-light dinner on top of the boat, below twinkling fireflies and millions of stars.  We pulled out a phone (because let's face it, we are 21st century girls at heart) and put on some Frank Sinatre music to play in the background.  

Now, I'm sure that description doesn't quite give you the feeling that I experienced.  Complete awe and peace.  Joy.  Pure satisfaction of a life well lived.  But it's one of those moments that I never wanted to end, and now I never want to forget.  But I had to remind myself as I turned in to bed, that there's always more of God's creation to see.  And I will be just as awe-inspired every time.

Sunset photos: #nofilter

Thanks to Lauren and Rachel for being willing to share and trade photos!