Borneo 3

Camp Leakey  to  2nd Camp :

On the western side of the Sekonyer river the forest is largely inhabited by  "wild"  Orangutans. This is a protected area and the Orangutans here have had little or no contact with humans.  They are extremely shy and though we caught glimpses of one or two through the trees by the river they quickly moved away.

On our (eastern ) side of the river in Tajung Putang National Park most of the Orangutans are used to a human presence because of the research work that has been carried out here.

Also, over 300 Orangutans (many orphans) have been rehabilitated from the Care Centre at Pasir Pandang, set up in 1998 by the Orangutan Foundation International (OFI).

To assist the rehab. programme there are a number of feeding stations located around the three camps.

It is necessary to have these feeding stations at the camps simply because, with the depletion of the rainforest, there is not always enough natural food to sustain them.

Not all the Orangutans come back every day, usually only a handful. Some find enough natural food,  some don't.

Think of the feeding stations as being like "soup kitchens". 

The orphan crisis stemmed largely from illegal logging which destroyed large areas of Orangutan habitation. 

 Large or aggressive animals either fled or were slaughtered leaving many infants without parents.

Unbelievably, these infants were often sold as pets until that also was rendered illegal. 

If you're wondering about any interaction with the  "wild"  Orangutans on the other side of the river,  Orangutans don't swim !
In fact they will cover their heads with leaves when it rains,  like an umbrella.
Occasionally, suitable rehab. Orangutans are transported across the river to fend for themselves.

One of the great benefits of these feeding stations for tourists like me is that they attract species that we might otherwise not see.

Left : Wild Boar

Right : The elusive Gibbon

And now I'd like to introduce you to  Marco.

Birute Galdikas gives names to all the Orangutans at the research camps and to those from the Care Centre.
All the rangers and all the guides know all the Orangutans.

I met Marco on the way back to our boat and I asked Dian if I could spend some time alone just observing. Of course, for safety reasons he couldn't agree  ...  however, and I will be eternally grateful to him, he made himself invisible but was never more than 30 seconds away from me in case of problems !

He also returned occasionally to check I was still alive  !!
 and to take some photographs for me.

First, Marco and I just sat and watched each other,  then I offered friendship through a banana !  and then I thought he was leaving.

But what he did next was astonishing.  At night, Orangutans climb high into the trees and build a nest to sleep in by bending branches around and under them.

I didn't understand what was happening at first but then I realised that Marco was making a nest, right in front of me.

It was the middle of the day and he was making this nest no more that 2 metres off the ground. 

He was putting on a performance and showing me what he could do. !!

And when he'd finished he climbed out of his nest and came to me for a reward !

I was so absorbed in what was happening I hadn't realised that I had sat here for over 3 hours !!




We returned to the klotok and moved down river ready for the journey back to Kumai in the morning.

As the evening set in we were joined for the night by a troop of Proboscis monkeys.

And they were still there when we woke up the next morning.

Well we've all made jokes about people not looking their best first thing in the morning but this feller wins first prize !

He must have fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.

And I had to eat breakfast looking at him !!

Proboscis monkeys are an endangered species and can only be found in Borneo.


They are hilarious to watch and make the weirdest honking noise if you upset them. A bit like the circus clowns' car horn.

Believe it or not the large nose is used to attract a mate, the bigger the nose the better your chances are  !

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A fantastic end to a fantastic 3 month tour.

I fly back to Jakarta, on to Kuala Lumpur and then Penang for a few days r & r  !!

This will be the last blog from the Old Geezer  (on this tour at least !)

With all due respect to Penangites, another blog now would be like serving up a gourmet meal and following it with spotted dick !!

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Borneo 2

I'm waiting patiently,    I've heard on the vine that some  "old geezer"  is arriving today  !!

Towards  Camp Leakey :

We had moored the klotok overnight in the middle of nowhere tied to overhanging branches front and back.

( Sorry,   fore and aft  !! )

The dawn chorus here is something special.  It seems like every living thing in the forest is saying good morning.
(Probably just grateful to have survived and still be alive  !)  

From the bowels of the boat Seeti has conjured up an early (6am) breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast and coffee.

Then we continue the journey up the Sekonyar river towards Camp Leakey.

Up until now the river has been quite wide and
a  (not unpleasant )  chocolate brown colour.
Apparently due to upstream gold mining activity.

After a couple of hours the river divides.

We take the right fork staying in the National Park
and our river becomes much narrower.

The water reverts to a pure, clean, shiny coal black colour,
the surface is like a mirror and the reflections are fantastic.


And the rainforest feels like it's closing in on us


Finally we arrive at Camp Leakey




Having watched so many documentaries about this place I'm having to pinch myself to believe I'm actually here !

Boardwalk over the swamps

B. Galdikas house

Main research hut

Off the boardwalk now and a trek into the rainforest.



There are lots of surface tree roots and it can be a bit tricky underfoot.








The forest becomes quite dense in places

But it's not too long before we have company.

Actually, I think
the Tina Turner hairdo
is quite fetching  !!

And this is probably Dad.  The first adult male I've seen.

He arrived spectacularly with swaying trees and crashing branches.
The huge cheek pads are a sign of sexual maturity and they also assist projection of the voice.
They work a bit like a megaphone, so that his booming calls can be much louder and heard  further away.
And naturally,  to impress  ......  well, he certainly impressed me !!

By the way, the sound of an Orangutan call is unforgettable.  You just know that whoever made that noise ... is the boss !!

Not everything in the jungle is quite so big.

And not everything is up in the trees.

This innocuous looking hole in the ground is actually the entrance to a Tarantula nest !!

The grey/white around the hole is the residue of it's web.







Concentrate on the centre of the photo's below  ( it's the same tree ) and you see what looks like a small twig or branch from the tree.



This is actually a bees' nest.  They find a hollow in a tree to make their nest and then, using saliver, they build up the entrance tube.
They make it look like part of the tree but,  more importantly, only they can get in and out. you can just see one on the edge.
Predators, particularly the Sun Bear (who loves honey !), can't get at them.

Left : A termite nest

Right : A tree when they have finished

In  just 2 years a colony of termites like this one can kill a tree that may be 50 years old.




The video shows them at their busy work !

Borneo 1

Kalimantan  (Indonesian Borneo)

After eight weeks of travelling and many wonderful experiences, I finally reached my ultimate destination.

It's only right that I should open this section of the blog with one of my  (hundreds of !)  shots of the star character(s). 

I've been captivated by Orangutans for as long as I can remember and more recently, the well documented research, conservation and protection work of people like Birute Galdikas,  Gary Shapiro and the Orangutan Republik Foundation has just inspired me and fuelled my enthusiasm.

Without their work and dedication it simply wouldn't be possible for me to do what I'm about to do.

Their interference and lobbying of governments and captains of industry have largely halted the depletion of  the rainforests in Borneo and provided a safer future for the indigenous species.

For me, this is the fulfillment of a lifelong ambition to actually be near these wonderful creatures

and to be able to observe them in their natural habitat. 

Day 1  -   Pankalanbun / Kumai / Tanjung Puting National Park.

I've enjoyed every last second of the past 8 weeks but this is the day I've always been waiting for.  I can't help worrying that,  because everything so far has gone so well,  the "Grand Finale" with my beloved Orangutans might end up being a bit of an anti-climax.

I really needn't have worried, this next five days exceeded anything I had experienced so far !

Arrival at Pankalanbun
Tuesday  June 4th

Using Trigana airways,  I flew from Jakarta to Pankalanbun in the south east corner of the Island

(I hadn't realised that Borneo is the 3rd largest island in the world !)

I had no idea at the time but I was so lucky.  Trigana only have one plane to provide the daily service between Jakarta and Pangkalanbun and two days after my flight one of its' windscreens cracked on take off forcing it to return to Pankalanbun for repairs.

For the rest of the week all Trigana flights to Pankalanbun were cancelled.

             And the plane was still on the tarmac under repair when I returned 5 days later. 

Saturday  June 8th
Just fitting new windscreen !

The only other airline flying this route is Kalstar who were fully booked.
If I hadn't left on the Tuesday flight the Borneo tour would have had to be cancelled !

My luck continued ... because of timings on my last day
I had been booked to fly to Jakarta with  Kalstar not Trigana  ... saved again !







Pankalanbun airport is really just an airstrip in the old rain forest but they do at least now have a new terminal building.

It's a 25 minute drive to the port of Kumai where I will join my boat (klotok).


This is Kumai  "high street"  and  Dian who will be my guide for the week. 

And this is the klotok,  my home for the next 5 days.
and actually bigger than I expected.

Toilet and wash house are at the back, no plumbing, just buckets over the side for river water !

Then galley and engine room, crew living quarters and wheelhouse at front.

Old Geezer lives on top in the open bit.
There are tarps all round that you can roll down if it rains !
( and fortunately it didn't !)




On the left is my "home" during the day



And on the right is my "home" at night complete with floral mosquito net !



Left :  "Old Geezer"
forward observation post !!

Right :  The Crew
Clockwise from back
Dian (Guide)
Yadi (Captain)
Seeti (Cook)
Sony (Crew)




Leaving the industrial port of Kumai on the Kumai river we chug downstream for 2 kms and then turn north and east on to the Sekonyer river and into the Tanjung Puting National Park.

There's wildlife everywhere but it's well camouflaged and fast moving.


Good attributes for survival but not for photography !!

Another endangered species,  these hilarious proboscis monkeys are only found here in Borneo.

This route follows the trail of the original research teams back in the early 70's so after about 20kms up the Sekonyer river we arrive at the landing stage for  "1st Camp " as it's reasonably known.



In all there is 1st Camp,  2nd Camp  and finally Camp Leakey which is still today the main base for research.



Each camp has its' landing stage and there are miles of wooden boardwalk built to facilitate easy movement above the swamps.

After no more than a couple of minutes walking into the rainforest there was a huge crashing of foliage and branches on our left.

This is not the best photograph I have ever taken but  ....
... it's the very first Orangutan I saw in the Borneo rainforest.

Breathtaking, heartstopping and,
I don't really like the word but,   awesome !!

About  4'6" tall and  (Dian said) 40 - 50 kgs
She'd come to see what we were up to and to show us her baby.

She settled herself just a couple of metres away from us and, after I had had time to recover my senses and stop shaking, I took the photo. that I used at the beginning of this blog.





The Old Geezer is like a little boy who's having all his christmases in one week !


Orangutan translates to "people of the forest"


"Tiny utan"  is about 1 yr. old







Meanwhile back at the klotok  ...
Seeti is hunched up in the galley with a V6 diesel engine for company preparing tonights supper !

I have no idea how she manages but she prepares the most wonderful meals in what can only be described as "very basic" conditions.


Masterchef contenders don't know they're born  !





The Old Geezer will tonight enjoy fried chicken, shrimps, stir fry vegetables, sticky rice and a plate of fresh pineapple.

Much as I protest, the crew insist that I am "important guest" and decline my invitations to eat with me.

They provide me with 2 candles and retire to eat below deck.





After supper,   Dian, Sony and sometimes Yadi come up and sit on deck with me for a chat about anything and everything.

And then before bed I watch yet another beautiful sunset
and listen to the glorious rainforest orchestra.

Tonight we have cicadas on violin,
Macaque and Proboscis monkeys in the horn section
and I'm not sure who or what exactly is on percussion !
I just hope they wait until morning before introducing themselves !!

I'm going to lay inside my floral mosquito net and enjoy.        See you tomorrow !