Enter the park's network of lakes, creeks and channels from Lanjak in the north near Putussibau, or Semitau in the south near Sintang. Be sure to register with the park office at either town (150,000Rp per person per day). Boats run 400,000Rp to 700,000Rp per day, and guides cost 150,000Rp per day. Highlights include staying at Pelaik (120,000Rp per room) – the isolated longhouse tucked away in the forest at the end of a hidden lake; fishing at nearby Meliau (300,000Rp); watching the sunrise from Tekenang hill; and hunting for honey with the villagers at Semangit. Arrange a tour through Canopy Indonesia in Pontianak, or Kompakh in Putussibau. Getting here takes some time, so plan to stay a while.
8Information
Rafly CyberINTERNET
(Jl Yos Sudarso 127; internet access per hour 4000Rp; h7am-10pm)
RS DiponegoroHOSPITAL
(%0567-21052; Jl Yos Sudarso 42)
Local hospital.
8Getting There & Away
AAir Kalstar (%0821 5202 2213; Jl Lintas Selatan 42B) and Garuda (%0567-21870; Jl KS Tubun 7A) offer once daily flights to Pontianak (546,000Rp, one hour). Taxis from the airport (3½km) cost 50,000Rp, an ojek 25,000Rp.
ABus Services leave from Sentosa (%0567-22628; Jl Rahadi Usman) and Perintis (%0567-21237; Jl Yos Sudarso 71) offices for Sintang (140,000Rp, nine hours, 6am) and Pontianak (200,000Rp, 12 hours, six daily 10am to 1.30pm). For Badau and Lanjak (120,000Rp, four hours, 10.30am) head to the bus terminal north of the market.
ABoat The pier is on Sungai Kapuas east of the bridge.
8Getting Around
The only way to get around Putussibau is to hire a motorbike (75,000Rp per day), as angkot have gone way.
Tanjung Lokan & Sungai Bungan
Cross-Borneo treks start or end at the village of Tanjung Lokan, a small group of huts located on Sungai Bungan, a rapid-filled tributary of the Kapuas. There is a basic lodge (50,000Rp) and a few guides for hire, but English is hard to come by.
The expense, challenge, and risk of travelling through this section of churning river is not to be underestimated, or underappreciated. Expect to walk around some sections. The cost of the seven-hour downriver trip to Putussibau has been officially set at 1,000,000Rp per seat and up to 4,000,000Rp per per boat. Upstream takes twice as long due to the current, and costs twice as much.
Sukadana
%0534 / Pop 22,000
Sukadana is a most welcome surprise, all the more so because few people seem to know about it. Half the fun is just getting here, commonly via a scenic five-hour speedboat ride from Pontianak through tributaries, estuaries, and the mangrove wonderland near Batu Ampar. The region is full of forested hills and attractive islands dotted with isolated fishing villages begging for exploration. Finally you reach wide Melano Bay on the South China Sea and skirt the coastline, passing Batu Daya, a vertical wall of rock soaring in the distance as you approach the mountains of Gunung Palung National Park.
Sukadana is hidden in a fold of coastline betrayed by its major landmark, the Mahkota Kayong, a completely out of place hotel built over the water. South of town, an attractive beach, surrounded by rolling rainforested hills where gibbons usher in the dawn with melodic duets, helps make this an excellent getaway.
Tourism is in its infancy, but USAID-advised ecotourism initiatives in the nearby village of Sedahan, and an increasing focus on the Karimata Islands, are putting this undiscovered coastal mountain town solidly on the radar.
GUNUNG PALUNG: A PARK THAT'S HARD TO LOVE
Gunung Palung's mountain landscape, wildlife diversity and accessibility should make it the premier rainforest trekking location in Kalimantan. With a large population of wild orangutans, hundreds of acrobatic gibbons, sun bears, clouded leopards, and old-growth trees so large four people can't reach around them, the park is one of the last great pockets of primary rainforest on the island. Unfortunately, a history of mismanagement coupled with a monopoly on tourism by the park-employee-owned company Nasalis Tour and Travel (%0534-772 2701; www.nasalistour.com; Jl Gajah Mada 34, Ketapang) has long made visiting this unspoiled gem financially challenging. But there may be hope.
Now operating under a new administrator, Gunung Palung has made laudable progress toward both curbing illegal logging, and opening the tourism market to local communities and outside companies. After a nearly four-year struggle, the village of Sedahan has regained permission to take visitors to the Swiss Family Robinson camp at Lubuk Baji in the foothills behind their home, and Canopy Indonesia is poised to begin offering the trip as well. Unfortunately, official park zoning makes the primary forests at Cabang Panti research camp explicitly off-limits to tourism (though somehow Nasalis still advertises trips there via a Gunung Palung summit trek – for a price.)
1Sights
Pulau Datok BeachBEACH
( GOOGLE MAP )
A well-kept town beach, encircled by rainforested hills and looking out on some alluring islands. Dining options come and go as randomly as the Sunda Shelf tides, but you can usually find a few warung serving fresh coconut, assorted juices or satay. During low tide, join a pick-up game of football on the mudflats and meet the locals.
Sedahan VillageVILLAGE
( GOOGLE MAP ; %Pak Naza, village head 0896 3411 1189, Rachel, an English-speaker 0852 5255 5678)
Known for its high-quality rice, this verdant farming village at the foot of Gunung Palung has a unique attitude and aesthetic due to the Balinese transmigrants, whose culture blends with the local flavour. A nascent ecotourism initiative, including a community homestay (single 150,000Rp, double 200,000Rp), has opened new opportunities. Local guides can arrange trips to Lubuk Baji in Gunung Palung National Park.
ASRI TO THE RESCUE
ASRIVOLUNTEERING
(Alam Sehat Lestari; GOOGLE MAP ; %0853 4963 3000; www.alamsehatlestari.org; Jl Sungai Mengkuang)
ASRI applies a unique lever against the logging in Gunung Palung. This conservation organisation runs a medical clinic where communities who opt to conserve the forest receive discounts on affordable health and dental care. Patients are offered payment plans and allowed to barter using compost, handicrafts and seedlings for the reforestation sites. Interested in helping out? Six-week volunteer opportunities are available for medical and dental professionals, conservationists, engineers and other skilled tradespeople.
4Sleeping & Eating
Sukadana has one very interesting hotel and several budget losmen. For meals, the Mahkota and Anugrah hotels have decent options, and warung can be found near the dock.
Penginapan FamilyGUESTHOUSE$
( GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Tanjungpura; r with fan 50,000Rp, s/d with air-con 175,000/190,000Rp; a)
Among the nicest people you could ever rent a room from, this family is eager to accommodate even when they're not sure what you want. Larger VIP rooms are quieter, set back from the road. Economy rooms are a bit dreary. Bicycle/motorbike/auto rental available (30,000/75,000/300,000Rp).
Mahkota Kayong HotelHOTEL$$
(%0534-772 2777; www.mahkotakayonghotel.com; Jl Irama Laut; r/ste 400,000/800,000Rp; aW)
Built on piles over the water, this grand anomaly dwarfs anything in town. It is usually empty outside of occasional government conventions, which seems to make some staff forget why they are here. Sea-facing rooms get blazingly hot until the sun sets with predictably stunning displays.
It's worth visiting at low-tide to watch the bizarre skin-breathing mudskippers scurry beneath the building.
7Shopping
Gallery DekranasdaHANDICRAFTS
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0858 2001 6977; Jl Tanjungpura; 9am-noon & 2-4pm)
Locally sourced handicrafts and wares, some made with unexpected refinement. And T-shirts. Find it 500m east from the durian monument.
8Getting There & Around
There is no public transport within town. Most commerce is found between the dock and the durian monument. For the beach and points around, rent a bike from Penginapan Family or you could try hitching.
Speedboats (%Bersoul 0812
5613 3570, Synergy 0823 5737 0151; 175,000Rp; hdeparts 9am) to Pontianak depart Sukadana harbour twice each morning; the trip takes five hours. Sukadana can also be reached by Ketapang via bus (25,000Rp, 1½ hours, up to four daily) or taxi (%Eki, no English 0853 4524 3869); Ketapang has an airport that connects to Pontianak and Pangkalan Bun (for Tanjung Puting).
Central Kalimantan
Tanjung Puting National Park
Tanjung Puting is the most popular tourist destination in Kalimantan, and for good reasons. A near guarantee you'll see free-roaming orangutans, combined with a storybook journey up a winding jungle river, accessed by direct flights to Surabaya and Jakarta, give this adventure world-class appeal.
Tanjung Puting was initially set aside as a wildlife preserve by the Dutch in 1939. It gained park status and its international reputation largely thanks to Dr Biruté Galdikas, one of Leakey's Angels – the trio of female primatologists, including Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall, trained by Louis Leakey. Working from Camp Leakey since 1971, Galdikas has made such seminal discoveries as the great ape's eight-year birth cycle, which makes the species highly vulnerable to extinction. Her controversial hands-on approach to orangutan care may have lost her some supporters in the academic and conservation communities, but there is no denying the impact she has had on our understanding and appreciation of these amazing creatures and the threats they face.
The park is best seen from a klotok, a two-storey romantic live-aboard boat that travels up Sungai Sekonyer to Camp Leakey. During the day you lounge on deck surveying the jungle with binoculars in one hand and a drink in the other as the boat chugs along its narrowing channel. Watch for the quick flash of the colorful kingfisher, and scan the shallows for the toothy false gharail as your cook serves up fantastic meals. In the evening, you can spot proboscis monkeys bedding down in the treetops with the river at their backs for protection. These curious golden-haired, round-bellied, bulbous-nosed primates are found only on Borneo and are sometimes called monyet belanda (Dutch monkey – for some reason…) At night, you tie up on the river, set mattresses and mosquito nets on deck, and enjoy the finest sleep, while the hum of the rainforest purifies your ears.
Klotok call at several stations where rangers stack piles of bananas and buckets of milk to feed the resident population of ex-captive and semiwild orangutans. There are no fences or cages, but you'll be kept at a distance by ropes: a boundary ignored by the animals themselves who often wander nonchalantly through the shutter-snapping crowd on their way to lunch. While some orangutans appear deceptively tame, do not attempt to touch or feed them, and do not get between a mother and child. Orangutans are several times more powerful than you, and may bite if provoked.
Visitation has increased rapidly in recent years. There are now over 60 klotok running nearly nonstop during the busy dry season (June through September), with no plans by the park to limit the impact. Toilets flush directly into the creek, a questionable practice anywhere, but even more concerning given the high traffic. Some klotok are now outfitted with freshwater tanks, which they fill in town for showers and dish washing – a wise addition.
Despite the visitor numbers, the trip is still a fine introduction to the rainforest, and one of the most memorable experiences you'll have on the island. The park's 200 varieties of wild orchid bloom mainly from January to March, although the abundance of March fruit may lure orangutans away from feeding platforms. At any time, bring rain protection and insect repellent.
1Sights & Activities
Sungai Sekonyer is opposite the port town of Kumai, where you meet your klotok. It is largely muddy due to upstream mining operations, although it eventually forks into a naturally tea-coloured tributary, typical of peat swamp waterways. The upriver journey contains several noteworthy stops; you won't necessarily see everything, nor in this order.
Tanjung Harapan Orangutan feeding station with decaying interpretation centre; feedings at 3pm daily.
Sekonyer Village A small village that arose around Tanjung Harapan, but has since been relocated across the river. There's a small souvenir shop and lodgings.
Pasalat A reforestation camp where Pak Ledan single-handedly plants 180 saplings a month and maintains the medicinal plant garden. Be careful on the 800m forest boardwalk badly in need of donations for repairs.
Pondok Tanggui Feeding station; feedings at 9am daily.
Pondok Ambung Popular for spotting tarantulas and glowing mushrooms on night hikes.
Camp Leakey Feedings occur at 2pm daily at station with visitor information.
The ideal journey length is three days and two nights, giving you ample time to see everything. If you only have one day, you should take a speedboat from Kumai. A klotok can reach Camp Leakey in 4½ hours, making a return trip possible in one day if you leave at 6am, but this is not recommended.
During the dry season, an overnight trek from Pondok Tanggui to Pasalat (1,500,000Rp all inclusive, 22km) is a unique chance to see nocturnal wildlife. Talk to Pak Bana at Flora Homestay in Sekonyer village.
ORANGUTANS 101
Four great ape species belong to the Hominidae family: orangutans, chimpanzees, gorillas and humans. Although our auburn-haired cousins branched off from the family tree long ago, spend any time observing these orang hutan (Bahasa Indonesia for forest person, a name likely bestowed by the Dutch) and you'll notice similarities between us that are as striking as the differences.
The bond between a mother and her young is among the strongest in the animal kingdom. For the first two years infants are entirely dependant and carried everywhere. For up to seven years mothers continue to teach them how to thrive in the rainforest, including how to climb through the canopy and build a nest at night, the medicinal qualities of plants, what foods are poisonous, which critters they should avoid, and how to locate reliable feeding trees.
The territorial males are entirely absent from child rearing, living mostly solitary lives punctuated by sometimes violent battles for alpha status. Once a young male secures a territory, he rapidly undergoes physical changes, growing impressive cheek pads and throat pouches. He advertises his dominion by issuing booming long calls that echo through the forest for kilometres. The call both induces stress in younger males – suppressing their sexual development – and attracts females ready for breeding. It is one of dozens of vocalisations orangutans use to interact with each other and their surroundings.
Both species of orangutan, Sumatran and Bornean, are endangered. Much of their habitat is being converted to oil palm plantations. Mothers are frequently shot, their infants sold as pets. If these animals are lucky enough to be rescued, rehabilitation is long and difficult, and finding suitable places to release them is becoming nearly impossible. Currently, all of the orangutan rescue and rehabilitation centres in Indonesia are operating at or above capacity.
For more information on orangutan conservation efforts and volunteer opportunities in Kalimantan, check out the following:
Friends of the National Parks Foundation (www.fnpf.org) Funds forest restoration at Pasalat.
Orangutan Foundation International (www.orangutan.org) Founded by Biruté Galdikas; runs the park's feeding stations.
Orangutan Foundation UK (www.orangutan.org.uk) UK organisation focused on saving orangutan habitats.
Orangutan Land Trust (www.forests4orangutans.org) Influences policy and supports a wide range of organisations dedicated to the long-term survival of orangutans.
TTours
You have the choice of hiring both a klotok and a guide yourself, or having a tour operator do it for you. The former is moderately cheaper, the latter leagues easier. Beware: some companies advertise under multiple websites (which never list who's behind them), and others are just resellers who double the price.
Organised Tours
oJenie SubaruADVENTURE TOUR
(%0857 6422 0991; [email protected])S
It is a shame the passionate and charismatic Jenie does few trips these days, instead (admirably) devoting m
uch of his time to training the next batch of local guides in sustainable tourism. Proceeds from his trips go toward buying land along the park's border to protect orangutan habitat.
Orangutan House Boat ToursADVENTURE TOUR
(%0857 5134 9756; www.orangutanhouseboattour.com)
Local resident Fardi may be young, but he's hard-working and passionate about both his homeland and orangutans.
Borneo Orangutan Adventure TourADVENTURE TOUR
(%0852 4930 9250; www.orangutantravel.com)
Run by the excellent Ahmad Yani, the first official guide in the area.
Orangutan Green ToursADVENTURE TOUR
(Harry Yacht Service; %0812 508 6105; www.orangutangreentours.com)
Excellent at logistics for large groups, long-time guiding pioneer Herry Roustaman is also your point of contact if you're coming to Kumai aboard a yacht.
DIY Tours
Guides are now mandated for all visitors to Tanjung Puting. Fortunately, with nearly 90 guides registered with the park, they are relatively easy to come by. Unfortunately, they are not all created equal. To acquire a licence, a guide must speak basic English, undergo survival training and demonstrate basic wildlife knowledge. For some that is as far as it goes. If you are arranging a trip yourself on the ground, take the time to meet as many guides as you can (they'll find you) before choosing one.
Lonely Planet Indonesia Page 116