Photo: Orangutan
Early in the morning (2.00am) we lifted the anchor and in concert with Recluse, set sail from Bali bound for the Kaimai River, Kalimantan to see the orangutans. We planned to do the trip in three stages with the first a day sail (70nm) to the island of Raas where a nice anchorage was promised. The sailing was much better than expected and we sailed most of it with a nice 15 – 20 knots aft of the beam. The only thing to worry about was dodging the fish traps in the first 20nm. With a near full moon and the radar working well, coupled with advice from Wayne and Ally (Blue Healer) about where they sighted the traps, we negotiated the passage without issue. Exactly 12 hours after leaving we anchored at Raas Island. That night we had a game of cards and a lovely, relaxed dinner for Anne’s “Recluse” birthday, on board Dol.
The following morning, 29th September, we left the bay at 09:30 for an overnight sail to Bowean Island, a distance of 135 nm. The sailing was great, dodging fishing boats and large tugs towing very large barges. During the hours of darkness we hit a large log, semi submersed in the water, the bang was loud. Brian immediately took the boat out of gear; we were motoring at the time, and checked for damage as best he could, a more thorough check was done at the anchorage. No Damage. We put the anchor down at 11:00 the following day. A snooze, then sundowners on Recluse with Anne and Steve, followed by a quiet night. We left 07:00 the following morning for the 175nm overnight sail to the Kumai River, Kalimantan. An interesting trip with 30 plus fishing boat lights around us for most of the night, add to that ships and the large barges they seem to tow everywhere, the watches were not boring. We entered the river delta, followed our way points and track, unlike another yacht who radioed us and asked if we had waypoints or knew where we were going and could he follow us. We negotiated the river, found the anchorage and had the anchor down at 14:00. Not long after putting the anchor down, Andy, a local, orangutan tour operator, came alongside to see if we had pre-arranged our tour or were looking to organise it. We waited for ‘Recluse’ to arrive and then sat down with Andy and negotiated a 2 day, 1 night tour starting the following morning.
An hour before we were due to leave, Andy arrived to say he had a problem with the boat motor and could we delay the trip till the next day or as an alternative go at 11:00 the same morning, we agreed to option 2. At 10:30, with a revised itinerary to ensure we did not miss anything, the Klotok pulled alongside and our adventure was about to begin. We were excited and slightly apprehensive as this had always been seen as one of the potential highlights of Indonesia for us. We headed off up the Kumai River into Tanjung Putting National Park and deep into the tropical rainforest, with Yopi our driver/mechanic and tour guide and Etza, our cook. The Klotok or houseboat was basic but everything we needed, we lived on the top deck while Yopi and Etza lived downstairs. At our first stop we visited the Information Centre and then Yopi took us on a walk through the forest to a feeding station. The Orangutans are semi wild; they live independently in the forest but know when feeding occurs, the guides ‘called’ them as we walked along the track and we hoped they would be hungry that day and turn up for the feeding. When we arrived one orangutan was hanging about in the trees and immediately went to the feeding platform when the bananas were placed on top. How many bananas can an orangutan get in its mouth? The answer was 11 (smaller variety than the ones we are used to) plus several more in its hands. Seeing your first orangutan is a wow experience, they are amazing, as the first one settled into its tree to dine, a second came crashing through the canopy, another wow experience. In the end we had 10 -12 in the trees, on the ground and hanging around, young and old, male and female. It became obvious who the dominant male was and who the preferred female was, there is definitely a pecking order. We were entertained by their antics and marveled at their intelligence. It seemed all too soon when it was time to go and move on to our next stop. Along the way we saw Proboscis monkeys in family groups in the trees along the river bank. We tied up to the greenery in the river, had dinner, enjoyed the sounds of the forest for the evening, then set the mattresses up with mosquito nets and sleep under the stars. It got very cold during the night, something we are not used to at the moment. The following morning we woke to monkeys playing in the trees and the usual thick forest fire smoke which we have experienced each day we have been on Kalimantan. After a breakfast of banana pancakes and coffee we left for our next orangutan encounter.
We stopped at a place known as second camp and immediately met a big male called Goman sitting under a tree. He did a few ‘yoga’ poses and watched the guard as he made his way to a hut nearby. The hut contained the banana supply, something that Goman clearly knew as he took off after him. Satisfied with his breakfast we watched Goman for a while and then headed off on the track for a feeding station. The orangutans at second camp are more elusive and we only saw one adolescent male, but he had attitude and showed signs of aggression as he thought our guide was holding back on the bananas and kept trying to circle us to get to the backpack containing them.
After second camp we went to Camp Leakey, a long established research camp. As we ate lunch we watched a mother, Riga, and her baby, playing under the jetty with Suswan the dominant female in the area. After lunch we went ashore and walked around the camp, visiting the Information Centre which had the family tree of the known Orangutans in the park and sighting a couple of orangutans strolling around and playing. Although Orangutans are solitary creatures, they do play with leaves, twigs and anything else they can find. At the feeding station, Gibbon monkeys and wild pigs joined the Orangutans, although the Orangutans did not like the pigs who chased them and the Orangutans chased the Gibbon monkeys. We left the feeding station and walked back along the track to the camp, 2 Orangutans walked along the track in front of us, then stopped, sat down and almost waited for us. Our guide knew one of the orangutans and we were able to get our photo taken with Atlas, at a distance, as they are wild animals and can be unpredictable. We had been hoping Tom, the dominant male, would turn up for feeding, we had heard he was 300lbs and quite impressive. He does not come every day and we hadn’t seen him, however as we walked back into the camp area, he was sitting by the water tower. What an impressive site. We took photos and then Tom decided he was going for a walk, the local guides all shot into the nearby hut and closed the door, they did not want a close encounter with Tom. We kept our distance and watched him walk off into the forest. It was time to go back to the boat and head for Kumai. It was dark going back along the river and as we went along we saw lots of fire fly’s lighting the banks, just like Christmas tree lights, another one for the memory bank. We arrived back at Dol at 8:30pm at the end of a trip that did not disappoint us.
The following day we missed the city tour but went to the lunch followed by a trip to plant trees, there are now 2 trees on an island each with our name tag on. We also released baby turtles back into the water; hopefully they will survive and return to the same beach in future.
Saturday morning we received an email from friends on a yacht who had gear box problems and could not use their motor, not a good situation when there is little or no breeze, they were asking for assistance. Unfortunately neither we nor any of the other yachts had a satphone number for them, so we contacted all boats we knew who were heading in the general direction and asked them to try and make contact.
We plan to leave Kumai in the next day or so, we have had enough of the thick smoke that descends on the river each evening and doesn’t clear until about 8 or 9 in the morning, leaving ash all over the boat, the busy harbour with its constant ship movement and the dirty water, the only reason to come to Kumai is to visit the orangutans. The people have been friendly and great hosts, but it is time to leave. Our overall view - Wow what a great experience!