I am writing this on our last day in Indonesia on the 11th floor of a highrise building in Medan, the main city on the island of Sumatra. I confess that we have retreated to the conveniences and comforts of the modern world in a very nice hotel after nine days of amazing adventures that included riding in tuk tuks on some very rough roads, dripping sweat in the heat and humidity, crazy traffic and dirty streets, squat toilets in some rural areas, and general noise and commotion most of the time. Even with nice places to stay and friendly, helpful people along the way, it is exhausting after a while. But we have had some wonderful times and we are glad we did it.
Our trip was arranged by Sumatra EcoTravel (and they take the ‘eco’ part of their business very seriously) based in Bukit Lawang near the Gunung Leuser National Park, home to the last remaining Sumatran orangutans. We were picked up at the airport upon our arrival in Medan, spent three days exploring in the Bukit Lawang area, transported overland to Lake Toba and spent two days there, then transported back to Medan where we have had two days before flying on to Kuala Lumpur. So much has happened that I will need to break our Indonesian adventures up into several blog entries. This one will be about our arrival and our sighting of orangutans in the jungle.
Arrival
At the airport, we were joined by a couple, Mark and Joy, from -- small world moment here -- Seattle, and they are familiar with Bellingham no less. With them was a friend, another David, from New York City. These three have traveled together quite a bit and we enjoyed hearing their stories. Along the way, we picked up a family with two boys from Toronto, who are currently living in Saigon -- the parents are teaching in an international school there for two years. We were fortunate to have such a great group to travel with.
On our way from the airport to Bukit Lawang, David and I were struck by a strong resemblance to Guatemala, with the ramshackle buildings, the motorcycles and tuk tuks everywhere, the narrow bumpy roads, and the tropical vegetation. The big difference is that the signs are in Indonesian instead of in Spanish. Also, some buildings have domes on them.
When we arrived in the village of Bukit Lawang, the van dropped us off in a dusty parking area with no hotels in sight and I wondered what was happening. However, a group of smiling fellows in black t-shirts with the EcoTravel logo on them shook our hands, introduced themselves and started unloading our luggage from the van. The apparent leader of the group explained that there was a 15 - 20 minute walk to the eco-lodge from there. However, because of my bad knee, they put me on the back of a motorcycle and sent me on ahead. It was a strange feeling to be in a new and strange country and suddenly separated from my group.
It turned out that the tourist accommodations in Bukit Lawang are spread out along the river with only a narrow path for access shared by pedestrians and motorcycles. At one point, my driver had me get off and he helped me over a steep hill with slippery cobblestones on one side and rough dirt on the other. He then went back for the motorcycle and I remounted for the remainder of the trip. Here is a photo from the top of the hill.
Here is the back of our lodge on the path.
In the front there was a lovely little garden with lots of flowers for the butterflies and a dining gazebo overlooking the river.
In the morning, they served us plenty of fresh fruit followed by breakfast.
And we were entertained by the monkeys on the gravel island in the river.
Orangutans
That first morning, we were led by our guide across the river on a wobbly suspension bridge up the hill into the national park.
My knee was still pretty sore but I had come halfway around the world to see orangutans and I was determined to see them if possible. So, I had taped it, put on the brace, and taken some painkillers. They had sent extra guides with us to help me and to take me back to the lodge when I couldn’t go any further -- so nice of them.
As it turned out, at about the point when I thought I was probably at my limit, after a long, fairly rough climb, our guide spotted an orangutan. At first, we could barely see it in the leafy branches, but I was so excited anyway. Then, he found a better vantage point and the orangutan moved into a clear area and we could see that there were two. The guide said we were looking at a big male and a female.
Then, to my absolute delight, along came a baby.
We were able to watch as the baby swung through the trees to his mom.
We watched for about ten minutes until they disappeared back into the leafy foliage. I felt like I had been awarded a great gift -- the guide said they don’t always spot orangutans when they take folks into the jungle and not that soon. These are wild animals in a very large rain forest area. David and I turned back at this point, very happy and satisfied. The folks that went on further said the going got really tough after that and it was a good thing I didn’t try to continue. However, they were rewarded with another orangutan sighting - a very close one - lucky ducks.
The next day we had a tour of the town and were introduced to several local family industries.
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