After being asked to leave Batu Katak, we contacted Imaran, the person who had driven us from the Medan airport to Batu Katak. Like so many people in Indonesia, he makes ends meet by doing a little of everything and in addition to driving, he was also a certified guide for the Gunung Leuser National Park. We'd been impressed with him on the drive to Batu Katak and felt comfortable reaching out. Hotels were hard to come by (Lebaran is a six-day holiday in Indonesia and a lot of people are out and about and traveling) but he helped us find a hotel with a room for three. The room was booked Saturday night but he said he would take us on a trek into the National Park that night, so we booked the hotel for Friday and Sunday. Like so many Sumatrans, Imran is Muslim and Idul Fitri, the end of the Ramadan fast, is an important time to be with family. They break their monthlong fast that morning with lots of prayers and family and the rest of the day is spent in what I imagine is a Thanksgiving-like stupor among loved ones with more prayers and religous observation. Imran said that as long as he could spend the morning at home, he didn't mind going into the jungle that afternoon and overnight. So we started off in the late morning for a 6 or 7 mile hike through the forest and out to an official Park campsite. The other guide who came with us had family obligations so took the shortcut back to town (only 2-3 miles) right after we arrived at camp. Everyone seemed happy about it and Imran said that the money he could make leading a trek made up for the fact that he would miss half of holiday.
Imran turned out to be a really good guide. Interested in natural history and happy to field my questions and show off jungle things that wern't orangutans (many guides (and tourists) were laser focused on great apes and nothing else mattered). He also didn't hound the orangutans when we came across them (again, unlike others out there) and I'd recommend him as a guide to anyone who is interested in Sumatran natural history and ecosystems.
Imran turned out to be a really good guide. Interested in natural history and happy to field my questions and show off jungle things that wern't orangutans (many guides (and tourists) were laser focused on great apes and nothing else mattered). He also didn't hound the orangutans when we came across them (again, unlike others out there) and I'd recommend him as a guide to anyone who is interested in Sumatran natural history and ecosystems.
As I mentioned in Part II of this series, many of the older orangutans near Bukit Lawang are there because it was a release site for rehabilitated Sumatran orangutans. So you end up with a population of semi-wild apes but that still doesn't stop it from being very, very cool to see them this close in the wild. Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered and their protection really hinges on community buy-in. The programs like those at Batu Katak and Bukit Lawang help provide incomes for local people (many of whom are indigneous Karu) and help get everyone engaged in protecting them. The NY Times did a nice little piece on it a couple years back with better photos than I am capable of taking on a one-day trek :-)
So after a night at Bukit Lawang (great hotel!), Imran picked us up and we hiked across town, over the river, and up into the National Park. The cost of the trek was steep for Indonesia (a little over $100/person) but covered everything from our guides and cooks to all of our food, our semi-permenant tents, National Park entry fees, and return transportation along the river. And, a lot of that is going directly to conservation of orangutans so well-worth spending.
There are one-night, two-night, three-night and seven-night treks that are National Park sanctioned. The shorter treks all end along the river and return by inner tube and are very cleverly set up with a rather winding hike through the jungle to a place that is only actually a few miles out of town -- so the return trip is not difficult and the people carrying in food don't have to walk as far as the tourists do (which, of course, us tourists want to maximize the time in the forest so that we can maximize the chance of seeing an orangutan). I'd love to come back for the 7-night trek. It goes across the width of the Park, from N. Sumatra all the way to Aceh and ends (or starts) with vehicular transportation between the regions. Imran says that it's only on those hikes that he's seen signs of tigers.
There are one-night, two-night, three-night and seven-night treks that are National Park sanctioned. The shorter treks all end along the river and return by inner tube and are very cleverly set up with a rather winding hike through the jungle to a place that is only actually a few miles out of town -- so the return trip is not difficult and the people carrying in food don't have to walk as far as the tourists do (which, of course, us tourists want to maximize the time in the forest so that we can maximize the chance of seeing an orangutan). I'd love to come back for the 7-night trek. It goes across the width of the Park, from N. Sumatra all the way to Aceh and ends (or starts) with vehicular transportation between the regions. Imran says that it's only on those hikes that he's seen signs of tigers.
The last part of the hike was intense: a drop of over 600' in just a few dozen meters:
So we went there to see orangutans and it did not disappoint. We saw our first (a young male) just outside of one of the remote luxury villas and by the time we had reached our river camp we'd seen at least 5, including one mother with a young baby. So very cool. But we also got to hear more gibbons and saw pig-tailed macaques and other monkeys as well as seeing a Great Argus (Argusianus argus) which are territorial so Imran had a good idea that he'd be in the general vecinity, but still -- wow.
The town of Bukit Lawang itself was pretty cool. Long-tailed macaques ruled the roads at dawn and dusk, but even Thomas Leaf Monkeys (endemic to Sumatra!) made a showing in some of the many trees that surround the hotels and businesses. Since it was Idul Fitri, the place was packed! So many Indonesians come to celebrate the holiday there. When we got back from the trek (Sunday), the river was packed. It looked a lot like Waikiki :-)