Tanjung Putting National Park

 Day 1 – Its Ranger Time!!

Dear readers please don’t adjust your screens this blog will mainly be in orange!!!

Getting up fairly early we packed and went for breakfast which was a disappointing cold noodle buffet affair, we then sat in the lobby patiently waiting for our pick up for the start of the trip, who was late.

We were picked up around 9.30 by ‘Wolverine’ a man with around 3 inch nails on one of his hands (apparently it’s the sign of having a good job in Borneo, i.e. no hard labour!), who drove to the dock via his home where he picked up the beers we had pre-ordered for the trip (apparently he is also the man that can in Pankanlan Bun).

Once at the dock we boarded our boat for the next four days and were introduced to our guide (who looked about 20) and the crew that would be looking after us for the next few days.  We then had to wait for our German guests who were arriving on a flight that morning, when they arrived they seemed to be quite a nice couple named Martin & Brigit (Aka Mouse-deer and The professor – to be explained later!) who were only slightly older than us.

After introduction’s we were soon on our way up the river and after about ½ hour we were doing a left turn and into the tributary that was the entrance to Tanjung National Park.

 

For the next couple of hours we cruised slowly along the river with the beautiful scenery changing from mangroves into jungle on the way along.

We then moored up just as it started raining and the crew set up our table for lunch, which turned out to be a feast which included river fish, noodles and veg followed by some fresh fruits. 

By the time we had finished lunch the rain had stopped and we were trekking to the first orangutan station 1 (Tanjan Horapan) and were told we would be entering mosquito city so to apply the repellent liberally (especially my little monquito attractor – Shelley!). 

Whilst we were getting prepared we got our first glimpse of an Orang who was in a tree just by the boat jetty, so once we got off the boat we took some time to watch him in the tree, taking photo’s before heading deeper into the jungle.

 

Walking for around half an hour we started to see some orange shapes in the trees along the way and then we were very close up and personal as we had to pass one female orang who was on the ground just next to the path.  To be honest we were quite nervous at first and managed to get a few photo’s whilst carefully sidling past.

 

Eventually we came to the feeding station and stood around whilst waiting for the ranger to put food out on the platform we were watching.  You could tell the Orangs had their watches on as we started spotting them loitering in the canopy waiting for their favourite people to turn up.

 

When the rangers came in site and put kilo’s of banana’s on the platform there was suddenly loads of activity in the trees and the men of the forest started zeroing in from all directions, swinging from tree to tree to reach the food.

 

There must have been at least 20 orangs, mothers with baby’s, juveniles and large male adults all around us and when I say around us some times right next to you with no bars in between!!  Standing there the large alpha male made his entrance and strolled up to the table at which point the others scattered to a respectful distance whilst he sat on the platform and took his fill, apart from the exception possibly of his mate and infant who very carefully grabbed the fruit cautiously around him.

 

Once he had his fill he got off the platform and knuckled his way along the ground and passed Shell by literally a couple of feet, her expression was a mixture of awe and crapping herself!! (These apes are 8 times stronger that we are!!).

 

The big boy now out of the picture the rest of the Orangs went back to the platform to make the most of what he had left.  We stood there for an hour or two as our guide told us we could take as long as we wanted so we took him at his word and spent quite some time there marvelling at these incredible creatures gracefully negotiating the trees.

 

Reluctantly we then returned back to the jetty and boarded the boat where we cracked open some orangutan celebratory beers with Martin and Brigit (it was at this point that we realised that only ordering six beers for this trip was a schoolboy mistake, especially as it looks as though we would need to share them!) whilst we started to cruise down the river.

 

We carried on for a while and our wildlife spotting for the day had not come to an end as soon we were next treated to watching Proboscis Monkeys (The ones with large noses that look like me apparently) high up in the trees along the river bank.

 

After taking a few photo’s we were then taken to our mooring point for the night, where we took our showers (we did not fancy jumping in the river like the crew as there are croc’s in this river) before we were served a candlelit dinner under the stars on the back of the boat.  Again it was a nice mix of dishes including some fried chicken.

Whilst we ate our dinner the crew prepared our beds for the night, which consisted of double mattresses on the top deck covered with mosquito nets.  It had been a very busy day and it was now pitch black so we all headed for bed around 8.00!!

 

Our earlier jokes in the day about who snored loudest did not seem so funny later that evening as Shell and I soon found out who snored loudest and they were not from the UK, which resulted in neither of us getting much sleep this night!

Day 2 – More Orangs!!

Being up at 5-6 in the morning to the sound of the jungle sounds idyllic but not when you are walking around like sleep depraved zombies (thanks Germany!!).  But we were soon up and running once we had a cup of the local coffee on the jetty and then a breakfast of scrambled eggs on board.

 

After breakfast we were soon chugging up the river again, but it was raining and we thought we were in for a wet jungle adventure. We motored along for another couple of hours and we reached our mooring point at station 2 (Pondok Tanqqui) and fortunately by the time we had to disembark that rain had stopped.

We then walked up the path to make the 9.00 feeding time at the platform, again as we walked along we spotted one Orang high in the trees.

 

I personally liked this spot the best as it was far more intimate with far fewer people here to watch. Once again as the feeding time approached you could see orange figures lurking in the surrounding forest.

 

When the rangers came along it was the same drill with the orangs retreating when the alpha male drew up to the table, this time it was kilo’s of sweet potato’s that they were treated to (note the feeding stations only provide a small amount of their food for the rest of the time they are foraging in the forest for themselves).

Again there were most probably around 20 Orangs in the surrounding branches giving plenty of opportunity to get great photo’s and believe me we literally have hundreds to bore you with when we get home.

 

One of my favourite shots was when I spotted a juvinille high up a tree waiting his/her chance to get some food, it was  away from the viewing point so I went to try and get a better photo and then became slightly nervous when he/she took an interest in me and headed down the tree to get a better look at me.  I managed to hold my nerve and managed to get this great picture when it was a few feet away from me, I then retreated to a more respectful distance!!

 

The guide once again gave us plenty of time on our own to enjoy this spectacle and we stayed there for quite some time taking photo’s.

 

I am waffling on quite a bit I know but it gives me a chance to put another gratuitive photo in here (I could pick any one and they would be amazing)

 

We then headed back to the boat (Known as a Klotok if you are interested) where we motored up the river for another couple of hours until we reached station 3 (The famous Camp Leaky) where we moored up and once again were treated to a small feast for lunch.

 

After lunch we then got off the boat to visit camp leaky.  There was a long board walk to the visitor centre but halfway along this boardwalk one of our orange friends was sat there waiting.  We were slightly nervous once again as our guide informed us this was the infamous female named Mina who was a bit mischievous and had been known to bite visitors.  However our guide said Mina knew him well and respected him so she would leave us alone, we slid past her and then took a couple of cheeky snaps once at a perceived safe distance.

 

We walked on to the visitor centre passing some Macaque Monkeys and some wild boar.  The visitor centre was a fairly basic affair but it did have some nice orangutan family trees from the area, we then had to wait around for a while until feeding time.

At around 2.00 we headed into the jungle towards the platform but instead of spotting more orangs first we saw a gibbon who was high up in a tree and watching the proceedings.

 

 

Once again the routine was the same with the Alpha male, Tom, taking centre stage whilst the others had to lurk in the surrounding trees to wait for their chance.  Shell and I were just sat there watching when someone told me to look around and there was a orang holding on to a tree just feet from me.

 

Also it was quite funny to see the resident gibbon running the gauntlet by jumping onto the feeding platform (think Jack Sparrow, pirates of the Caribbean style) through the orangs, grabbing some food then shooting high up the tree with his loot.

 

Again we spent a good amount of time here taking too many photo’s before returning to the boat to head off back to the previous night’s mooring point.

 

It was on the itinerary that we were due to do a night trek/safari, which Shell and I could have skipped due to sleep deprivation, however after our evening meal we sprayed up with plenty of bug spray and headed into the jungle at night.

As we normally find when we have done these before we did not see a great deal, one tree snake, a mouse deer that the guide pointed out (none of us could see it!!) and then the guide poked a few tarantula’s out of their holes and about an hour later we were back on the boat.

When back on the boat we all wanted a shower before bed so we let Martin & Brigit go first, but when Shell went for hers they had already bedded down for the night and turned out all the lights, so then Shell had to stumble around in the dark after she had finished – a bit inconsiderate we thought!

Once I had had my shower we went to bed and read our books by torch light until we went to sleep to the sounds of the jungle, fortunately as we were knackered we did manage despite the buzzsaw’s next to us!!

Day 3 – Where have all the Ranga’s gone??

We were up with the jungle sounds stupidly early again and waited for the crew to stir so we could get some coffee.

After breakfast we were supposed to get a canoe to go up the smaller tributaries deep into the jungle but due to some local politics they were not forthcoming so we waited on the boat and it started to rain.

The guide then said that we would not be doing anything until later in the day so Shell got her Who wants to be a Millionaire game up on her Ipad and we played that with Martin and Brigit for an hour or so, they came into their own as there were quite a few German related questions, however we still didn’t make it to a million!

Later in the day we set off again in the boat back to station 3 (Camp Leaky), but when we got to the feeding platform there was a distinct lack of Orange activity.

The Alpha male turned up for a bit but seemed decidedly disinterested in the food and there was only a couple of other Orangs in attendance, but we still got some nice photo’s.

 

What we gathered was that sometimes the park entertains VIP guest (people who have donated large amounts to the charity) and they get private viewing so the Orangs had already been fed before we got there.

So this time we did not stay as long and headed back to the boat, but along the way there was one female in the middle of the path that had managed to get herself a plastic bottle of water off a tourist.  Our guide was not happy about this and after a brief battle of wills he managed to take it off her.  She then started grabbing branches and stripping them of leaves and making a nest of them before rolling around on the floor with them – cute but our guide says she is clever and does this to draw tourists in closer so she can steel from them or bite them, it was Mina!

On our way back we tried to sort out our lack of beverage situation back and asked our guide if there was any chance he could get us a few bottles of beer, he said he would ask around the other boats but unfortunately this just yielded one warm beer which the four of us had to share.

We headed back to our mooring spot for the night and on the way we spotted a large crocodile in the water (guide said it was the largest one he had ever seen on the river), so definitely no dips in the river for us!

 

In the evening we had our meal on the back of the boat again (have to say food was really good and varied considering we were on a small boat) and joked as we saw some other tourists setting out on their night safari.  Martin said he was going to hide in the jungle and pretend to be the fabled Mouse Deer and so when he was in the back of the boat getting changed we said he was getting into his Mouse Deer, so from then on he was known as The Mouse Deer (I guess you had to be there!!).

Soon after our evening meal we all headed for an early night, but to be honest I was glad it was our last night sleeping on deck as I can’t say it has been the most comfortable bed I have slept in.  Also because you know it’s a bit of a mission in the middle of the night to go to the toilet, having to navigate the deck, you’re bladder goes into overtime!!

Day 4 – Last Chance for Orangs!

Another ridiculously early start and breakfast and we were then on the river again heading for the early feeding time at station 2 (Pondok Tanqqui) which I was looking forward to as it was my favourite place.

Unfortunately it appeared that there had been a VIP visit before we got there as once again there were only about 3 Orangs knocking around for breakfast.  We waiting around for a while taking photo’s as it was our last opportunity.

 

The resident professor was in attendance and is a lady of 70 who had been studying the Orangs for over 40 years in the park and we think that she bought the VIP with her.

After a while realising that there was not going to be much action we headed back to the boat to continue our journey to a nearby local river village.

We got out at the village and were given time to wander around to see how the locals lived in this part of the world, but although it was interesting it was blisteringly hot so we didn’t stay there for too long.

 

At this village our guide had arranged a couple of motor canoes for us to go on a trip up some of the narrow waterways.

So Shell and I got in one whilst Martin and Brigit took the other and soon we were going back up the river and then turned into one of the narrow waterways.  It was quite hard work as we were getting whiplashed by all the plant life and having to duck and swerve around low hanging branches whilst balancing in the canoe.  However it was great as we were getting into the thick of the jungle and away from the normal tourist spots.

 

After a mile or two we came to a stop and turned around but instead of motoring back the drivers cut the engines and slowly paddled back, which was great as it really gave us a chance to appreciate our fantastic surroundings.

Along the way we saw various birds and were lucky as we were the lead boat we got to see some more Probiscus Monkeys (They look more like Shell to be fair!) in lower hanging branches that disappeared before the second boat got round the corner.

 

Eventually after a leisurely trip back we hit the main river and the drivers put the motors back on, but as is the norm for us on this trip the boat had engine problems and we broke down two or three times on the way back leaving us baking in the sun.  The driver finally sorted it out, once Shell had caught a bit of colour and we managed to limp back to the village where Martin and Brigit were waiting for us.

We hopped back on our boat and were on our way again and shortly we were stopping again, this time it was for us to put something back into the park.  For a small donation we were able to buy some tree saplings and plant them in an area they were trying to re-forest, which we were more than happy to do.

 

Unfortunately this was our last activity on the trip and all we could do was appreciate the scenery on the two hour cruise back to the docks.  On this journey back we did manage to ask our guide if he could contact the man that can to arrange some beers that we could take back to the hotel.

 

On disembarking we met back up with Wolverine who drove us back (via his house to pick up a chilled box with beers in it) to our hotel. 

Back at the hotel we were met by Dessy the lady we had booked this trip through over the internet and she wanted to find out how it all went and she also asked us if we wanted a village tour at 6.00 in the morning before we left (free of charge), which we said we would.  Also I asked her if she could help with getting my Swiss Army knife as the office would not be open when we were due to the fly, send it on if possible, which she said she would.

This was the first time Dessy had met us and were glad that we all had got on (we didn’t mention the war) but we did find it funny when she said Brigit looked like The Professor – only a twenty year age gap!!  So Brigit became known as The Professor for what remained of our time together.

Martin, Brigit, Shell and I then went to one of our rooms and cracked open some beers that we had been missing on the trip.  Later on we all went out together to a restaurant round the back of the hotel (Dessy recommended it) which I couldn’t believe as we couldn’t find anything when we first arrived in the town.

After dinner we all headed back to our rooms looking forward to a decent bed for the night, a hot shower and not having to try and locate the toilet in the middle of the night on a dark boat.

Just a slight addendum to this blog, just to let you know we are about 2-3 weeks behind on this blog, so for you info we are rained in at Pulau Langkawi Island in Malaysia (now 29^th May), but as I said before you can always check the date stamps on the photo’s.  I hope to get right up to date when we are holed up in Cairns for 10 days.

 

If you’ve read all of this particular blog, well done.  All I can say is this was a fantastic trip and if you get a chance to see Orangutan’s in their natural habitat, then do!!  The world is better with some orange in it!!!