We carry on our family adventure by paying a visit to Pangkalan Bun, the third leg of our trip to Indonesia. You can read about our other adventures in Part 1: Yogyakarta and Part 2: East Java.
Family Trip to Pangkalan Bun
Day 8: Pangkalan Bun
You might wonder where Pangkalan Bun is. It is in the south of Borneo. You can only fly into Pangkalan Bun from Surabaya or Jakarta.
The chance to view orangutans in the wild was what drew us to Pangkalan Bun.
If you are curious about where Singapore Zoo’s conservation funds go, it is to our neighbouring countries! Well, that’s because these are the areas where there are wild animals to conserve.
The orangutans in the wild reside mostly in Tanjung Putting National Park, and you can only access the place by boat. There are wild and re-habited orangutans found here.
Most visitors stay three days and two nights on a boat. So, yes, we were going to stay on a houseboat (klotok) that we booked through Airpaz.
Houseboat Tour
Our guide from Orangutan Days met us at the airport and brought us to the dock. This would be our home for the next two nights!
We arrived in the afternoon and we had drinks and snacks to welcome us.
Honestly, we were so excited to be onboard the klotok. My children went around exploring and saying hello to people on board. We have a captain, an assistant captain (Happy), a cook and a guide (Zainur) looking after us for the next three days.
“We are going into the wild, I cannot promise you that you will see the animals,” said our guide to set our expectations when.
It was rainy when we arrived but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
There are a total of three feeding points for the whole tour and our first feed station had a feed at 3 pm.
We were late, but because of earlier rain, so were the orangutans.
There was still lots of food and a total of five orangutans came out to the feeding platform.
We saw orangutan mums and their babies. We saw big orangutans that stuffed their mouths silly with sugarcane before taking off!
Along our boat journey, we saw macaques, proboscis (long-nose) monkeys, gibbons and kingfishers flying in front of us. The houseboat allowed us to meander through the water to get a better view of all the animals.
Day 9: Pondok Tanggui & Camp Leakey
The next morning, we woke up to the soothing sounds of nature.
My children were getting comfortable and lounging around the boat.
There were two more feeding stations scheduled for the second day. From where the boat docked, we had to walk into the jungle to the feeding stations.
It is a good idea to wear track pants and hiking shoes and to spray insect repellent before embarking on the walk through the jungle.
At Pondok Tanggui, the second feeding station, we arrived early and waited for the orangutans to come out. We were treated by two “men of the forest” who came out to feed.
Then we went back on to the boat and headed for Camp Leakey.
I had high hopes for Camp Leakey, the third feeding station.
It was established in 1971 by Dr. Biruté Galdikas and former spouse Rod Brindamour. At this location, much of what the world know about orangutans was learned.
Camp Leakey’s name is attributed to Dr. Louis Leakey, who funded the research of Biruté Galdikas on orangutans, Dian Fossey on mountain gorillas and Jane Goodall on chimpanzees.
So, at the final feeding station, I insisted we stay for the full one-hour feeding duration.
At the feed area, everyone was quiet. Cameras were set up, waiting for the orangutans to appear.
Our patience paid off. We saw an alpha male orangutan. Even the guides took out their phones.
This was already more than I could have asked for but as we were walking back towards our boat, our guide stopped and pointed upwards.
He had spotted a wild orangutan in the tree! We followed it for a while and saw it reaching for a fallen rambutan!
Our guide quickly snapped a picture for us! We knew it was hard to spot such a shy creature. I found it incredibly exciting and fortunate.
Day 10: Heading to Jakarta
The following day, it was time for our boat to head back and we took our time to wake up.
Our beds were used as couches in the day and converted into beds at night. The mosquito covers were also set up for us and it was cool while we slept.
We thought this was the end of our adventure but there was still one more experience to come.
On the way back, we saw smaller boats stuck amongst some plant debris and our boat came to the rescue, stopping to help tow the boats out of trouble.
Next, we went to the airport where our flight was delayed. Unfortunately, we did not find out until we were at the boarding gate!
It was a small airport and we headed to the Nam Air office.
Yup, it is safe to say that people were not happy. This happens quite often.
Interestingly, two accountants who were on the same flight asked if we would like to join them for a meal at a famous restaurant, Rumah Bakar Semangat 47.
Since there was a four-hour delay in the flight, instead of waiting at an empty airport, we thanked them and took up the offer! The bakar fish at the restaurant was excellent and my two children loved it so much!
Tummies full, we headed back to the airport and flew to Jakarta.
In Jakarta
In the heart of Jakarta, a section was closed as a walking street on Sunday. We joined in the squeeze with the crowds. Street vendors, bicycles, rollerblades and pedestrians were all out and about!
In Jakarta, we recommend staying either in the Menteng or Thamrin areas since there are plenty of shopping malls and amenities all around.
This brought our family adventure in Indonesia to a close.
Of the three locations in Indonesia that we visited, our recommendations are:
- if you want a great deal of adventure, choose Jogja.
- If you want a place more palatable to young children (primary schoolers), head to Mount Bromo and Malang as they have mountains, waterfalls, safari and many amusement parks.
- If you want a unique experience, visit Pangkalan Bun.
This was a trip of discovery and surprises! I was glad that I had a family ready for challenge and adventure. Are you ready?
