Beanland Diary - Gone Borneo

Dear Readers,

WELCOME TO TANJUNG PUTING NATIONAL PARK

THERE ARE MANY CROCODILES IN RIVER

NO SWIMMING

Thus read the sign which, despite the sweltering jungle heat and enticing clear water, I thought wise to heed. In case the presence of only one or two crocodiles wasn't enough, the word "MANY" was underlined in red paint. Hello, Borneo.

We had not come to Tanjung Puting for crocodiles, though. We came for orangutans. Orangutans, or in the local language the "people (orang) of the forest (hutan)," are truly captivating animals. Borneo is one of the few places in the world where you can see and interact with orangutans in the wild. It was one of the main reasons we wanted to visit Indonesia.

Getting to Tanjung Puting requires some tenacity. From Jakarta, take a flight to central Java, then another to the island of Borneo. Land at Pangkalan Bun, a coastal airstrip shaved right into a swath of dense palm trees. From there, hire a boat to take you upriver for about 5 hours in what looks like a scene right out of Heart of Darkness. Then dock at Camp Leakey, which you for will recognize by the NO SWIMMING sign described above. For obvious reasons, most tourists to Indonesia never make it this far to see the scruffy red apes. Too bad.

If you've ever been to a zoo, you know how fascinating the human-like movements of apes and monkeys can be. But the experience of seeing them up close is something very special. Only 20 feet from the dock we were greeted by a family of orangutans – a mother, a baby, and a 7-year old named Tomas. They plopped down from the branches onto the wooden walkway and sauntered right up. We were frozen with delight as these creatures came up to interact with us. The mother grabbed on to our guide's ankles with one hand and continued to groom the baby with another. Tomas walked up to Lou and started poking at the mole on her right shoulder, curious whether it was edible.

We found out quickly that bananas for orangutans are basically like sex for a 14-year old boy – the one and only thing on their minds for 99% of their waking hours. And evidently the rangers who feed the orangutans carry bananas in backpacks. It did not take long for our new orange friends to notice that we, too, had backpacks. Backpacks! This is when things went downhill. Almost simultaneously, Tomas started reaching for Lou's purple sack and the mother started to move for our guide's pack. This cuddly scene suddenly got an injection of adrenaline.

As they moved in, their faces maintained the standard orangutan expression- lazy drooped eyes and puckered lips. It is a look of calmness, confidence, and a hint of boredom. This primate poker face seemed to say, "Yes I'm undoing the snaps on your backpack, ho-hum, don't mind me..."

It's worth noting at this point that orangutans, pound for pound, are 8-10 times stronger than humans. They can also grab with all four limbs. So keeping an 80lb orangutan out of your backpack is not as easy as, say, pushing a beagle away from the dinner table. It requires a delicate mix of verbal signals and slow, confident movements. Orangutans also have teeth, and use them. With the help of the guide we slid backwards, slowly, and deposited our bags back on the boat before venturing further into the forest. Disaster averted.

We spent the next hours following the orangutans during their daily feeding. Once our memory cards were full of photos and our bodies covered in mosquito bites, we started heading back to the boat. Halfway back, the heavens opened up above us. Heavy jungle rain drops came pounding down on us. We started to run but we were soaked instantly. Of course, we had forgotten our rain jackets or an umbrella or anything to keep us dry. We wrapped the cameras in plastic bags and slogged back to the boat through the mud.

As we got closer to the dock we spotted a covered wooden gazebo. Some of the boat crews had taken refuge from the deluge underneath. They were sitting on the benches, smoking clove cigarettes and cracking jokes. They erupted in laughter when they saw the sorry sight of our group, drenched to the bone and muddy to the shins.

On the far bench, sitting still and cross-legged, was an adult female orangutan. She had wisely gotten under the shelter when the rain started and was perfectly dry. She looked at us with those droopy eyes and puckered her lips. The expression now seemed to say, "Suckers..."

Atentamente,
Your correspondent