Tanjung puting national park adventure – Have you ever seen an orangutan before? I bet you haven’t. Orangutan is one of the great apes native rainforests of Indonesia, specifically in Borneo. Yep, you won’t find this fella in Java, Papua, Sulawesi, or even Bali. They lived densely deep in a forest dangling from one tree to another.
It is quite sad that these primates are categorized as the most endangered of all great apes. Why did this happen? Blame the human, at least some of them indeed have no empathy. They burn the forest without thinking about the consequences, and the orangutan suffers from habitat loss and deforestation.
Concerned about them, I decided to visit one of their habitats in Borneo. Yes, this will be my experience trying to get touch with them in Tanjung Puting National Park.
This place is protected and conserved as one of largest orangutan habitats in Borneo, let’s see if we are lucky enough to meet them.
Venturing To Tanjung Puting National Park, Stunning Riverside
Firstly, we need to go there by boat. Yep, the location itself is quite far from the city. Say, if you were landing in Palangkaraya then you still need to take a journey with an airplane again.
Well, it is considered near if you were start from Pangkalan bun. So, if the flights available in your country are considered to be directly to that nearest city it will surely save you time, too much transit isn’t so fun.
Me and my friends arrive early since getting so hyped not visiting the place for quite long. There, we rented a boat, a simple yet comfortable one, to sail through the river.
What we witnessed are lush forests on the left and right riverside, the water itself is somewhat green and brown. For those who have already visited places such as Amazon the experience itself is quite similar but never the same.
The sailing lasted several minutes before we arrived in Tanjung Puting National Park. We had a good time with the locals, discussing stuff about orangutans and other wildlife creatures. Soon you’ll know why luck is considered important to meet them
Welcome To Tanjung Puting National Park, We Arrived!
Finally, after waiting quite a long time we arrived at our destination. Such a huge forest as far as eyes can see, we were greeted with a picture of an orangutan, it’s exciting but I want to see the real one that’s why I came here.
Almost forgot, actually we came here with a small family foreign tourists. They bring the children too, surely they really want to witness the orangutan with their own eyes and learn the pattern and daily behavior.
Fun tips: Heart Warming Family Tours and Its Recommended Activity
Moving along, after taking some pictures at the nearest camp we saw something odd. There is a sign board that said “You may not see them?”
For those who have never visited there, the orangutan is quite a sensitive creature. Well it’s true they are so chill and friendly but too much noise will make them uncomfortable and go away.
That’s why the chances of seeing them required luck. Unique isn’t? Yes it is, the creature is rare and their appearance is rare too. Here’s few tips to increase your luck.
- Don’t make a loud noise in the forest, slowly approach the forest and please don’t scream or make loud sounds. Such a calming surrounding will higher the chance orangutan appearance
- Visit them at the best time, Don’t go there without knowing the best time to visit tanjung puting national park. We recommend taking June, July, August, and September. The weather is good during those months.
- Bring professional guide with you, not a mandatory one but it is better if you go there accompanied by professional tour operator that understand the best spot to saw orangutan
Orangutan Spotted, They Are So Friendly and Chill
Me and my friends were lucky enough to witness the orangutan. Not only one, but two until three at the same time. Our distance is quite far, but this is surely something unexpected. We only saw normal orangutans, not the king one. But this is considerably enough no need to push more luck.
Oh, I almost forgot. You can bring a good camera with a zooming feature. It will help you to get real time high quality photos of orangutans. After I finished watching them, I decided to go back with the group.
It is truly an amazing experience. Don’t you want to try it yourself? Come visit the Tanjung Puting together with me. Contact the provided Whatsapp number on Indonesia Luxury Tours, we will prepare best itinerary for your trip to Borneo witnessing the orangutan.