Orangutans reintroduced to nature at Tanjung Puting

Jakarta Post contributor Rebecca Mowbray visited Tanjung Puting National Park on a recent journey through Kalimantan. The following are her articles and photos of the orangutans in the area.

TANJUNG PUTING, Central Kalimantan (JP): The engine of Satria II chugged as the slow-moving klotok fishing boat parted the waters of Sekoyner River and pardoned some over-zealous water plants blocking the way to Camp Leakey.

Proboscis monkeys chattered and hopped in the overhanging trees, shaking the leaves like tambourines. A crocodile relinquished its late afternoon sunning spot and disappeared into the dark water of the river.

A trip to Central Kalimantan's Tanjung Puting National Park is a bath in the natural world, a meditation on the trees and the animals that are so far from Jakarta skyscrapers.

Tanjung Puting is a national park where orangutans rescued from captivity, like the park's human visitors, are reintroduced to the wild. It is not a zoo, but a nature preserve and functioning research station where the famed Dr. Birute Galdikas began her comprehensive study of orangutan behavior in 1971.

The park's 415,000 hectares of tropical forest and peat swamp are accessible only by boat. Most visitors rent klotok and stock up on cooking provisions at the market if they plan to sleep onboard.

Visitors willing to sacrifice the nighttime view of the stars for a hot shower can stay at the Rimba Lodge or the new Eco- Lodge, which donates a percentage of its profits to the local community.

Every night after a late afternoon wildlife cruise and filling dinner of fried noodles, sauteed vegetables, white rice and fruit prepared by chef and first mate Yadi, we pulled mattresses on deck and fell asleep soon after the sun. A mosquito net is a good item to pack.

In the mornings we were wooed to consciousness by the waking sun, monkeys and birds, but on one morning we awoke to crashing branches as a wild male orangutan palmed his way across the treetops to gander at our boat.

After bathing in the cleaner waters of a branch of the Sekoyner near Camp Leakey each day, we set off for one of the park's three camps where feedings take place to observe the ex- captive orangutans.

An orangutan feeding is an unscripted performance in a natural setting. While the orangutans gorge themselves on bananas and dangle from tree branches, visitors can admire the mastery with which they maneuver through the forest. A feeding may not be a natural event, but it is an incredible chance to watch this great ape.

The park also offers kilometers of trails for strolling through the forest. Rangers know all about the trees, their medicinal uses and Dayak spiritual beliefs about them.

A vacation in Tanjung Puting's wall of green empties one's mind and forces even the most high-energy visitor to adjust to the pace of the forest. It is a meditation in beauty and solitude. For me, even a postcard required too much concentration.

But the polluted waters of the Sekoyner River and the stubbled forest along the opposite bank also provide a rare opportunity to contemplate questions of development that balances humans, animals and the ecosystem.