ORANGUTAN AND GAJAH

Last week was the end of Ramadan. This was celebrated by a week of feasting and visiting friends and family centered around the days of Idul Fitri (October 1st and 2nd this year). I used these two vacation days to go on a trip with Marcus and Mary Beth to North Sumatra to do some jungle trekking! We flew into Medan and immediately drove down to Bukit Lawang, a village on the edge of the Gunung Leuser National Park and also site of an orangutan rehabilitation center started by WWF in the 80s (I think). There we stayed at Jungle Inn for 2 nights and went out with a guide for a 1 1/2 days of trekking and orangutan viewing.

Favorite fact: Orangutan means Forest person. The word Orang in Indonesian means Person and the word Hutan means Forest.

My room, the waterfall room, at Jungle Inn – perfect place for napping . . .

I’m not sure what, if any, is the difference between trekking and hiking, but I am a big fan of such activity and I thoroughly enjoy maneuvering over roots and boulders. The value added by climbing through the jungle and looking for animals, with a real promise of seeing them, is immense!!! There is a number of semi-wild orangutans, that have been moved there for protection in the park. The guides know them all, keep track of where they are congregating and who is in charge while they tempt them down with bananas for the handle full of tourists that come these days. Bukit Lawang used to be a ‘booming’ (relatively) tourist town on a rushing river. In 2003 there was a flash flood that killed 400 people, devastating the small village and its tourist industry. Its slowly getting back on its feet and is well worth a visit if you like monkeys, rainforest, and rafting down cool, fresh rivers! Actually there is a lot more than orangutans to see – we saw Thomas Leaf monkeys, Gibbons, Macacao and a jungle peacock with makes a crazy loud sound!

Yes, BABY orangutan! Oh goodness . . . .

From Bukit Lawang, we rode by motorbike over what we quickly realized was a dried up riverbed being called a very bumpy road leading to Tankajan village. Two hours of abusing our cocyx bones and we arrived at the tiny village that host an elephant refuge and two hotels. We stayed at Mega Inn – a really beautiful place that the owner, Mega, built himself. Mega Inn and Tankajan was a perfect little jungle refuge for us – charming clean bungalows on the cliff across the river from the main town of about 5 buildings. We went on an elephant trek, riding elephants through the jungle and river. I was so excited that I have a huge dumb smile in every photo we took! As soon as the elephants lumbered up to us through the river I jumped up on the lead girl – Ahrdana. We bonded immediately. Simply put, one of the coolest things I’ve done ever.

And for those concerned about elephant taming tactics (I investigated before we went on the ride because I don’t want to support antequated animal treatment), the trainers seem to be very respectful of the elephants. They have about 12 elephants at Tankajan, brought there from Aceh because of the human-elephant conflict that occurs when farming in the jungle. So there is a respectful relationship between the trainers and the animals because the trainers enjoy working and living off nature, so they protect it (sustainable development!)

And now its back to work! Solution Exchange Aceh and Nias is keeping me very busy and we have our big training next week with the team from India. This is the make it or brake it moment so I’m holding my breath until the end of next week. Check out the Solution Exchange page for more info: www.unorc.or.id/solutionexchange