SUMATRA ORANG UTANS WITH EXPEDITION JUNGLE
Sumatra - the mysterious island in the west of Indonesia is home to the last wild orangutans on earth. We would like to tell you about our tour in the jungle to the Sumatran Orang Utans. The provider Expedition Jungle [ad] not only led us to the last Orang Utangs Sumatra in a wonderful tour, but also brought us closer to the magic of the jungle at night. One after the other.
BOOK A TOUR TO THE SUMATRA ORANG UTANS
Booking with Expedition Jungle works without any problems via the website. The tour provider will be happy to advise you on the perfect Sumatra orangutan tour for you. Depending on the fitness level, the daily hike takes between one and six hours. We chose the 2 day tour and it was really great. If you have more time, choose a longer tour and dig deeper into the Sumatra jungle. The longer your tour lasts, the higher your chances of finding jungle elephants, Sumatran tigers, bears and of course Sumatran orangutans.
ORGANIZATION
The tour includes pickup and drop off at Bukit Lawang airport. The transfer takes three hours each.
The organizer also books overnight stays in Bukit Lawang for the night before or after your jungle tour. In any case, ask which accommodation is booked, because the accommodations in Bukit Lawang differ greatly in quality and cleanliness.
In advance you will get a list from tour providers, with things you need for your tour to the Sumatra Orang Utans. The organization of the tour is impeccable.
THE TOUR
Full of anticipation, we were picked up punctually by our very friendly and nice guide Adi Black and a driver from Expedition Jungle at Medan airport. From here it went three hours to Bukit Lawang over sometimes more, sometimes less bumpy roads.
In Bukit Lawang there are many guest houses with restaurants. There are also some small snack shops and souvenir shops. There is no ATM, but supposedly there is a money changer. So take enough cash with you. Bukit Lawang is located on a really dreamily clean and cool mountain river that invites you to swim. Bukit Lawang is the starting point of the Sumatra Orang Utan Tour.
We started our jungle trek the next morning after breakfast. Take pillows, toilet paper, swimming trunks, camera, water, flip-flops with you.
The Gunung Leuser National Park begins on the other side of the river, which is crossed by a suspension bridge. The subsequent trekking can be adjusted depending on your condition. Guide Adi Black always stayed with us, while his assistant Anto is always a few hundred meters ahead and explores the area.
We were on the road for about 6 hours, taking a half-hour break and being served a mega delicious selection of fruits: pineapple, passion fruit, mangoes from Adi's garden and delicious melon. For lunch there was fried rice made from banana leaves.
There are always breaks in between, as you can discover other animals around every corner.
It is really a paradise for animal fans. There is enough time to observe the animals and the guides also like to wait until the animal has been photographed from any desired position. You also notice the enthusiasm of the guides for the jungle, although they see it almost every day.
Cheeky macaque monkeys, pig-tail monkeys, the nice and trusting Thomas Leaf monkeys accompany you all day long. We were particularly impressed by the white-handed gibbons, which swing from tree to tree with incredible ease. The absolute highlight are the orangutans. We were lucky enough to see eight specimens of this impressive species on our tour. From the small baby to the 70-year-old alpha male, all ages were involved.
On extended hikes of several days, you penetrate very far into the Gunung Leuser National Park and have the chance to meet forest elephants, rhinos, bears or even the rare Sumatran tiger.
In the afternoon we arrived at our camp with pouring rain and washed the sweat down in the waterfall. Really a unique experience. In the late afternoon we prepared dinner together with the camp cook. Very exciting how he conjures up delicious dishes here under the simplest of conditions. The sleeping tents are equipped with insulating mats, blankets, pillows and mosquito nets. Not a big luxury, but protected from rain and reptiles, you are sung to sleep by the jungle sound.
Before going to sleep we could watch a special spectacle in the sky. Hundreds of green dragonflies swirled above the camp, making the sky glitter. Really great.
The next morning we were awake with the first rays of the sun and crawled out of our mosquito net tired. However, we weren't the first this morning. A gang of about twenty macaques and four monitor lizards were already in the creek and offered us a funny show the rest of the morning. Be it that they argued with each other or had our breakfast in mind. Really funny guys.
Around noon we hiked to the nearby river and tubed on tires back to the village for about twenty minutes.
A very successful trek that we fully recommend.
Privacy factor
We were alone on our tour to the Sumatra Orang Utans with our guide Adi Black. Tracer Anto was there during the day. The cook was there at night in the camp. Depending on how far your tour penetrates into the jungle, you may also meet another group. At night in the camp we were all alone.
The privacy factor was very high in our case. It probably also depends on the season.
Guide
Adi was just great as a guide. He gave us important tips for staying in the jungle. He was able to answer any of our questions about plants and animals. He knew many orangutans by name and knew their life history and family tree. In the evening he kept us happy around the campfire with simple but grandiose games and exciting stories. If you book Jungle with Expedition, be sure to ask for Adi Black.
Conclusion
The tour to the Sumatra Orang Utans with Expedition Jungle was an absolute highlight of our entire trip. The support from the tour provider and their team was really great. The night in the jungle was a unique experience. We would be happy to recommend this tour to you.
