It is quite foggy as we make our way back to Karwing. Just before we reach the village we spot a proboscis monkey high in the trees. This type of monkey has a very unique face with a long, protruding nose.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proboscis_monkey
In Karwing we go back to the kepala desa’s house and see that someone has been waiting for us… the forest ranger! He arrived yesterday afternoon at 3 p.m. We feel a bit bad having left without him, but then again, he wasn’t at planned the meeting point.
After some tea and sweets we make our way to the boat that is leaving for Kasongan. All the other passengers are seated and have apparently been waiting for us for 30 minutes... The ranger looks nervous and explains to Aini that he is afraid of what his boss will say if he hears that he did not guide the 2 foreigners inside the national park. Aini and KTD settle the problem over the phone in no time, explaining that there was a misunderstanding. He looks a bit more relaxed now for the rest of the trip. We understood that he was really needing the extra money from the guiding to add to his small salary at the office. His wife does sewing work and they have a small boy. We feel even worse now to not have waited for him to begin our visit. We decide to give him half of what he was supposed to earn the past 2 days as a compromise and offer to invite him to lunch. We exchange what we have seen in Sebangau and he tells us about the peat water and the orang utans, answering our questions the best he can. I hope the next visitors to Sebangau will be able to have him as guide. Perhaps with a bit of practise and better communication between the police, WWF, forest departement and travel agency it will be easier for the next visitors.
We say good-bye to Aini and decide to stay at the relaxing Eco Village again to rest. Tomorrow we will begin a 3 day, 2 night trip on the Rahai’i Pangun…
The next morning Lorna and her driver come to pick us to take us to Palangka Raya, where the boat is docked.We arrive at the pier and make our way down 2 steep ladders to the Kahayan River. There a beautiful wooden boat is waiting for us. We will be the only guests on board the next few days and Lorna will be accompagnying us. Saiful (the waiter), Suryadi (the captain), Patirwin (the 2nd captain), Anto (the cook), Ujeng (the operations manager) and Ready (the man for all situations) welcome us on board. We hesitated a long time back and forth before booking this trip. It a different type of travel than we are used to. But sometimes there are certain opportunities that you just can’t miss!
http://www.wowborneo.com/index.php/Cruise-Boats/
On the ride to Palangka Raya Lorna tells us about KTD’s adventure of finding a suitable boat and meeting the right people to build what she and her business partner had imagined. It was to become a comfortable environment suitable for families as well as business people and important government officials. The upper deck would be reserved for the day guests and lunches and the 5 cabins down below for guests staying for 1 or more nights. It was not a simple task finding a serious and experienced boat builder who understood the project and knew how to cope with Indonesian boat building procedures.
It finally took 2 years for the Rahai’i Pangun (which means big development in the local Dayak language) to be finished. The idea during the construction was to share the builders knowledge with the team of locals helping him. The Rahai’i has been sailing over a year now between the Rungan and Kahayan Rivers. KTD’s idea was to use the boat to help develop eco tourism with the villages along these rivers. This would help create a long time relationship and develop sustainable tourism with the villagers of the region. The boats passengers come from various countries: Indonesia, England, France, U.S., Australia, etc. KTD also has a second boat called the Spirit of Borneo that can be chartered for groups.
We go down below and choose the cabin in the front. The color of the cushions and beadspread fit perfectly to the wooden interior. You can’t help, but feel right at home. Just outside the room there is a bathroom with an amercian toilet, shower and mandi. I am so used to the mandi now, that I even forget there is a shower. Half of the upper deck towards the front is where the big table for meals is set. If you want to be close to the water you can sit by the wooden railing surrounding the front deck. There is also a rattan cushioned sitting place with books and magazines surrounding the stairs that lead to the cabins below. In the middle of the boat is Suryadi’s domain for navigating. He sits proudly behind the big wooden wheel guiding the boat along the winding, brown river. Behind him there is another covered deck to sit in the afternoon when it gets too hot in the front deck.
As soon as we are settled in, Sayful comes to bring us a cooling welcome drink. We have left Palangka Raya and are making our way up the Rungan River. The width of the river starts to gradually become smaller and soon we are only a few mettes from the jungle and can begin to try spotting wildlife. You almost can’t hear the boats motor as we slowly make our way towards Tangkiling. It has been purposely muffled with padding to make it quiet and as pleasant as possible for the guests on board!
There is a whole story behing the motor as well… KTD had an expensive German motor ordered when they began sailing over a year ago. The first few weeks everything was running smoothly. Then on one trip they suddenly hit a sand bank and the motor died. No one had ever seen a motor like this before and none of the crew wanted to touch or try to repair it… They called around to see if they could get a replacement, but that would take at least a week.They couldn’t afford to wait, as an important delegation had booked a tour for the coming days. Then someone came up with the idea of using an Indonesian truck motor… why not? The expensive German motor was replaced and has been running smoothly ever since!
After a delicious lunch we make our way towards the 3 BOS (Borneo Orang Utan Survival) islands. These islands have been the home of many orang utans that have been caught after their natural habitat was destroyed. They are fed and looked after 3 times a day and used to human contact. We board a small klotok and go closer to one of the islands to see some of the orang utans that have come to the edge of the edge of the water. It is fantastic to see them up close! We need to keep a distance of about 10-20 meters to not disturb them. No one from outside is permitted to set foot on the BOS islands. We watch them for a while from the klotok while they eat fruit and play together. Perhaps some of them will soon be ready to go back to the wild again.
Lorna tells us some funny stories of orang utans that tried to escape the island by stealing a motor boat or trying to swim across ot the next island. They are extremely smart and once they have seen someone doing something, they will try to imitate them. Once one even went through her purse, drinking her suncream and eating her passport…
Along the way we see numerous macaques monkeys playing along the banks of the river. At one place we see one stuck inside a woven fishing net on the beach… I hope he will be able to find a way out again.
The day goes by quickly and soon we arrive in Tangkiling, where we will dock for the night. The crew anchors the boat near the shore. We have a bit of time left just before it gets dark to stretch our legs on a short walk. We say good-bye to Lorna, she will be joining us again tomorrow.
