All aboard!
Last night, en route, I had messaged our boat organiser Dian to delay our pickup from 0900 to 1000. He messaged us to say that he would be at our hotel at 0930 but there would be no rush. We had breakfast at the hotel before readying ourselves for our 3d/2n klotok adventure on the Sekonyer River to explore Tanjung Puting National Park.
It was a 20 min drive from Pangkalan Bun to Kumai where we boarded our klotok Satria Affar. We were introduced to our crew: Captain Iman, Guide Itan, Deckhand Eddie and Cook Anis. We had paid about NZD30pp more for a medium rather than small-sized boat but with luck on our side, we were given one of the larger boats in town.
We pushed off at 1100 and chugged to the estuary where we entered the Sekonyer River. Near that point we spotted two Irrawaddy Dolphins. We weren’t quick enough for pictures but it was good to see them.
A good lunch was served along the way. Soon after, Ita spotted some hornbills. We were led to the flat roof deck for a better view. We saw a Rhinoceros Hornbill inflight which landed on a tree. It was a truly beautiful and graceful creature. There were two Asian black hornbills nearby too and we saw them take off from their perch. We also saw plenty of long tail macaques and proboscis monkeys.
With cloudy weather like yesterday, it was great sitting on the rooftop observing the various creatures. It was also very pleasantly un-hot for Borneo.
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- We were lucky to get an upgrade one of the largest boats we saw out in the national park.
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- We were lucky to get an upgrade one of the largest boats we saw out in the national park.
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- Our guide Ita on the klotok (boat) Satria Affar.
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- On the Sekonyer River.
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- We were lucky to get an upgrade one of the largest boats we saw out in the national park. It came with a rooftop which was great for viewing wildlife in the trees.
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- On the Sekonyer River.
Feeding at Tanjung Harapan
We arrived at Tanjung Harapan and waited before disembarking around 1430 to check out the information hut before proceeding for the 1500 feeding session. One very greedy orang utan turned up and sat eating for seemingly forever. We left before he finished.
The various staff had told us that the largest nationality visiting the park are Spanish. There was a guide that seemed to speak Spanish well too. Looking at the visitors around, it was quite an obvious majority. I wonder why. Perhaps there was a documentary on TV and this is the wave of people coming over now.
Back on the klotok, we were given icy scented towels and treated to some banana fritters. Moving on, we saw an orang utan making its nest in the trees. This was only the second time our guide had witnessed this herself, so we consider ourselves very lucky. The creatures do this nightly to ensure that the nest is free from pests like very stingy ants.
In the evening, we saw some large bats swooping nearby. While they’re not in the thousands like at Mulu Caves, they were lower and seemingly bigger.
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- At Tanjung Harapan feeding station.
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- Orang utan building a nest.
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- Proboscis monkey (dominant male) with its very large nose.
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- Large bats swooping low in the sky.
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- Set up for the evening but mosquito nets not out yet.
Night walk
We had a night walk scheduled for tomorrow which wasn’t part of the itinerary we had received (but was on those provided by their competitors). In view of the good weather, Ita decided it would be good to do it tonight. Hence we had moved up-river ahead of schedule.
The night walk wasn’t what I had expected. My only previous experience at Mulu saw sleeping birds (with their heads tucked in their wings) and plenty of creepy-crawlies. Here we saw a Civet Malaya, tarantulas (black/old and brown/young), a smoking (sporing) mushroom, a couple of silkworms, huge carpenter ants, a green snake and some fireflies.
The ranger pointed out a structure made out of ulin ironwood. He explained that the tree grows slowly and takes 30 years before it is ready to harvest. We know of it as belian in Sarawak and since then I’ve found that the scientific name is Eusideroxylon zwageri.
The walk was longer than indicated to me, taking about 1.5h. We returned for a late dinner around 2000 and then a shower. I presume the shower water is held below deck as a generator was required to pump it. The shower had no tap control but was turned on with a normal wall switch (electrical). Don’t let your parents know you touched an electrical switch with wet fingers! The crew on the other hand just bathe with the black river water.
We retired around 2200 under the mosquito nettings.