The Orangutans of Tanjung Harapan, Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo)
Feeding time at Tanjung Harapan Orangutan Reserve...View image... is at 3:00 p.m. This reserve had the longest, and most difficult walk to the feeding platform. The dense forest was swarming with mosquitoes. The walk led over slippery branches, through mud, always keeping an eye out for those nasty fire ants and other beasties, e.g. poisonous snakes. (Man, does it hurt when fire ants bite. I accidentally put my hand on a piece of fence in Cambodia loaded with fire ants and speak from experience.)
A grand total of 12 tourists stood around the feeding platform created out of a small opening in the trees. The most extreme humidity of the trip with not a breath of air stirring, but it didn't take long before many orangutans began approaching the platform. More orangutan mothers with babies (one looked very young), orangutans coming out of the bushes...View image, sitting high in the tree branches...View image...View image, making their way to an ample supply of food.
Most of the orangutans took a bunch of bananas and rapidly headed for the safety of the trees. They must have known what was about to happen. With lots of rustling leaves and cracking branches above us, a huge male called "Betty" (even though he was most definitely the Alpha male) came swinging down from the trees directly overhead. I was seriously concerned that the weight of the branches wasn't going to hold "Betty," he'd come crashing down on us causing a painful "death by orangutan."
Well, that took care of that! Only the bravest of the brave stuck around, at a respectful distance, the others scattered up into the trees...View image... hanging on to whatever bananas they had managed to take and waited...View image. "Betty" slurped, smacked and chowed down on the majority of the food before a few others tentatively approached the platform again...View image.
...and hesitantly, helped themselves while "Betty" just looked bored and truthfully, benignly at the others...View image. Three wild boar showed up to eat the banana peels and leavings dropped around the platform...View image. Eventually, the younger orangutans got brave and chased them away. This was surprising because the boars were at least equal to the orangutans in size.
Orangutans are very smart and learn quickly by watching. Fery said one orangutan, "Princess," untied a canoe one day, and rowed across the river using her arms as paddles.
A sad farewell to all the orangutans we saw during the last three days in Tanjung Puting National Park. Light years away from our Sepilok Sanctuary experience. There were very tourists on the Sungai River, and no time restrictions for viewing once the feeding began. If you wanted to sit and watch until the last orangutan wandered back in the forest, you could without hundreds of people pushing and shoving for vantage points. An absolutely wonderful experience and one I feel fortunate to have seen.
Sunset on the Sungai Kumai River...View image, and captain chugged off to a mooring spot in the Nipa Palms where we sat on deck...View image, and waited for the fireflies/glow worms to do their magic. They like to eat the bark of the Nipa Palms and the area resembled Christmas trees with tiny lights flickering on and off.
