Tanjung Puting National Park is the world's best place to see orangutans in their natural habitat and is a stellar family vacation destination. Unlike most other outdoor adventures, physical exertions required to enjoy jungle wildlife here are suitable for anyone age four to 84. Visiting Tanjung Puting starts with registration at Pangkalan Bun police station. Bring photocopies of your passport and visa. (Airport taxi-drivers know the steps.)
Next stop is the PHKA office (national parks office) on the way into Pangkalan Bun from the airport. Provide a copy of your police letter from Pangkalan Bun and another photocopy of your passport. Then head to Kumai to begin chugging upriver. When the park office is closed, it may be possible to arrange entry at the park's entry checkpoint. Ask your boat captain or guide.
Like other orangutan rehabilitation sites, Tanjung Puting guarantees plenty of these irresistible auburn primates close up. What sets Tanjung Puting apart is the journey on Sungai Sekonyer straight out of The Heart of Darkness by klotok , your private floating losmen.
Motoring gently between walls of pandanus fringing the river like spiky-haired stick-figures, sharp-eyed captains or guides may spot wild orangutans perched on riverside branches or macaques scurrying through the forest canopy shared among 200-plus bird species. Tanjung Puting is also home to sun bears, wild boars, clouded leopards, spotted cats, pythons, gibbons, porcupines, and Sambar deer, none likely to turn up along the riverbank.
But absolutely count on seeing proboscis monkeys. Found only in Borneo, these odd creatures with their potbellies, awkward movements (by monkey standards), white faces highlighted by a tubular nose, and, among the males, obvious, constant sexual readiness - when colonists showed up, natives rechristened the proboscis monyet belanda , Dutch monkey - anxiously await klotok arrivals. A troop of 30 light-brown monkeys may plunge from branches 10 metres or higher into the dark river and cross directly in front of the boat. Proboscis monkeys act out Borneo's version of 'Why did the chicken cross the road?' because they know the boat's engine noise and the threat of its propeller scares crocodiles, which find the chubby monkeys delicious.
The only great apes outside Africa, orangutans face a very real threat of extinction this century as their rainforest habitat is converted to furniture from often-illegally cut timber and palm-oil plantations. Canadian researcher Dr Biruté Galdikas began research here in 1971. The least known of three female ape-experts mentored by legendary anthropologist Dr Louis Leakey, Dr Galdikas' discoveries included the orangutan's eight-year birth cycle, which makes the species highly vulnerable to extinction. Valuable studies continue at Tanjung Puting.
The 415,040 hectare park was Indonesia's first site for the now-controversial practice of orangutan rehabilitation: training orphaned or former captive orangutans to live in the wild (sometimes known as referalisation). But after prolonged, close contact with human rehabilitators, orangutans never lose their taste for it. Orangutans can also pick up human diseases and spread them to wild populations. Current regulations require reintroduction in areas without native orangutan populations. Tanjung Puting's rehabilitation work is being phased out.
Dry season runs May to September. Reduced rainfall makes journeys more enjoyable. But higher water during wet season expands boat access. Tanjung Puting's 200 varieties of wild orchids bloom mainly January to March.
Follow park regulations to ensure the health of ecosystems and their inhabitants; don't disregard them for the sake of a photo. Never travel park trails without a ranger or guide. Many orangutans are excaptives and unafraid of humans. No matter what boat crew or rangers do, don't feed orangutans or initiate contact with them. Young ones especially are very hard to resist, but they are highly susceptible to human diseases and you can inflict great harm.
Orangutans are also very strong animals that may grab your camera, bag or anything else hanging off your body. In a tug-of-war, they'll win.
Resist the temptation to swim in rivers. Crocodiles lurk; several years ago a British volunteer was killed swimming just off a dock. Water may also be polluted due to mining activities upstream. Wash safely at the river pool at Camp Leakey dock. Elsewhere, get advice from your boat crew or guide before drawing water.
