Sept 30 2017 7:12 am – Fab 3d trip up jungle river, close up viewing of wild endemic apes, macaque monkeys, Proboscis monkeys, birds of all sorts especially hornbills, reptiles, insects, & plants. Inland excursions day & night to witness scheduled and much anticipated Orangutans feasting on bananas and milk at the feeding stations. We traveled, ate, & slept aboard 3-decker Borneo river boat w/ Captain, guide, cook, & 2 deck hands which meant we did little but enjoy the experience. Went with 2 couples from 2 boats, so 8 of us. No cooking – food and drinks provided. Another 2 yachtie couples rented a smaller river boat for their 5. We buddy boated up & down the river. Smaller boats maneuver better. Saw many boats with just a couple on board. Recommend the experience highly. The key is a good guide w/strong English, or you miss half of the education and things you can/might see.
Tanjung Putting National Park
We went w/Mr. Bain. His guide, Usup (like YOU-soup) is great. Cost 2M rupiah ($180) pp all expenses included. We booked only 2 days in advance. Celebrated Trent’s 14th on board, rafted to other boat, tied off Eco Lodge dock. 1 sailor had toured western Amazon during rainy season said Amazon had much more life. We’re in the dry season, & the park is smaller. But he thought the Tanjung Puting National Park was fantastic & thoroughly enjoyed the different and truly extraordinary wildlife. Took lots and lots of pics.
Bryce anticipating our movement into Sekonyer River.
Entrance statude to Tanjung Puting Nat’l Park
SV Ocelot and Grand Cru stopped to gawk at male orangutan. We joined in too!
Orangutan male isolated in the jungle
Rare sight to see proboscus monkeys swimming in fright.
Two male proboscis monkeys
Young female proboscis monkey
Leslie Rigney catching a glimpse of a female proboscis monkey and baby.
Dominant male proboscis monkey.
Upclose view of female proboscis monkey and baby.
Male Proboscis Leader watching over his group
Guide made Leslie a fern hat .
Playing Uchre
DCIM105GOPRO
We plan to sail tomorrow if we can repair mainsail furler. If not, will limp along with trysail instead until we can get to a place where we can repair it. Not the end of the world. Just means we travel a touch slower.
BTW: Nick Rigney is scheduled to join us on the 8th. Woohoo!
Sept 30 2017 13:48 – Repaired the furler. Transferred fuel from port to stbd tank. All is well. Decided to leave earlier for Belitung. Must go slowly. Less than 4.5 kts over 300 nm to arrive at daylight 10/3, 3 days Anchored. Squalls, lightning, countercurrent, & headwind suggested to me that we anchor the night & start first light, WITH the elements. So happy with our decision to wait out the storm!
Wild male orangutan in Tanjung Puting National Park, Kalimantan, Indonesia.
For more Indonesia Orangutan photos, visit our photo gallery!
Sept 23 2017 – Kalimantan (Borneo) & upcoming plans:
Travel up & anchor in a river next to Kumai town.
Tour a traditional Dayak village with Sail Indonesia Rally 2017 and tour Kumai all organized by the local rally committee.
Learn about orangutan conservation @ Camp Leakey
Find & try bird’s nest soup
Reserve a Klotok river boat, guide, etc for a 3 days cruise to take us to Tanjung Puting Nat’l Park w/wildlife stops and onboard meals along the way, observing from & sleeping on the elevated deck.
Find a “boat boy” to watch over Kandu, living in the cockpit while she remains locked up; a common Kumai practice
Prepare to celebrate Trent’s 14th Bday with some “forest people/orangutans.”
Head off for exotic Belitung Island where Nick will join us.
That’s what’s planned for next week starting 9/25. As always, twice as much will occur over what is planned. There could be a welcoming dinner with trad’l dancing, a museum or temple or two, geological points of interest, food items, etc.
Sailing at night, we must pay close attention for little red & blue flashing LED lights affixed to wooden scaffolding fish attracting devices. Also, few Indonesian boats have AIS, even the larger fishing boats, ferry, tugs, & cargo vessels, which by int’l maritime law they are required to. Makes for a very attentive watch. FAD’s are invisible to RADAR and can cause great damage to a sailboat, esp the prop & rudder. Also have to be on look out for the occasional large ocean obstacle – in this case a random buoy.
Random open ocean buoy in Indonesian waters.
Sept 24, 2017 – Celebrated Bryce’s 16th bday yesterday with chocolate brownies instead of cake! He loved the specially wrapped gifts of the items he’d picked out in Yogyakarta!
Happy 16th Bday Bryce!
Arrived Kumai to unexpected gift. M/Y (Motor Yacht) Restless M owned by Claire and Errol White, longstanding friends of Eric was anchored in the river waiting for us. We anchored up to their huge yacht, enjoyed dinner together while BnT entertained us boat jumping and swimming in the muddy river water.
Sept 27 2017 – After reading about and hearing the sounds coming from swiftlet bird’s nest buildings, our imagination was peaked. The bird’s nest are highly sought after in China and they sell for large amounts of money per kilo. We bought 2 bird nests after 2-day tour of S. Central Kalimantan (Borneo).
Black swiftlet in nest
More bird nest infos
Edible swiftlet bird’s nests.
We were introduced to local tribes, sultans, & culture, including playing with blow darts and rice wine. During tour, took narrow 4-person river boat tours up a large stream to visit a local market place. It was like we were sent back in time.
Entrance Guardian
Dart games using bamboo
Rice wine served in bamboo
Sticky rice cooked in bamboo
Dayak tribe in costume
Dayak drummer
Dayak dancing
Leslie w/ Dayak woman
Trent & Dayak Guardian
Older Indonesian Man
Palm oil pod
Belitung river
BnT & Rainer on riverboat
Riverboat passengers
Open market egg carrier
Open mkt vegetables
Open mkt chicken
Open mkt fruits
Then orangutan conservatory lunch. A Jr. High School visit had special local music and dance. After the show, our boys were signing autographs like rock stars, girls screaming like at Beatles concerts. Leslie was asked to sing center stage to introduce them to opera. Then we headed off to the Kumai Tourist Center where we enjoyed more dance and music. They truly spoiled us!
Orangutan conservancy
Yawning orangutan
Incredible jungle lunch
Jr High Welcoming Committee
Junior high school presentation
Jr High Dancer
Jr High Band
Trent trying stilts
Scouts in Borneo!
Jr High Teachers
Jr High students
Meet n greet
BnT Superstars?
The second day of the Kumai rally tours brought us to a fancy Indonesian outdoor buffet held on Dayak communal grounds. The performers entertained us on a stage set-up under their Dayak house. They were beautifully trained middle school dancers and musicians. We felt thoroughly spoiled and honored. After lunch we were off to visit the local sultan and his family. The eldest daughter and wife were dressed in the most beautiful yellow gowns. She took a liking to Leslie and walked with her arm in arm around her grounds to Leslie’s absolute delight. They couldn’t talk to one another except in facial & body language yet the overall sentiment was equal admiration. It was a GREAT 2 days.
Kumai student tour guides and dancers.
Kumai middle school dancers.
Kumai middle school
Hornbill hat.
Starting tomorrow we will live on local river boat cruise for 3 days w/friends on all-inclusive excursion into Nat’l wildlife jungle park to glimpse orangutans in the wild, probiscus monkeys, macaque monkeys, birds, etc. We’ll be 8 to a river boat, communal room sleeping. They have a cook & r providing the food plus a guide. Leslie is happy – No cooking & cleaning!!
Some work to do on Kandu when we get back. Main Sail furler is turning roughly & we must clean port side fuel tank.
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