Macaque Attack
Sometimes if you really want to visit somewhere, you need to accept a drop in the standard of accommodation. You may also need to put up with some less pleasant travel arrangements. And so it was to get here...hideously bumpy roads on a long minibus drive, cold showers, many steps to our location...but today’s experiences made it all worth the effort, big style. To get within a few metres of orangutans in their natural environment was awesome. Mind blowing. I felt deeply privelidged to be there, sharing this experience with the other 24 people in the group.
Of course orangutans aren’t the only wildlife in the jungle. Thomas Leaf Monkeys (only found on Sumatra apparently) sat around in the rubber trees watching us as we watched them. Pig tailed macaques and the very common long tailed macaques, all within arms length of us.
The trek wasn’t as arduous as many expected. It may have been a little slippery under foot but I don’t think we covered more than 3 or 4 miles in the day. Hardly Indiana Jones I’ll admit. We emerged through a crowd of macaques at a stony beach by the river. After a leisurely fruit break and swim (well more like an attempted drowning in the fast flowing river) the staff put us in rafts made from rubber rings for the return home.S
I’m going to miss this place. Ok, I may not miss the steps up to our room much but the cheeky macaques emptying the bin or staring soulfully in to your face really make this place. I spent a little while on our path with baby monkeys wrestling around my feet and older ones sat on the railings a few feet away just staring at me.
The evening was spent at Fido Dido. An empty little restaurant with no ability to cope with large numbers of diners. 3 hours later most had eaten something and experienced the squat bog with permanently wet floor and the pleasant river views.
Back at the Hotel Orangutan, the entertainment was just starting to warm up. Having heard them in action a few nights previously I was aware of their dubious playing and singing skills. They gradually led me astray though with their ability to murder any song you could think of and they could find on Google. Coldplay, Queen, Tom Petty...you name it, we murdered it. Holly’s lack of drinking caused the band some concern. “Hey Holly, are you Muslim ? We are flexible muslims...”. They even threw in another rendition of the ‘jungle trek’ song. To the tune of jingle bells, “jungle trek, jungle trek in Bukit Lawang, see the monkeys, see the birds, see orangutan.”. It brought a tear to my eye and brought a very irate tourist to the bar moaning about the standard of our singing and that it was 1am. We trooped off to bed with a Muslim Christmas carol ringing in our ears.
This sort of day is what I dream about. A humbling experience that I was able to share with this group of people who have trusted me with producing such massive experiences. This will take some topping, but hey, I’m happy to try. Hold my beer....
Of course orangutans aren’t the only wildlife in the jungle. Thomas Leaf Monkeys (only found on Sumatra apparently) sat around in the rubber trees watching us as we watched them. Pig tailed macaques and the very common long tailed macaques, all within arms length of us.
The trek wasn’t as arduous as many expected. It may have been a little slippery under foot but I don’t think we covered more than 3 or 4 miles in the day. Hardly Indiana Jones I’ll admit. We emerged through a crowd of macaques at a stony beach by the river. After a leisurely fruit break and swim (well more like an attempted drowning in the fast flowing river) the staff put us in rafts made from rubber rings for the return home.S
I’m going to miss this place. Ok, I may not miss the steps up to our room much but the cheeky macaques emptying the bin or staring soulfully in to your face really make this place. I spent a little while on our path with baby monkeys wrestling around my feet and older ones sat on the railings a few feet away just staring at me.
The evening was spent at Fido Dido. An empty little restaurant with no ability to cope with large numbers of diners. 3 hours later most had eaten something and experienced the squat bog with permanently wet floor and the pleasant river views.
Back at the Hotel Orangutan, the entertainment was just starting to warm up. Having heard them in action a few nights previously I was aware of their dubious playing and singing skills. They gradually led me astray though with their ability to murder any song you could think of and they could find on Google. Coldplay, Queen, Tom Petty...you name it, we murdered it. Holly’s lack of drinking caused the band some concern. “Hey Holly, are you Muslim ? We are flexible muslims...”. They even threw in another rendition of the ‘jungle trek’ song. To the tune of jingle bells, “jungle trek, jungle trek in Bukit Lawang, see the monkeys, see the birds, see orangutan.”. It brought a tear to my eye and brought a very irate tourist to the bar moaning about the standard of our singing and that it was 1am. We trooped off to bed with a Muslim Christmas carol ringing in our ears.
This sort of day is what I dream about. A humbling experience that I was able to share with this group of people who have trusted me with producing such massive experiences. This will take some topping, but hey, I’m happy to try. Hold my beer....
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