December 15, 2008

• Jungle Man

  I have just returned from a much needed weekend retreat to the jungle of Kalimantan Island for a little bit of jungle trekking and an encounter with “Orang utan” (literally means “jungle man”).  I went to Kalimantan in a weak condition of still recovering from heavy coughs.  I brought all kinds of medicines including vitamin C tablets and Korean ginseng tea.  I figured that I would need to have a good stamina in order to enjoy the trip.  Luckily, the non-polluted air, the sights of everything-green, and the non-existence of traffic noise were all that I really needed to boost my immune system faster. 
  

  The surrounding area of the Tanjung Puting National Park was not what I imagined it would be, though.  The whole area is a wet land densely covered with various vegetations with a single river running across the middle, the Sekonyer River.  It is that same river that took me to the Rimba Eco-Lodge, to the Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in Camp Leakey, and to the local villages.  All wooden housings are built on water.  I think of it as the Venice of Indonesia.  The only transportation that would get you to anywhere would be a boat. 
  

  It is also the start of the rain season.  The sky grows dark more often and the wet land of Tanjung Putting seems to be submerged in water even more whenever the rain starts pouring down.  The only activity makes sense when you’re on the boat or at the lodge would be conversations with fellow travelers or engage yourself in a good book, which I brought one with me.  Being on a moving boat is best, considering the hungry mosquitoes would be all over you whenever you are walking through the jungle or relaxing at the lodge.  So hungry that they actually bit though my pants!  A mosquito net is very helpful to get you through the night. 
  

  
  

  Sitting on the deck of wooden KLOTOK (boat), feeling the wind breezing through me, listening to the sounds of the jungle, with a cup of hot coffee in one hand and a camera in the other, it seemed so surreal that I finally got myself in Kalimantan to meet the Orangutans for the first time in my life.  When the sun is up and shining bright, the thick jungle on both sides of the river seems friendlier to the eyes.  Occasionally, various monkeys and birds can be seen lurking among the branches of the tall trees, surprised and curious by the sight of humans and by the sound of the engine of the boat. 
  

  The long journey to meet the Orangutans was really worth the trip.  They swing from tree to tree as they come to you.  Funny enough, they spit, piss and shit while they are up on a tree.  Standing right beneath the tree where they are stationed is NOT a good idea.  They are huge, fast, powerful, yet endearing and fascinating all together.  Only when you get close to one that you’ll realized their sparse orange-colored hair resembles that of the sparseness of hair on an elephant.  The hair is long, the arms are long, the hands are huge, and the belly seems Buddha-like comical that one would think of it as the most comfortable cushion for resting heads.  The face of an orangutan, with its thin wrinkly lips, to me more like a sad, sappy elderly that somehow able to look adorably baby-like.  Their eyes beg you to take them into your arms and to take them home.  I wanted one badly, real BAD. 
  

  
  

  Departing from them surprisingly rips your heart out.  They want to follow you, to hop on the boat and stay beside you as you feed them food.  Unfortunately, that is out of the question.  Their chance of survival is best when left in the wild.  Surprisingly, every grown male orangutan is a loner.  Whenever there is a community of them, there is only ONE male, as the leader of the pack, and more than twenty females and their babies, whom will always be seen clinging by their mother for the first 7 years of their lives.  Male orangutans are said to constantly have a hung you-know-what to please his twenty-something wives.  Why so many wives?  Because technically speaking, a female orangutan can only give birth once every 8 years.  Unlike humans, it is easy for a male orangutan to have so many wives since the wives look for food themselves.  The only job that is required for the mature grown male orangutans is to lead a pack and moonlighting on regular basis, day and night, to ensure the continuance of new generations.  Ahh, such a life is an envy for all men ;p 
  

  
  

  Though I am back in the office now, it is difficult to erase the memories even for a few minutes.  I loved my experience in Kalimantan.  One that is not to be exchanged for anything.  I wish that I am still on that wooden KLOTOK on the way to meet the orangutans.  I close my eyes and I can feel the wind is breezing right through, the sun is warm against my face, and I can hear monkeys howling.  I just need to stay put, not to trip over and fall into the water.  Keep closing my eyes, until I smell the coffee brewing under the deck of the boat where the guide is preparing our lunch…

  • 12:55 am
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