Buster looks for orangutans

 Packed and ready for our cruise into the jungle of Kalimantan.  We're all pretty excited about this trip and wonder if we'll see any animals.

Our river boat came and collected us from Basanti after picking up Jean and Jerry from Tigress Too.  We met Nina, our guide plus the boat driver, the cook and the deckhand and general assistant.

 It did not take long for us all to settle in, relax and enjoy the scenery.

As I mentioned, there was a cook, and she was busy all the time with meals for us as well as the crew.  Delicious fresh food, all prepared in this basic little kitchen downstairs in the boat.

 Travelling along the river we saw several of these traffic signs...thought it was kind of funny, but apparently it is helpful for people transiting the river at night.  The muddy colour of the water is due to upstream mining.  Later in the journey we turned off onto a tributary and the water was clear and dark, as it should be.

 We visited three feeding stations, a village and a research station.  Seeing an orang-utan was not really a chance event, they turn up for the feeding quite reliably.  They call these animals semi-wild, because of the feeding and sometimes they are being rehabilitated into the wild.  There are occasionally wild orang-utans too, often they are on the other side of the river.

 Orangutans raise their young for 5 to 7 years.  The baby in the photo below is only about two weeks old.

 Hang on tight!!

Sometimes it is difficult to actually keep the required distance away from these animals.  They just walk through the tourists on the way to or from the feeding...obviously they haven't read the signs.

 

We were lucky to see Tom, the dominant male orang-utan here.  The lifespan of the orang-utan is about 50 years and the dominant males are usually in their 30's and hold the position until a stronger (generally younger) male turns up and wins the fight.

 

The orang-utans are the stars here, but these little long tail macaque's are fun to watch.  We were told not to look them in the eye as they see that a sign of aggression and may attack.  Try walking along a boardwalk surrounded by these monkeys and not look at them!

Kind of spooky...

 Check out this wild pig...truly a face only a mother could love.

Some of the orang-utans seem to pose and love the attention.

 We have hundreds of photos!

There is another orang-utan sneaking up behind Phil.

 

 

We visited the village on our way back down the river.  There were canals for transportation and irrigation through the little town, and these two homes were fairly typical.  Pretty isolated, and dengue virus is a problem here.

We were returned to Basanti and happy to see that she was well looked after by the boat boy who stayed with her for security as part of the tour package.  Security in terms of theft ect isn't a problem, but large logs and items come racing down the river and the fellows try to keep things from damaging the boat.  Next morning we picked up our laundry and stopped at the market for a few fresh fruits and veggies before continuing our journey through the Indonesian Islands.  Kumai was a real highlight!