Our last day in Borneo starts with a trip to a second research station and a 9:00am feeding. We saw a large male who clearly dominated. Most of the others stayed a few paces back until he was finished eating. Also spotted an Orangutan nest. The Orangutan sleeps in a nest in a tree. They only use a nest one night and then build a new nest in a different tree the next night. We visited a local village and then boated back to Kumai for our 5:00pm flight out of...

The reason we came to Borneo was to see Orangutans in their natural setting. Three hours by klotok brought us to the Orangutan Research Station #3 which was established in 1986 by Dr. Birute Mary Galdikas, a Canadian professor who has dedicated her life to Orangutan research and protection. The centre also reintroduces orphaned or deserted orangutan pets back into the wild. We then witnessed a feeding session where probably 15+ Orangutan showed up, along with...

Arrived in Borneo at Pangkalan Bun and boarded our klotok, which will be our means of transportation on the river system for the next three days. A klotok is a traditional boat that plies the river system here. It is 2.5m X 12.5m. We had the choice of either sleeping on the klotok (mattresses on the main deck) or staying at the Rimba Lodge. We were not about to rough it on the klotok. On boarding the boat in Kumai, we saw several large, 4-storey concrete bui...

Transferred from Yogyakarta to Semarang by car. We had to get to Semarang to catch our flight to Borneo tomorrow. Nine hour drive although we stopped in Solo (or Surakarta) for 4 hours (tour and lunch). Visited an old museum that had a collection of musical instruments, many of which look like cooking pots. Then toured the Sultan's Palace. This is a different sultan than the one in Yogyakarta. Two brothers had a falling out ten generations ago and one moved to Yo...

Hot (34C) and humid, but today didn't bother us quite as much as yesterday. Hopefully we are becoming a bit acclimatized. First stop today was Borobodur, a huge, 10 level buddhist temple covering several acres. Deserted around 1000AD when the people living here moved away. The jungle quickly took over and it was only in 1711 that Dutch colonists rediscovered it. Restoration was slow and is still ongoing. Then toured the large local village market. Glad we ...