Imogen Van Zyl: Indonesia trip 2016

Day 1-4- Ketambe

My first ever experience of a tropical jungle in its natural state was breath-taking. The abundance of wildlife and diversity of plants was surreal. After a 10-hour bus journey out of the city of Medan to Ketambe, it was a rush to be in right in the midst of the forest. To get to the research station we had to take a little boat across a wild river. The days we spent here were focused on treks and observations of the environment.

We set up butterfly traps, took guided tours through the forest to observe the orang-utans and other primates. One moth we found had been infected by a fungus which had led it to its death and been engulfed.

We learnt about the dynamics of the jungle and what plants are so vital to the animals such as strangler figs which provide large amounts of fruit by having several fruiting seasons a year. And how important certain plant species are to hold up the canopy of the forest such as the liana vines.

This felt truly like an experience of untouched and natural forest. We saw a huge range of species from snails, butterflies, millipedes, centipedes, preying mantis, orang-utans, long-tails macaques and horn bills.

Day 5-8- Langsa

Here we met up with Rudy Putra – the conservation director of the protected area of Aceh, the Leuser ecosystem. They work with the Elephant Conservation Unit to protect the elephants and take measures to reduce conflict which is a big issue in Indonesia. We talked about methods they use to to protect the wild elephants such as building trenches, using citrus fruit to deter herds from plantations and fireworks to scare them off. We went to visit the site and met the elephants they work with. These are used as a last resort to push back the wild herds when they stray from the protected areas. They took us down to the river with them to wash them and feed them which was such an honour.

The work they do is admirable. Since 2009 they have restored 1300 hectares of forest which had been destroyed through illegal palm oil plantations.

Day 9-13- Bukit Lawang

Here we carried out surveys and took treks through the forest in more touristy area. The contrast of the wildlife here to Ketambe was draw-dropping. The orang-utans we had previously encountered had been high up in the canopy and took little interest in our presence. On our first day in Bukit Lawang we were pursued through the forest by one orang-utan, Mina. We had just climbed up an almost vertical slope and reached the top. So there was no turning back. Here waiting at the top was Mina. Famous for biting over 100 people, she posed a threat to everyone.

She stared at us while sitting on a broken tree stump with her baby clinging to her chest. Her face scarred from a machete wound from previous conflict with a human.

Our guides, fortunately, knew how to react to this unexpected encounter. They told us to not panic and RUN! While they used sticks to shout and try to scare her away.She chose to pursue us and was on the forest floor for the majority of the chase.

This is not natural behaviour for orang-utans which are usually up in the canopy. Although this was exciting to experience the wildlife so close up it was devastating to see what impact tourism has had on the behaviour of them. This has led to severe conflict and could result in tragedy if she continues to cause a threat. Eventually she left us alone after she accepted we were not going to feed her.

Our guides also had a lot of knowledge to share on other aspects of the forest such as the medicinal properties of several plants.

The majority of all of the primates we saw showed how habituated they were, they came into the eco-lodge hotel gardens and were not scared away by people. They come to eat the rubbish which people leave and raid the bins.

Day 13-16- Tangkahan

Tangkahan was beautiful. The rivers so clear that it looked an luminescent turquoise.

There was no noise except the rushing of the water.

We explored the river which was surrounded by jungle with hanging vines. Macaques in groups of over 40 swinging on the vines past us, huge monitor lizards two meters long bathing in the sun on the river banks. It was extraordinary.

Here we went to visit a site which also was a conservation unit for elephants. We washed them again in the river yet this experience did not seem so special. The elephants were treated differently here and told to do certain things to entertain the tourists who had paid to come and wash them which was disappointing.