A Journey Through The Jungle Of Borneo: Exploring Tanjung Puting National Park, Its Orangutans, and Unforgettable Moments

Have you ever dreamt of observing orangutans in the wild? That's exactly what awaits you in Tanjung Puting National Park, located in Indonesia on the island of Borneo.

I’ll take you on our journey on a 3 day boat cruise along the river to explore Tanjung Puting National Park and witness all the wildlife it has to offer.

First, to get to Tanjung Puting National Park, you will need to fly to Pangkalan Bun airport (PKN), also known as Iskandar Airport, located in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. There are flights to Pangkalan Bun airport from Jakarta (CGK), Surabaya (SUB) and Semarang (SRG).

We booked our flight from Jakarta International Airport with Nam Air through the eDreams website.

After landing, we collected our luggage and headed outside the airport, where our guide was waiting for us with a taxi to take us to start our adventure.

We recommend booking the tour well in advance, as it is in high demand. We booked ours through the website Civitatis.

We arrived at Kumai port, where we boarded our boat (klotok), which would be our home for the next three days. A klotok is the name given to the traditional wooden houseboats, which nowadays are mainly used for tourism, that cruise along the Sekonyer River in Tanjung Puting National Park.

Our klotok had two floors. The upper deck was our living space, with a sink, a table, beds (you sleep on the open-air deck) and chairs at the bow. On the lower deck, there was the kitchen, the toilet (flushed by pouring buckets of water from the river), a shower (with clean cold water from a tank) and the crew’s quarters.

On the klotok, we had an outlet allowing us to charge our devices throughout the trip. To our surprise, although we initially anticipated being disconnected during the journey, with no signal or internet, we managed to get reception at some point.

After settling in and meeting our crew, we set off cruising and arrived at the entrance of the national park.

During the 3-day trip, we visited three main stops, all located within Tanjung Puting National Park. At each one, there is an orangutan rehabilitation centre that almost certainly guarantees the opportunity to see the orangutans, as they usually go to find food at the scheduled feeding times:

Camp Tanjung Harapan
Camp Pondok Tanggui
Camp Leakey

About an hour into our cruise, the crew’s cook served us our first lunch on board — everything we ate during the trip was delicious and more than plentiful.

Después del almuerzo, hicimos nuestra primera parada en Camp Tanjung Harapan. Pero antes, tuvimos nuestro primer encuentro con un orangután, un macho alfa.

We trekked through the jungle to reach the feeding point.

The feeding sites provide an opportunity for the local rangers to monitor the health and development of the orangutans.

On our way back to the klotok, we saw some more orangutans.

When we arrived at the klotok, we had an afternoon snack and spotted some long-tailed macaques during the cruise along the river.

When the sun came down the crew served us dinner.

After dinner, we were offered a night trek through the jungle to try and spot some nocturnal creatures. Of course, we said yes, so we got ready, grabbed our torch and set off with our guide and a local ranger.

Upon our arrival, the crew had set up our beds for the night, marking the conclusion for the day.

The following day greeted us with an unexpected surprise as a curious macaque ventured onto our boat to greet us good morning. After this encounter, we enjoyed a fulfilling breakfast as we headed to our first stop of the day.

On the way, we spotted some proboscis monkeys (long-nosed monkeys), which are only found in the jungles of Borneo.

We arrived at camp Pondok Tanggui and made a short trek through the jungle to arrive to the feeding station.

On the way back, we were offered a light snack before lunch as we headed to our second stop of the day, Camp Leakey, which would mark the conclusion of our visit to the three stops of the itinerary.

Lunchtime aboard the klotok.

We arrived at Camp Leakey, the park’s most iconic camp, known as the research and rehabilitation center for orangutans founded in the 1970s.

While at Camp Leaky, we were fortunate to catch sight of an agile gibbon swinging through the trees and patiently waiting for the opportunity to grab some food.

Afternoon snack aboard the klotok.

In the afternoon, we encountered several groups of proboscis monkeys, known for their distinctive large and pendulous nose.

As the day drew to a close, nature treated us to a mesmerizing sunset during our last afternoon.

Later, as night fell, the klotok stopped among the nipa palms, where we saw thousands of fireflies while the crew served us dinner, adding a touch of magic to our jungle adventure.

In the morning, we were roused by nature's gentle awakening, and shortly after, the crew kindly served us breakfast as we started our journey back to the harbour.

We bid farewell to our crew after three days, and a car took us to the airport. However, when it was time to depart, the sky began to darken and a sudden heavy rain shower forced us to wait until it calmed down before continuing our journey back to Jakarta.

As we reflect on our journey through Tanjung Puting National Park, we're grateful for the unforgettable moments and newfound appreciation for nature. Witnessing orangutans in their habitat and experiencing the jungle's magic has left an indelible mark on us. We're reminded of our responsibility to protect the beauty of our planet.