Orangutan conservation holiday

country:	Indonesia, Borneo
departures:	2010: 20 Jun, 22 Aug, 12 Sep
price:	From £2595 (12 days) excluding flights
more info:	Price includes domestic flight, transfers and transport, accommodation, meals (as per itinerary), activities and services of expert guides. We can arrange flights from the UK
vouchers:	Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday

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introduction to Orangutan conservation holiday

Gain privileged insight into orangutan conservation in the rich rainforests of Borneo
Tours led by experts and researchers from the Orangutan Foundation UK
These tours fund ongoing habitat conservation efforts and meet communities living in the area
Explore remote areas that are being made accessible for our clients

Comfortably based at Rimba Lodge in Tanjung Puting National Park, you will have the chance to explore this fascinating environment and spend most days visiting Camp Leakey, the historic research site established by Dr Galdikas. From here you will be taken on guided walks through the rainforest, keeping a watchful eye in the trees for wild orangutans and if lucky enough to encounter them, will track the Great Apes through the park.

You will also spend time at one of the numerous feeding platforms frequented by ex-captive orangutans living in the wild, which gives you the opportunity for some incredibly close encounters. Although participants will not have direct physical contact with orangutans, you will meet and get to know some of the ex captive orangutans now living wild, that inhabit the area and watch them at feeding time. The team will also visit areas of the forest that are not open to tourism on conventional tours.

You will also have the chance to journey along the Sekonyer River and explore the fascinating rainforest itself as well as the chance to visit one of the gold mines in the region. In joining this tour not only will you have the privilege of seeing these gentle apes in the wild but you will also help in the fight against their extinction and see the issues and threats they face on a daily basis.

day-by-day itinerary

Day 1:	On arrival in Jakarta you will be met and taken to the hotel for the night to relax after the long flight. Overnight on a bed and breakfast basis.
Day 2:	Take the morning flight to Pangkalan Bun, where you will be welcomed by a representative of the Orangutan Foundation. After lunch at a local restaurant, you are taken on a short drive to the jetty at Kumai where the adventure truly begins as you board two local boats (klotok) and continue along the Sekonyer River to the comfortable Rimba Lodge, a journey of about 2½ hours, though lush tropical rainforest, looking for wild orang-utans and proboscis monkeys en-route. On arrival at Rimba Lodge, you will have the rest of the day to unwind and take a well-earned rest.
Day 3:	This morning is a relaxed walk to the nearby Tanjung Harapan feeding site, allowing you to acclimatise to the heat and high humidity. Your guide will gently ease you in to the programme with short forest and get a feel for your new surroundings. After lunch back at Rimba Lodge, you will return to Tanjung Harapan for the afternoon feeding before going back to Rimba to celebrate your first encounter with the orangutrans! Evenings are a surreal time as tiny fireflies emerge, lighting up the intense black of the tropical night with tiny flying lights and the night-time chorus of cicadas, birds and nocturnal animals echoing through the forest.
Day 4:	This morning you are taken to another feeding site at Pondok Tanggui, after which you have the opportunity to enjoy a guided walk through lowland tropical rainforest - a true adventure and incredible wilderness area harbouring a huge diversity of colourful flora and fauna, which you guide will help you discover. After a simple but filling lunch on the boat, you will continue to Camp Leakey, the research site established famous by Dr Birute Galdikas. On arrival along the wooden causeway, you may be greeted by a number of ex-captive and rehabilitated orang-utans and although facilities at Camp Leakey are basic, this is one of the best places in the world to see Asia’s only great ape. You then return to Rimba Lodge for your evening meal.
Day 5:	This morning you will head out along the river to the Aspai goldmine to see the damage the mine is causing to the surroundings, polluting the water and endangering river habitats. Not only will you explore the mines themselves, but you will also be invited to meet the communities and families living here in order to understand the issues they face on a daily basis. This is a wonderful opportunity to understand the reasons behind such mines and open up a dialogue between tourists and local communities. In the afternoon you will return to the park and visit Tanjung Harapan village, created to provide a home for local communities who were moved from the forest when it became a national park, before heading back to Tanjung Harapan feeding site for another chance to glimpse the orang-utans.
Day 6:	This morning you are transferred back to Kumai where you have the chance to visit a community project involved in the conservation of the park and the orang-utans as well as the chance to explore the village itself. In the afternoon you return to Pangkalan Bun and spend the night in the Blue Kecubung Hotel for the night in preparation for your visit to the exclusive orangutan release sites tomorrow.
Day 7:	This morning you are taken along the Arut River, by speedboat to the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, stopping off en-route in Tanjung Putri village to see a sustainable livelihood programme in progress. After lunch, you continue to Camp Gemini release site for reintroduced orang-utans. This site is not open to the public and as such we have exclusive access to the region through the Orangutan Foundation themselves. In doing so it means that you can enjoy the orangutans and their environment in privacy and is a unique opportunity to appreciate these wonderful creatures and the beauty of the forest. You then return by boat to Rimba Lodge for the night.
Day 8:	This morning you revisit Camp Leakey for another opportunity to explore the forest and hopefully encounter some wild orangutans. You then return to the feeding site in the afternoon for the 2pm feeding before heading back to the boat to return to Rimba Lodge.
Day 9:	Today is another full day in Camp Leakey to maximise your chances of seeing the apes. Return to Rimba Lodge in the evening.
Day 10:	This morning you are taken back to Pondok Tanggui for the morning feeding of the orangutans to offer another chance to see these fascinating creatures, before returning to Camp Leakey in the afternoon for the chance to have one last encounter with the orangutans. This evening back at the lodge, you will enjoy a farewell dinner to say goodbye to the guides and your boat crew.
Day 11:	This morning you are transferred by boat back to Kumai, where you are met and driven to the airport at Pangkalan Bun to catch your flight back to Jakarta. Here you will again be met and transferred to the FM7 Hotel to enjoy your last meal together and a few home comforts before flying home tomorrow.
Day 12:	Today is at leisure until you are transferred back to the airport to connect with your own flight arrangements.

wildlife specialist

Typically trips are expertly guided by a leading specialist with a good knowledge of the area to be visited. Inevitably, wildlife is the main focus of attention however, the aim will be to incorporate all other aspects of the natural world in an attempt to be as broad-minded as possible. A local guide may often accompany trips.

how this holiday makes a difference

Environment
Unlike many other so called orangutan holidays, this trip directly funds the Orangutan Foundation UK, who we work very closely with in the region and allows our clients the chance to experience the thrill of encountering orangutans in the wild under the foundations expert leadership. £600 per person per trip is paid to the Orangutan Foundation.

This tour also allows us to spend a full 9 nights in the forest, visiting the orangutans every day, increasing the fees generated from the park permits and also allows us to go behind the scenes at the Lamandau release site with a donation made by each person. In addition to the £600 per person above, there is also a U$100 donation to the care and rehabilitation centre.

The fact that we stay longer in one place negates the need to move around, therefore lowering our impact on the environment.

These trips directly help the Orangutan Foundation to continue their much needed work and last year, with proceeds from this tour they were able to buy new land to be used within the park to be used as a safe release site for rehabilitated orangutans. This tour is very much practical conservation in action and is one of our longest running and consistently popular tours.

Community
The foundation's local representatives also act as our guides, we use local boatmen to transfer us throughout the park and we stay in a small, friendly eco-lodge. This helps create employment in an area often overlooked by orangutan tourism as most other tours take people to the easily accessible and therefore much busier “packaged” areas elsewhere, some of which you can reach by coach! This trip is aimed at raising funds for the Tanjung Puting National park, established by Dr Birute Galdikas, who, along with Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall, was instrumental in raising awareness of some of our closest relatives.

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