Newsletter 16 August 2014

August-September 2014 Newsletter No.16
Chairman’s Report
Welcome to our latest newsletter, which this time features Rimba
Orang-utan Ecolodge, on the island of Borneo.
This is our most remote lodge, located in the lowland rainforest of Central Kalimantan,
adjacent to the Sekonyer River.
The remoteness of the lodge, whilst providing such a unique wildlife experience, presents a
number of logistical challenges associated with staffing, communications and services. To
help address this, Ecolodges Indonesia is in the process of installing an upgraded power
supply, utilising solar cells and efficient Gensets. We are installing new air conditioning units,
providing air conditioning for all 35 rooms at the lodge. In addition, satellite internet is
proposed, and this will facilitate communications and financial management at the lodge as
well as allowing guests to connect with the outside world.
These changes are designed to improve not only the operation of the lodge but also the
comfort of our guests who come
from all corners of the world to
visit and explore this fabulous
location.
Kind regards
Alan Wilson.
Mr Wasono overseeing the
unloading of air conditioning units
from Solar Power Indonesia at
Kumai docks.
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Located in one of the few remaining
places on earth where orang-utans can
be seen in the wild, Rimba Orang-utan
Ecolodge is perched over the Sekonyer
River on the edge of the Tanjung Puting
National Park in Central Kalimantan,
Borneo.
The Ecolodge provides a comfortable
base to explore the lush surrounding
rainforest of the National Park where you
Rimba Lodge entrance from the Sekonyer River
can encounter orang-utans, monkeys,
crocodiles and rich bird life. Take a walk from your room along the bird walk, hear the
plaintive cry of gibbons, the early birdsong, and meet the resident macaque monkeys.
You can reach the lodge via Jakarta, Semarang, or Surabaya, flying into the airport of
Pangkalan Bun. From there it is a short drive to the port town of Kumai where you board a
river boat (klotok) for the pleasant journey up the waters of the Sekonyer River.
TANJUNG PUTING NATIONAL PARK
Situated on a peninsula on the south coast of
the world's third largest island of Borneo,
Tanjung Puting National Park lies in the
Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan. The
park started as a game reserve for the
protection of orang-utans in 1935 and was
declared a national park in 1982. It covers an
area of 3,040 square kilometres and is the only
protected area in South East Asia with a vast
Male orang-utan Sekonyer River TP: Marie Gale
range of wetlands, lowland, mature tropical heath
and swamp forests which support an amazing variety of wildlife.
Forest cleared and drained for palm oil: Marie
Gale
The park contains one of the largest refuges of wild orang-utans
and is home to nine species
of primates including proboscis monkeys, long-tailed macaques,
monkeys
and
Researchred-leaf
Team Tanjung
Puting:
gibbons. The park hosts over 230 species of birds, manyPhoto
endemic
to Borneo.
courtesy
Marie Gale
CAMP LEAKEY
Early morning mist on the Sekonyer:
Photo:Marie Gale
Camp Leakey is a landmark research and rehabilitation centre established within Tanjung
Putting National Park in 1971 by renowned primatologist,TP:
DrMarie
BiruteGale
Galdikas and her former
husband Rod Brindamour. Here, orang-utans can be observed at close quarters at the
feeding stations, and the camp offers an information centre with a strong educational
purpose.
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TEN EXTRAORDINARY DAYS IN A WONDERLAND
OF IMMENSE AND FRAGILE BEAUTY
Author: Marie Gale
Something has woken me. It's 3.30am and still dark. I'm lying on my mattress under a
mosquito net on the deck of a wooden klotok. We're moored at the edge of the tributary that
runs through the Tanjung Puting National Park to Camp Leakey the world famous orangutan release site and research area established by Professor Birute Galdikas.
The klotok rocks gently and the moon bounces off the soft mist on the river. The rich smell of
the rainforest, lush and damp permeates the warm air
around us. And then I hear it…the sound that has woken
me - the long call of a male orang-utan, reverberating
through the forest. It is a powerful deep sound, full of
authority and presence and can travel up to one and a half
kilometres. Flanged males use the long call to repel rival
males and to advertise their availability to any receptive
females in the vicinity.
Listen to the long call: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQbpX-d9PM&feature=kp
Klotok Boat at Rimba
We are here for 10 days to undertake a survey of orang-utans in an area of forest opposite
the National Park that is earmarked for destruction
by PT Bumitama Agri (BGA), the notorious palm
oil corporation with a long list of human rights
violations and forest destruction to their name.
There are 17 of us living very closely together on
two boats and a further 3 people joining us each
day from the Sekonyer village - six environmental
science students from Southern Cross University
in Australia, five staff from the Indonesian
Forest cleared and drained for palm oil: Marie Gale
conservation group Friends of the National Parks
Foundation (FNPF), two local wildlife guides, four
boat crew, two cooks and the cook's 4 year old son
as well as a visiting conservationist from Japan
and myself as project leader from Save Indonesian
Endangered Species Fund (SIES).
We're finally ready to start our first expedition into
the rainforest. The first group tentatively climbs into
Research Team Tanjung Puting:
the small canoe that will take us from our main
Photo courtesy Marie Gale
boat into the forest as far as we can get. The forest
starts as a wetland on the edge of the Sekonyer River and when our canoe can go no
further, we climb out taking care not to tip the boat, and suddenly we are standing waist deep
in the murky water.
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There is something deeply challenging about being in water that deep with no visibility,
knowing that there are crocodiles and venomous swimming snakes somewhere out of sight.
But our nervousness is soon forgotten as we take in the incredible beauty of the forest we
find ourselves in. As we wade in, the murky water becomes crystal clear and the air still, with
dappled sunlight dancing playfully on the leaves. We are surrounded by vines, trees, ferns
hanging from the upper storey, delicate flowers, and
alien looking fungi. It is a surreal experience.
Our lead person, Ian, from FNPF, creates a path
straight through the forest. He is armed with a machete
and has a rope tied around his waist. Our local wildlife
experts run 10 metres either side looking for orang-utan
nests and we clamber behind. "Nest, nest", shouts Adut
excitedly. We photograph the nest, record the age, tree
species, height and distance from our transect line.
Over the next 10 days we find more than 150 nests and
Early morning mist on the Sekonyer:
get up close to 8 wild orang-utans, spot many families
Photo: Marie Gale
of macaque and proboscis monkeys and even catch a
glimpse of a binturong, a shy, black bear-cat. It is hot, hard work and physically demanding.
Most afternoons the clouds gather and the thunder rolls across the sky. We clamber to
waterproof our cameras and note books, then relish being completely drenched by the
tropical downpour. It is refreshing and cools us down immediately. Our boat now resembles
a laundry with so many wet, muddy clothes that never seem to dry.
As we return to the port of Kumai our boat emerges from the river back into the wide bay and
we are overcome by the shock of being in such a wide, open space after so many days deep
in the forest. We feel like cowering under shelter, it makes me wonder whether this is how
the orang-utans feel as their forest is decimated.
We leave feeling deeply moved by our experience and overwhelmed by a sense of urgency
to save this forest from the bulldozers.
The research data will be published and used to further the fight to
conserve this area.
Our heartfelt thanks to Professor David Lloyd from Southern Cross University for making this
project a possibility, Mr Basuki and Dr Bayu from FNPF for taking care of all the
preparations, everyone involved in the project and last but by no means least to the Rimba
Orang-utan Ecolodge for providing us with the use of their facilities and for access to a hot
shower when we were thoroughly filthy.
Thanks also to Professor Galdikas for spending time at Rimba Lodge talking to us late one
night. Despite everyone's exhaustion it was a privilege that the students greatly appreciated.
Marie Gale
Marie Gale is a conservationist working with Save Indonesian Endangered Species Fund.
(Donations welcome. 100% goes directly to urgent conservation projects)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Indonesian-Endangered-SpeciesFund/149572958558704)
Marie is also a Director and Shareholder of Ecolodges Indonesia.
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GUEST COMMENT – “PUT THIS ON YOUR BUCKET LIST”
Reviewed May 21, 2014 via Trip Advisor by Julie Kierney
We came to Rimba Eco-Lodge May, 2014. Having stayed at another eco-lodge in the
system, our expectations were realistic. This eco-lodge is out in the jungle, surrounded by
water, and obtains all of its supplies by boat. We were pleasantly surprised by our room, the
attention of staff, and absolutely wowed our wildlife viewing.
The booking process was easy, and everything was explained
to us. If we had any questions the booking staff person more
than capably answered them. We were met timely at the
airport by our wonderful guide, Hakim, who was with us for the
entire four days. We took off in a car, stopping for him to buy
us some cold drinks. Rimba Lodge is rustic (after all, you have
taken a boat up the river for more than two hours to get to the
lodge), but more than met our expectations. The rooms at
Rimba are clean and very comfortable.
False Ghavial. Photo: Julie Kierney
Consider the environment you are in, the impact of even an ecologically-managed lodge on
this environment. We were fortunate to not be bothered by mosquitoes at the lodge because
of the season, but had bed nets and electric mosquito repellent available. The air
conditioning worked very well. The shower water was immediately hot. We had been told
that electricity was available after 5pm until late morning, so
we were not surprised. The boardwalks were wellmaintained and safe. The common areas were comfortable
and spacious.
All of the staff, including the dining staff were responsive to
any requests we made. As we were strolling on the
grounds, we were asked by staff if they could be of
assistance in any way. All the staff were friendly and
social. One of the tenets of the eco-lodge system is to
employ and train staff from the local area, and many are
young, so it is conceivable that training is ongoing as
issues arise. The management is friendly and responsive
to requests and stated needs. We were assigned one of the
lodge boats, and the boat captain and crew worked well with Hakim,
allowing us incredible viewing experiences of orang-utans, macaques,
proboscis monkeys, crocs, gibbons, and beautiful birds along the river and in the jungle.
Our wildlife experience could not be topped. We give the credit for that to Hakim, with his
sharp ears and eyes as we travelled the river. He knows the birds by call and flight pattern,
can tell you size, habits, food preferences, and pulls out the book to make sure you know the
bird. Our National Park feeding station experiences were so incredible. He knows each of
the orang-utan families for several generations, each orang-utan by name on sight, the
history of the research station. When we trekked in the jungle, he knew the plants, would tell
us the local name, the Latin name, who ate them, or what they were used for.
He is endlessly patient. He is also a wonderful interpreter of village and area culture,
ecological issues and concerns. He altered the plans based on experiences we wanted. We
were given the choices of meals on the boat or at the lodge, depending on the plans for the
day. We were fed more than we possibly could eat at any meal, plus tea, biscuits, water,
soda, juice, and an ice-cold (!) towel at the end of the day. You could not possibly be hungry
on this trip.
We were sad that our trip was ending and could happily have stayed a couple of more days.
Our friends are all jealous of our experience here. We can only hope to return.
Julie Kierney – Jimbaran, Bali, Indonesia
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ECOLODGES INDONESIA RIMBA ORANG-UTAN ECOLODGE PACKAGE
Rimba 3 Days / 2 Nights Tour
Day 1:
Pangkalan Bun – Kumai - Rimba Lodge
Meet your guide at Pangkalan Bun Airport, transfer by car to the National Park
Headquarters in the port city of Kumai and jump onboard
our “klotok”, a traditional riverboat, for a leisurely boat ride
on the Sekonyer River.
Get immersed in the sheer beauty of Tanjung Puting
National Park with its nipah palm vegetation.
Watch proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) roost in
trees, find some wild orang-utans’ nests at the top of trees,
enjoy the serenity of the Sekonyer river and admire the
magical spectacle of fireflies in nipah palms or the
reflecting moon on the river. Fireflies, also called lightning
bugs or glow-worms, are in fact luminescent winged
beetles that use a combination of oxygen and a chemical
called luciferin to produce intermittent light.
Proboscis monkey:
Check in at the Rimba Lodge and enjoy Dinner.
Photo Gerrit te Grotenhuis
Day 2:
Rimba – Tangguy – Camp Leakey.
Keen birders will definitely wake up early and follow the Rimba Lodge
boardwalk to the lookout through deep forest. Discover endemic
birds and possibly see wild orang-utans.
Return to the lodge and enjoy an early breakfast. Then, board our riverboat and
travel 45 minutes to Pondok Tangguy the second Orang-utan Release Centre. At
11:30am return to your boat and travel the Sekonyer River to Camp Leakey.
Lunch is served onboard our klotok.
Camp Leakey is a landmark research and
rehabilitation centre where you can observe orangutans in the wild and discover their vulnerability.
Please follow recommendations and do not
touch or disturb orang-utans (humans can
transmit diseases), do not eat or drink in front of
them and keep the area pristine.
Camp Leakey is funded by donations to The
Orang-utan Foundation International
presided by Professor Dr Birute Galdikas.
Return to the lodge and enjoy dinner. To
complete the day, your guide will show you an
after dinner movie on orang-utans.
Day 03
Rimba – Kumai – Pangkalan Bun
Enjoy breakfast at Rimba Lodge before boarding our “klotok”. Take a
leisurely boat ride downstream before returning to Pangkalan Bun airport
through the port city of Kumai.
Revive all your senses and let them retain the magic of Tanjung Puting National
Park.
Wander the streets of Kumai where swifts’ nests are being commercially
harvested. The swift saliva is used for bird’s nest soup and can reach 13
million Rupiah and up per kilogram. Indonesia is the biggest supplier, and
the trade has led certain swift colonies to be critically threatened.
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Contact for Rimba Ecolodge package information:
Ecosafari Indonesia
[email protected]
+62 361 7474205
RECENT SPECIAL GUESTS STAYING AT RIMBA
California Forum Group: 10-12 May 2014
SIBF Group: 28-30 May 2014
Indonesian Minister Jakarta Group: 30-31 May
Orang-utan Foundation Indonesia Group: June 2014
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
Siti Hamda, Kitchen and Restaurant Supervisor, Rimba Orang-utan Ecolodge
Ibu Hamda joined Ecolodges Indonesia in January 2006
and has loyally served the company for over 8 years in
the kitchen and restaurant area at Rimba Orang-utan
Ecolodge. She was born in Kumai and has lived in
Tanjung Harapan and Kumai. She is greatly supported by
her husband. In her position as the Kitchen and
Restaurant Supervisor, she has successfully addressed
the many challenges of a remote location, and ensures
her capable kitchen staff provide our guests with an
authentic local dining experience. We appreciate her
great service and thank her for her continued
enhancement of the food and services at the lodge.
If you wish to visit the Eco Lodges, please contact Ecosafari Indonesia who will make all
your travel arrangements and organise guides to maximise your travel experience.
If you wish to donate to the Eco Lodges Indonesia Conservation Fund, please contact
Ecosafari Indonesia via the web-site link below.
Contact details: Head office: Phone – INT: +62 (0) 361 747 4204
Indonesia: 0361 747 4204
[email protected] or
www.ecolodgesindonesia.com
www.ecosafariindonesia.com
For our Cricket enthusiasts…
an interesting read,
including chapter 6 written by some of the Directors of Ecolodges Indonesia.
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TOURISM AND CRICKET
Travels to the Boundary
Edited by Tom Baum and Richard Butler
Reviews
This excellent book presents the reader with a
fascinating collection of essays which have
been expertly integrated by the craft of Baum
and Butler's editorship. They deliver a volume
that pushes the boundaries in exploring the
diverse manifestations of tourism arising from
unique cultural creations of the sport of cricket.
This is a must-read for those with interests in
the intersections of sport, history, culture,
identity and tourism.
James Higham, University of Otago, New
Zealand
Offering perspectives on the links between an
international sport and tourism mobilities, the
contributors to this book fully engage the reader,
combining insightful analyses with typical
cricketing humour and irreverence. An excellent
read for anyone wishing to appreciate the
interdependence of tourism and sport participation.
Larry Dwyer, University of New South Wales, Australia
From Witney Scrotum to the Gabba and from homesickness to nostalgia – a few of the
words which frame this exciting book. It takes its readers on travels in time and space,
exploring the Barmy Army to cricket in Indonesia. Applying ethnographic and sociological
methods Tourism and Cricket is a 'must read' for fans and students of sport, cricket and
tourism.
John Bale, Emeritus Professor of Sports Geography, Keele University, UK
Description
This book is the first to focus on the relationship between tourism and cricket. The volume
examines how cricket as a participant and spectator sport generates diverse tourism to both
major and peripheral locations. It will appeal to researchers, students and teachers in
tourism, sport and leisure.
Available now from:
http://www.channelviewpublications.com/display.asp?isb=9781845414528.
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