31-Jan - 3-Feb 2011
The island of Sumatra is a place that invokes visions of steamy jungles teeming with wildlife, volcanoes, and strong coffee. We hopped on a plane from Penang, Malaysia to Medan, Indonesia hoping to get a taste of this exotic isle. Lazing in the hammock on the balcony of our jungle hut in the village of Bukit Lawang, we were surrounded by monkeys. Thomas’ leaf monkeys (a charismatic and cute monkey endemic to northern Sumatra, complete with mohawk) and long-tailed macaques glided from branch to branch chasing each other and feasting on ripe fruits. The owner of our lodge, a British primatologist, informed us that just 2 weeks ago an orangutan built a nest in one of the trees just 100 yards across the river. How many places in the world give you the chance of spotting a wild orangutan while lying in a hammock? In Sumatra you feel like you are in a nature documentary-you half-expect to run into David Attenborough and a team of cameramen around the next bend in the trail.
Bukit Lawang is located on the border of Gunung Leseur National Park. This park is recognized as one of the most important nature reserves in the world. It is the last refuge of many endangered species including the Sumatran rhinoceros, Sumatran tiger, Sumatran elephant, and more than 6,000 orangutans. Hoping to run into some red, hairy apes we set out on a 2-day trek into Gunung Leseur’s steep and dense rainforest.
Jungle trekking is not exactly fun. Invariably, the rainforest is miserably hot, steaming with humidity, and equipped with masses of mosquitoes and legions of leeches. Gunung Leseur is no exception to the rule, and adds endless steep (sometimes nearly vertical) slopes to its list of jungle pleasures. Dripping in sweat, huffing and puffing up our first steep hill, the question: “Why are we doing this to ourselves?” lingered in our minds. Then, our guide, Pieye, whispered the words that made any discomfort vanish into thin air: “orangutan.” We inched forward and watched a large, female orangutan with a 3-year old baby grazing on leaves in a nearby tree. The experience of running into an orangutan while trekking is simply breathtaking.
Over the course of the day we encountered a total of eight orangutans (four females, four babies) while traipsing through the forest-one pair no more than 15 feet above our heads. We walked up steep embankments and back down again, using the roots of jungle giants to keep us from tumbling down the slippery slope. All the while sweating through our clothes, picking off leeches, and swatting mosquitoes. We also wandered through majestic forests, crossed idyllic streams, encountered a large lizard guarding a nest, and were peed on by a rather cheeky Thomas’ leaf monkey (did I mention the orangutans?).
We arrived into our camp by the river just as the raindrops began to fall. Since arriving in Sumatra we have witnessed splendid rainstorms each afternoon, and our night in the jungle provided quite a show. The rain pelted out tent (which happened to be a tarp stretched over a bamboo frame!) in grand aquatic outbursts, flashes of lightning turned night into day, and the nearby river seemed to double in size over the course of a couple of hours. Miraculously staying dry in our humble abode we enjoyed a gourmet feast prepared over and open fire (vegetable curry, chicken rending, tofu sambal, taro chips, and rice).
The following morning we made our way across the river via inner tube and spent the morning relaxing and swimming under a waterfall-aka “the jungle massage.” Following lunch, with a mix of awe and horror, we watched as our raft was assembled. Back in Bukit Lawang we agreed to take a raft back to town at the end of the trek-it sounded like fun. In camp we watched as five rubber inner tubes were lashed together with a few simple pieces of rope. Let’s get this straight. The river that we ended up “rafting” on back to camp demands respect. It is big, flows fast, and is equipped with a fair share of large rocks. The river has its share of “Class 3” rapids and, back home would be rafted (in rafts) by commercial rafting companies. Throwing caution to the wind (when in Sumatra, do as the Sumatrans do) we boarded our “raft” equipped with a long wooden pole as a paddle and embarked on our short trip down the river. Needless to say, it was a wet and wild ride.
This morning, back in Bukit Lawang, we awoke to the sounds of a raucous troop of long-tailed macaques masquerading in the trees and on our porch outside our windows. In the dim morning light we packed our belongings and were preparing for our trip out of town when a stinging pain shot through my foot. Initially I thought I had been stung by a fire ant, but the pain intensified. It felt like a bee sting, but at least 10 times stronger and kept on getting worse. Rachel and I searched beside our bed and found the culprit, a small, black scorpion. Terrified we rushed (I limped, wincing in pain) down to the lodge’s restaurant for medical advice. The first question they asked was “Was the scorpion big or small?” Noting our answer they said that I would be fine- that the sting would be painful, but not harmful. They rubbed fresh ginger on the sting site (this seemed to help a little) and said that the pain would last for a few hours. A few hours later I barely ever knew I had been stung by a scorpion, and tonight the pain is completely gone.
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