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November 10, 2010
I feel like I'm dreaming. I am in an internet cafe that is air conditioned, high speed and has Skype. I am not sweating profusely as I try to eek out quick messages. I can also upload photos – the joy! I am in the city of Makassar, which is on the island of Sulawesi (still Indonesia). This cafe is not the only modern wonder. This city seems much more cosmopolitan than the others in Indonesia that I've seen. The airport was large, clean and modern. They have a true highway with even a separate section for the motor bikes. I came across of movie theatre too. I also splurged on a nicer hotel because it's been a long two days of traveling. I took a bus 18 ½ hours from Pangkalan Bun (near the monkey park) to Banjarmasin. It's an hour flight, but the roads are terrible and even when they were good I don't think we got above 45 mph. It did save me $60. :) I would have saved $4 more, but I upgraded to the bus with AC. I would have been fine without the AC given most of the driving was at night, but the big perk was it was a non-smoking bus – hallelujah! I was seated with a woman in her 50s from Jakarta and she was friendly and spoke decent English. We were both pleased not to be seated next to a man and at rest stops she'd tell people we were traveling together. We made a surprising pair, but she felt safer that way. She got off before I did, but looked out for me by asking a man to help me get a taxi. The poor guy. He stuck it out with me while I had to wait awhile and deal with lots of men swarming around. I was glad to have him there, but probably not what he had in mind after 18 ½ hours! I was planning on taking another bus from Bangarmasin to Balikpapan and then a ferry to Sulawesi, but after the 18 ½ hours (which I thought was to be 10) I headed to the airport. I got a direct flight to Makassar which was cheaper than my earlier flight within Kalimantan. Totally worth it!
So now I have a hotel with air conditioning – my first in Indonesia. The fans have actually been fine, but it's a perk. I'm more excited to have a trash can and hot water (although it didn't seem to work). I also have a top sheet for the bed. In Kalimantan I only ever got the fitted sheet. I have a TV, which I also had in Kalimantan. I'm only in Makassar one night because I heard that there is a big funeral in the Tana Toraja region. Yes, I know if must seem that my tour is one of death, but these happen to be major sights to see. It's supposed to be a beautiful region and the native people there have unusual funeral practices (I'll fill you in after I see them). So I take another 10 hour bus tomorrow to this region. After a few days there I'll likely head to the Togean Islands for some diving and snorkeling.
You can see by my pictures that I did a three day river cruise into the Tanjung Puting National Park. It was something right out of “The African Queen,” except there no Nazis or rapids thank goodness. This is there low season so there weren't other travelers that I could share a boat with so off I went with 2 crew members, Andi and Alam, on “Dove.”. I actually preferred going solo, but it just uped my cost. I could have stayed in the park for a week just watching the riverbank slowly go by as we looked for monkeys and crocodiles (the river was too high for me to see the crocs). I saw lots of orangutans, macaques, proboscis and one gibbon. We made two stops and saw feedings of the orangutans. Most of the adults there were in captivity, but the young ones are growing up wild. I wish they wouldn't encourage dependency with the feedings (and there are many orangutans who don't come), but it was neat to get up close. They even come right close, which is a bit unnerving. Some had tiny babies or adolescents. They climb every which way like young human kids. They especially like being upside down and swinging. The proboscis babies didn't seem do go upside down as much, but they liked to jump up and down. The proboscis adults and young jumped from branch to branch and the orangutans would being holding a new branch before letting go of the other. Maybe because of their heavier weight? I feel like Jane Goodall! :) Andi called the male proboscis “Mr. Nose,” because it protrudes and hooks. He said they also call it the Dutch monkey.
Though I enjoyed the feedings, I loved even more coming across the orangutans while we hiked. One mother and her two children were hunting for termites. Actually, the youngest just swung in the branches. He jumped on weak branches a couple of times and tipped to the ground. His mom seemed utterly unconcerned. The adolescent dug for termites too, but wasn't as successful so had to beg some off of mom.
Heading back to the boat after one hike an adult orangutan, the dominant one in that area, was blocking our way on the narrow wooden path. The path is above the marsh so there wasn't a detour. She was acting a bit feisty and some people, including Andi, still walked behind her. She went to grab at a few people. Andi kept trying to tell me to come, but every time I got close I didn't trust her. So he went and got bananas and sat with her while I walked behind. Apparently, she is very friendly, but her “husband” died recently. Orangutans don't live in groups, just mothers and their young, but she and the dominant male had a special thing. She had even stopped building a nest to sleep in at night and instead slept under a wooden roof built by the dock. Orangutans always build at least one nest a day up in the trees and sometimes more. Hopefully, this one will start building again. In one picture, you can see a nest behind a young monkey up in the trees.
During another hike we saw a mother and her one year old. They came to us because Andi had bananas. The looks in their eyes are so similar to ours – it's wild. When we left the mother kept following us, which made me nervous. So nervous that I slipped on the wood planks laid on the ground and fell into the water. I was imaging her running after us for the cookies that Andi had in his bag. Finally, when we hit a crossroads for the trail she stopped. Whew!
My guide, Andi, spoke English well and I learned a lot from him. He is Dayak, the native tribe in Borneo and grew up in the forest. He used to walk 3 hours each way to the village for school! He hunts with a blow dart that's tipped with poison. They use things like roots, sap and frog bile to make the poisons. He said the poison kills a wild pig within three minutes! When we went hiking he preferred to go barefoot. We both sprayed with repellent though, esp. our feet because of the land leeches - ugh. I had 3 on my socks, but we got them before they wormed there way in (they do look like little thin brown worms). And he also put a yellow paste made from a root on his face to ward off evil spirits. In the picture of the four of us, there are four because he wouldn't take one with three. It was a bad omen. The man on the far right gave me a ride back to the hotel. Andi is in the middle of the men. He tried to teach me to count to 10, but I'm stuck on 9 and 10 – ugh! I taught him some English – and some Spanish (they get a lot of tourists from Spain). We had rains at times, but not during feedings or hikes so we were lucky. You can see my set up for evening – thank goodness for the mosquito net. It got dark around 6:30 so I tended to get sleepy early, but then I woke up with the sun. Alam made some delicious meals for me. Lots of fried food though and big portions so I'm feeling the effects. :) Actually, I did the shopping for my food with the tour guide who arranged the boat and his friend. It was fun to go through the market, but could do without the lopped off chicken heads. During the day when we were cruising I would sit at the bow and watch, read, or write in my journal. Or the beautiful butterflies would come by and distract me. I felt so content and exhilarated.
This river cruise is one of the main reasons to come to Kalimantan and it was fantastic. I don't think if tourism grows greatly that it will be environmentally sustainable. All the bathroom waste goes straight to the river and I think a lot of the food and trash (though I didn't see it floating). There is also a gold mine near the park that pollutes the river. You can see a stark change in the color of the water from a muddy light brown to a black. Not to mention the gas engines from the various boats. I hope they grow the ecotourism in a smart way.
There's lots of talk now of Obama coming. Everyone is very excited. One person said, do you know he's Indonesian. They are proud to claim a piece of him. I see Obama says Indonesia is a model for democracy and diversity. It might be for diversity. I saw a church and a mosque side by side the other day. It is making progress with democracy, but corruption is still rampant from what I hear. To be a police officer you have to use bribery. I was told by one local his friend spent over $2,000 (in a country that $100 is the average monthly income) to bribe his way onto the force and still failed. I've been told to buy off police if they stop me on my motor bike and see I only have a NY license and not an international one. I was advised to keep 50,000 rp separate from the rest so I can claim that is all I have and give it to them.
