Kumai to Belitung

Our Klotok arriving at 5:45am to pick us up

Breakfast was ready

 Other Klotoks on the river

A klotok traffic jam

Entering the national park

Mother orang-utan and young one

Both get fed

Gathering of Orang-utans

Macaques

Wild boars eating the scraps

Swallow "condominiums" in Kumai

Local fishing boat off Belitung

Following the pilot boat across the bar entering the river to anchor

Kumai, Kalimantim (Borneo)

Friday,  Nov 20,  2015

Second Day Underway Kumai to Belitung

We had returned to Lombok from Bali on Thurs. Fri mid day Bill returned on the ferry. We took a cab to a new mall about an hour and a half away. Although we needed to buy some provisions there, the trip was mostly to see a bit of the island. We went via the "monkey highway" into the rain forest and did see a number of monkeys along the road. We returned the coastal road where the driver pointed out sites and photo opts. ($40 for the trip). Back at the marina the owners had arranged performances by local musicians and dancers and a wonderful buffet. There were a few other sailors there as well from the anchorage. One of them, an Australian, gave us some good tips for the continuing travels up Malaysia and Thailand.

The volcano was still spewing ash so the boats were black again. We were  all happy to get moving again in the circumstances. Being anchored in a fresh water river in Kumai we finally have cleaned up most of it. By Fri evening we still had to unpack from Bali and get the boat ready. We were waiting for diesel and the laundry to arrive also. Two boats left that night as it was a long, slow trip to Kumai with the forecast wind. It took us three days to cover the 430 nautical miles.

There was an overnight tour to the national park to see the orang-utans arranged for Tues or an all day one Wed. As we had decided to sail one day, albeit slowly, to conserve fuel, that meant arriving later Tuesday so we missed the overnight trip. Five of us took the one day trip, the rest slept on the boat in the forest along side the river. We were picked up before 6 am and were back about 8, long enough for most of us.

These trips are considered the highlight of any trip to Borneo. We took a 2 story flat boat called a klotok, up the river for approximately 40 kms. On the upper level are chairs for viewing, and a table for meals, all of which were included and good. If you sleep aboard, mattresses are laid out side by side with sheets and pillows and mosquito netting hung. The advantage is hearing the forest sounds at night and being able to sleep in. It is a 40 km trip to the final stop at Camp Leaky, with an additional stop after the first 3 hours. The stops are at designated feeding stations so you will see some orang-utans for sure.

The National Park was founded by a Canadian and her Indonesian husband in 1971 and does a lot of rehabilitation work as well as conservation. There was  a center to do some reading and see exhibitions. The feeding stations are supplemental and will not be visited if food is available elsewhere. The guides call and they start to arrive. We were lucky to watch many, the "alpha" male and several females with babies and children. They carry the babies for the first 5 years and continue to teach them until they are 8 when they will have another. The site was also visited by proboscis monkeys and macaques. The surprise was the large number of wild boars. They were the ugliest animal I have ever seen.

The return trip was very pleasant as the sun went down and the heat abated. (The equator passes through Borneo.) The monkeys sleep in the trees along the river so we saw hundreds. There are crocodiles in the rive, and we saw just one. You can stay on a klotok for more days and probably see more of the abundant animal and bird life.

We were picked up and dropped off at our boats, the whole trip costing us $100 a piece.

The city of Kumai itself contained a lot of tall grey concrete multistory buildings. We initially thought that the Russians had been here building apartments! They turned out to be bird houses. Each multistory building had small slots in the sides and swallows nested inside. The bird's nests, which are made with saliva from the swallows, are shipped to China to make birds nest soup. Think of that the next time you see birds nest soup on the menu!

Our next stop is in Belitung, which belongs to Kalimantin and is 210 km away. Fortunately we could sail on the sea breeze yesterday, but today is back to the motor. The waterways are getting busier as we approach Singapore-always a few ships on the AIS. A local is meeting us 10am Sat to lead us across the river bar at high tide.  We had to cross a sand bar going to Kumai also but was charted as 7 ft at its lowest and was no problem. This one ranges from .6m to 2.6 m. We have the choice to anchor outside instead but on a lee shore, but there has never been much wind yet. We'll see when we get there.