Gunung Leuser National Park (Bukit Lawang)

I took a cheap flight from capital Jakarta to Medan. This metropolis is the capital of the island of Sumatra and also the third city of the entire island archipelago. Because this is by no means a tourist attraction, I decided to take a bus directly to the bus terminal to find transportation to Bukit Lawang, about 100 km north of Medan. 

I have doubted quite some time to go to BL since there has been a terrible flood a few months earlier. Stories were circulating that everything had been washed away and that I would not have anything to look for here. Some 250 people would have been victims of the devastating water. The ride has lasted about 3 hours when I arrive in a great devastation; it is a city in ruin with only a few inhabited houses and a few stalls.

The minibus drives a circle about what was once most probably the lively center of this once so touristy village in the middle of the Gunung Lenger park. People point to a building on the other side of the swirling river - that must be a place where I can sleep. I get out and look around, I can’t hardly believe it. First I have to sit in a small boat looking more like a raft to the other side. There is a rope stretched between the two sides. You have to make yourself small on top of your bag and hope for the best. After a few minutes I set foot on a narrow island on which a kind of bungalow park has been laid out.

Fortunately, I am not the only tourist here - after I have checked in, I have a chat during my dinner in the adjacent restaurant about the situation here with some other people and check out with the options are here. 

The national park Gunung Leuser is located on the border of Aceh and appears to be one of the most diverse parks in Southeast Asia in terms of flora and fauna. There are four endangered species here, namely the Sumatran tiger, elephant, orang-utan, and the rhinoceros with two horns.

Chance that you see one of the 500 living tigers, 100 rhinos or 300 elephants is small but on the other hand an encounter with an orang-utan is almost guaranteed. There is also the chance that you see a hornbill. Crocodiles once lived here too, but the story goes that they unfortunately died out. While we’re having breakfast together in the restaurant we talk – ofcourse – about the storm that raged here not longer than four months ago. It becomes clear to me that it might be good to be here and let the world know that it is safe here. The best thing is to bring tourist money back here so that work can be done on the reconstruction. 

The men I'm talking to have been on a junge tour yesterday and it's clear that I'm going with a Danish couple including two guides. Around nine o'clock I say goodbye to the other tourists and we leave. I tie up my trouser-ziplegs with elastic and long sleeves. It’s full with mosquitoes with this damped heat and despite the heat and humidity this is highly recommended. We are not even half an hour away or we see our first orang-utan hanging in the tree with a youngster. The guides make it clear that the entire orang-utan-shelter has been washed away and that the animals do not know where they have to go to eat at the moment and whether if they get any.

Money is not there and everything has to be rebuilt. Normally there are about 15 original orang-utans who have often lived as pets in a cage somewhere. In the rehabilitation center they are once taught to climb in trees again, to build a nest and to find food in the forest. Then they are released in the forest where they can pick up their new life. They are then fed twice a day with monotonous food in the hope that they themselves go looking for extras. Of course the intention is that they no longer come at all.

We leave the mother orang-utan behind us while she follows us all the way  in the hope we have food wit hus. At the sam time we see and hear some gibbon monkeys in the distance. Suddenly we walk straight through an ant-trail and the guides call very hard "antz" on which we all start to stamp on the ground with our feet and go through as quickly as possible.

A big orange monkey suddenly appears on the path and it is soon clear that this urang-utan is not so friendly. Our guide shows his hand and makes clear that the monkeys are fed before the flood and see people as people who bring food. He obviously does not understand that we are tourists who do not have extra food for him. Almost all guides have been attacked several times by orang utans who attack people for food since they don’t get the extra food.

They are simply hungry. We try to walk past the monkey but the question is if the urang-utan let it go so easily. We have to walk through behind our guide while the other guide, who is walking behind, chooses a different path. Everybody suddenly starts to run. Fifteen minutes later we are soaked in sweat while we stop.

The monkey is gone but our second guide is too. We reach two more urang-utans high in the tree but decide to go back to the camp. It is still almost three o'clock when we are back. Good thing we are back because an hour later it starts to rain which makes everything wet and slippery. The question is whether we can go back tomorrow to the shore because it will continue all evening and parts of the night. 

The next morning it is dry and the situation is being discussed. It appears that the boat with which we passed the river the day before yesterday has been washed away. There is a diligent search for a solution. Two hours later than planned, a new raft has been arranged, but it remains a gamble to cross the even wilder and wider river. We are allowed to return to the village but are told at your own risk. If the Danish couple decides to risk it, I will do it too, but it will be a diabolical transition. Water splashes, ropes are very tight but I’m getting safe to the other side. I hope the situation for the urang-utans is being solved here soon.