Day 80: Jungle Trek – Day 2
Lindsay and Igor turned out to be the early-birds of our group – while we woke up naturally around 7AM (it was already light out, and Lindsay needed to use the “jungle toilet”), the Germans and our guides were still snoozing until around 9AM. No matter – a pack of curious macaques across the river started eyeing our camp and watching them slowly make their way over to our side to steal some leftover rice from last night’s dinner was a very amusing way to spend the morning.
Igor enjoying the sights of the jungle with a morning cuppa
Lindsay waiting patiently for the monkeys to cross the river
Thieving macaques!
Breakfast in the jungle
The first part of our hike led us through the shallow waters of the river – thanks to our stop at the shopping mall in Medan, Igor and Lindsay had good river shoes. Our German friends had both brought flip-flops, which quickly ripped on the slippery rocks, sending both guys into the river.
When we reached the uphill section of the trail, we had a small traffic jam with another trekking group. Since the trail was incredibly steep (70-degree angle – no joke!!!), we waited at the bottom to give the other group a good 45min head start so we wouldn’t bottleneck in a bad location. To pass the time, Chandra hacked up some stray bamboo walking sticks to make “jungle trumpets”! For the next two days, our group was the annoying bunch tooting loud blasts as we tramped through the trees.
Jungle arts & crafts – making bamboo horns!
Finally reached the top! Seriously – it was like scaling a cliff-face! Thankfully the trail is covered with sturdy tree branches to hoist yourself up
Rewarded with lunch at the top of the hill
Admiring the flora – a parasitic fig tree whose roots are strangling it’s host tree
Thick fig roots – we each had to take a turn climbing the tree
So, we’d had a very good day up until this point, but we hadn’t seen any orangutans yet. While we were sure to see some by the end of the day, could anything really top yesterday? I mean, seven orangutans, including Juney who just milked it for the camera? How could it get better?
Meet Jackie:
Jackie – Bukit Lawang’s friendliest orangutan
Jackie is a semi-wild orangutan who – unlike the aggressive Mina – has a reputation for being a bit too friendly. We were warned that she may try to hold our hands – as if that would be a bad thing! Sure enough, after posing for a few pictures Jackie came thundering down from the trees with her little baby in tow and made a beeline for Lindsay’s arm!
Taking a picture with Jackie
Jackie’s older daughter, who was born in the wild and therefore doesn’t have a name. She’s probably around 7-8 years old. She’s curious about tourists, but keeps her distance
Jackie coming down for some one-on-one time
JACKIE IS HOLDING LINDSAY’S HAND, OMG THIS IS SO MAGICAL!!!!!
OK, it’s been a few minutes – I’d kinda like my hand back now…
Guys. She won’t let me go. And she keeps trying to put my hands in her mouth – oh shit, she’s going to bite me – give her some fruit, NOW!
So Jackie is a very clever ape – she has discovered that she can hold tourists hostage (we are so easy to catch, because even when pre-warned, we all secretly want to hold hands with her!) in exchange for fruit and sugar cane sticks by threatening to bite their hands. Chandra and Leli assured us that she never actually bites anyone, but when your fingers are in her mouth, you still get nervous!
Chandra and Leli did eventually bribe Jackie to let me go, but not without first getting a group photo
Jackie’s newest baby – SO CUTE!!!
Jackie had a fierce grip! And she desperately needs a manicure – her nails left a mark on my arm! As soon as she let go of me, she picked her next victim from a new group of tourists
As we continued down the trail toward our campsite, we had one more orangutan encounter – this time with Sooka. Our guides didn’t tell us much about her, they just told us to not make eye contact and walk past her as quickly as possible.
Sooka – a surly orangutan – not a favorite of the local guides
Our final camp was not as secluded as the first – this is the main camp that almost all the trekking groups visit (especially 1-night treks). This would be our jumping off point for the river tubing the next day. There were 3 other groups on our side of the river, and another 3-4 on the other bank, so we had a fair amount of company as we jumped in the river for a cool swim.
Unfortunately, the sky opened up and it started to pour right around dinnertime, so we had to forgo a bonfire that night. Our group made the best of it, especially since Leli and Chandra had placed a beer order for the tourists and we each had a double deuce bottle of Bintang! The jungle boys pulled out a deck of cards and proceeded to dazzle us with various magic tricks – “Jungle Magic!”
Campground by the river – we were by far and away the rowdiest group, thanks to our jungle trumpets!