Two Days One Night Jungle Buzz
We knew Sumatra as a distant island from its more popular brothers Bali and Java; we knew it from its great coffee beans we often buy in Costco and from the critically endangered Orangutans that can be found deep in its jungles. After some research, we committed on a trip to Sumatra, more specifically – Bukit Lawang. The name roughly translates to “mountain door” which is interpreted as the “gateway to the mountains”. Getting here was no easy task. We chose to take a flight from Lombok – to Jakarta – then finally, to Medan. We stayed the night in Medan and got picked up for a 5 hour drive to Bukit Lawang. The drive was a bit relentless and the traffic never-ending. The road especially gets much worst when you get out of the city and into the rural parts nearing the quaint river town of Bukit Lawang.
After arriving in town, we were picked up by the organization we chose to stay and book our tour with. Sumatra Orangutan Explore is an org I could highly recommend. Their team took great care of us and we noticed that they put extra attention to the details and ethics of sustainable jungle treks. An excerpt from my review of this jungle trek:
Our experiences with Sumatra Orangutan Explore has been amazing. First, their restaurant is a great spot to have a bite as their food is delicious, affordable and has a wide variety of options to choose from. They were able to accommodate us and book all parts of our travel – from our pick up in Medan, our jungle trek, to our departure to Parapat. The process was seamless and easy; all of it was done over WhatsApp and payment was made online through Wise. Our tour was spearheaded by our amazing tour guides : Amso and Heri. Their hard work. charisma, ethics and knowledge continues to inspire us to this day. We were placed in a group of 6. We saw many different wildlife from the infamous Orangutans, Gibbons, Macaques, Toucans, Turtles, and more even though we only did the 2 Days 1 Night trek. Seeing them all in the wild is so much more magical than we thought. Don’t expect a walk in the park. They take you deep in the Sumatran jungle full of vines, ants, mud, mountains, baby mountains, and mozzies. The conditions are no 5 star hotel stay. We stayed in make shift camps, slept on mats with mosquito nets, electricity was none existent and the toilet was no paradise. Make sure you know what you’re signing up for. It was definitely physically straining and we were pushed to our limits from hiking up and down rough terrain. However, dont let this scare you. Our experience was amazing. The food Amso and Heri prepared for us was absolutely delicious. They were also able to accommodate a vegetarian diet. The fruit breaks were refreshing and got us through the hikes. They truly cared about the environment and the ethics of sustainability of it all. They picked up trash, made sure we left none and followed all protocols when it comes to dealing with wild life. Sleeping deep in the jungle, disconnected from civilization, meeting truly wild animals, surrounded by fauna and vines has been a deeply fulfilling experience. If this is what you are looking for, look no further. Sumatra Orangutan Explore is what you seek.
Going deep into the Sumatran jungle to test our chances of meeting truly wild animals was a truly fulfilling experience. Trudging in the mud, walking through vines, going up the dense jungle and down its slippery slopes instilled a silent anxiety in our group as we hoped to see a glimpse of any sort of wildlife. When the magic moment finally hits and a figure above the trees could be seen, a silent excitement rushes through and all the hard work and the struggle feels like nothing at all. Better yet is the feeling of content when we could spend our time leisurely hanging out in their space – both of us enjoying the jungle buzz.
On our last day in the jungle, we spent most of it hiking up and down steep slippery paths hoping to get more glimpses of the Orangutans. Unfortunately, we never saw another one – however, our luck turned during the early afternoon when we saw a pair of rare black gibbons. It is very rare to see them – our guide informed us that he has not seen one since over a month ago and for us to see two of them, swinging through the vines and on the trees, eating, playing and even shitting (Ana got a video of it) was an absolute treat.
The gibbon pair left us and we headed further down our path – we took a lunch break by a creek with a mini waterfall. The water was cold and refreshing and I was very tempted to take a bath in it until the call for lunch sounded out and my hunger overpowered my temptation. I was glad I didn’t make that call as a whole group of soft-shelled turtles showed up – I don’t think they would have appreciated my presence in the water. We finished our lunch watching five of them compete for the small pool upstream.
As lunch finished, we went on to climb another mountain. This one was especially hard as we were already exhausted, sore and worst – full. I just wished for a nice comfy hammock to have a nap by the creek, have a cold beer and call it a day. Unfortunately, the show must go on and we headed up another mountain in the jungle. Going down was even worst – this was our last trek for the day and we were aiming to reach the big river from up above. The trek was steep, slippery and never seemed to end. There was plenty of ropes to help us and our guides took care of us. After a whole hour of going down, we eventually found the bottom and could hear the roaring river. As a nice little treat, we happened to meet two huge tortoises right by the river. They were directly in our path so I think we spooked them a bit. I never knew there were tortoises here.
Relief, joy and exhaustion washed over us as we finally reached the bottom – our last destination of the trek. There were numerous make-shift camps by the river and plenty of places to hang out. We chose to have some tea with our group and had a quick dip to cool off. We said our goodbyes as we were taking the tube down the river to go back to town. You read that right – we trekked in the jungle for two days, then take a tube down a white water river back into the town of Bukit Lawang. If that doesn’t sound amazing, I don’t know what else will.
P.S. We did have an incident occur during our rafting back towards town resulting in an injury. Mishaps and accidents happen all the time and we were unfortunate enough to have it happen to us. I would recommend using water-shoes on the raft back down the river. Read all about that experience HERE
The next time we buy our Sumatran coffee beans from Costco, I won’t wander where it is and what it has to offer. Instead, I’ll remember our time driving through Medan to Bukit Lawang. I’ll think about the never-ending and ever-expansive rubber tree and palm oil plantations. Ill fondly recall our time spent deep in the Sumatran jungle where we came face to face with the monkeys, the birds, the insects and a half ripped toe nail. I’ll think about our week spent in Lake Toba, on Samosir island, in Tuk Tuk – a delightful, quaint, ghost tourist-town.
I will never forget my time in Sumatra.
Travellers Pursuits 