After finishing our tour around the city, we got on our tourbus and headed to the nature preserve where the Orangutans live. "Oran" means man, and "utan" means jungle, so together it means "man of the jungle." We drove for about 30 minutes to get there, and then hiked into the jungle for about 20 minutes to arrive at the feeding area.
On the way in, we saw many unique plants. Dr. Perumal and our tour guide, Nikki, pointed out the varieties that we should be sure to notice. We were even able to pick some leaves and eat them, which was a fun experience.
Leaves I ate from the jungle:
Once inside the park, we saw crocodiles (they were in enclosed areas) and we waited in hopes of seeing an orangutan. They feed the orangutans fresh fruit once a day, and visitors can see them roam around in the wild, which is pretty amazing. However, this time of year is when the fruit is all ripe, so the orangutans don't come to the area where the humans feed them. This is great for the orangutans, because it is a vital part of their rehabilitation, and means they are becoming more self-sufficient. But it also means that they are very rarely seen during this time of year. About an hour after we had arrived in the feeding area, a ranger was radioed with news of an orangutan sighting about 400 meters into the jungle. We followed the ranger on a narrow trail and over a wooden bridge, through dense foliage, and around a hill. Suddenly, the trees above us began to shake. We squinted as we looked skyward; could it have just been the wind? Something blocked a patch of sunlight beaming down from the canopy. It was an orangutan. It swung back and forth lazily, hanging by its arms. Further ahead, we saw two more orangutans. We stood there on the jungle floor, gazing up to these three animals in the treetops for close to an hour. It was one of the most amazing experiences of the trip. Not only did we see orangutans, but we encountered these beautiful animals in the wild.
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