Calypso's Journal: Kalimantan and the Highlights of Borneo

Some 12 to 15 years ago, after reading the exploits of a cruising Canadian family who rescued a captive Orang-utan, sailed up into Kalimantan, Borneo and released it into the care of Camp Leakey, I've had a dream to follow in their footsteps.

Camp Leakey, named after the famous palaeoanthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey, is situated in the Tanjung Puting National Park up a small tributary that feeds into the bigger Kumai river in the south west corner of Borneo.

We sailed to the mouth of the Kumai River before motoring up another 15 nm to the town of Kumai where a group of nine of us booked onto a three day, two night tour which would take us up the smaller rivers to three stations dedicated to the feeding and care of Orang-utans, be they wild or rescued from captivity. Their sole purpose is geared to the protection and care of these highly threatened wonderful creatures, not only to assist the animals themselves but also to help prevent their diminishing habitat, a frightful status caused by the indiscriminate devastation of the surrounding forests.

Each camp had times where food was put out at a feeding station to which we hiked about a kilometre into the jungle. And so they came; Orang-utans, old men of the forest, big alpha males, mothers with babies of all ages, playful adolescents and teenagers, some obviously right up the pecking order and others too shy, holding back. Several of the larger males were a picture of showmanship seemingly purposely posing for the cameras. Words cannot describe our delight with the entire trip. I could have sat there and watched them for hours. Ah well, actually I did.

In the trees along the riverside, we saw Proboscis monkeys with their very strange noses and little long-tailed Macaques. Other wildlife included wild boars, squirrels, crocodiles, a king cobra, tarantulas and some beautiful birds including hornbills and magnificently coloured kingfishers.

The first night, we were taken a bit further down the river to see fireflies. Now, I've seen many fireflies in my life but not like this. They seemed to like a certain type of tree and, as the sun went down, the trees lit up with thousands of tiny twinkling lights – Christmas in October, quite a spectacle.

Our guide was Jenie, a very personable local chap who became captivated by the Orang-utans and decided to learn as much as he could and help protect them. He's also a bird enthusiast and very knowledgeable on plants and insects and nature in general. We couldn't have asked for a better leader. Our accommodation was in the form of two narrow wooden river boats where we ate on the covered top deck during the day and this was later turned into our beds made up under mosquito netting at night. And the food, wow, we were fed like kings. Our on board chef, Norma, managed to create some amazing dishes from very cramped conditions. We can highly recommend Jenie and his team should any of you follow our path.

Jenie & his side-kick Herman

The town of Kumai itself was rather dirty but had its own sort of charm. A major source of revenue for them was something none of us would have every dreamed of. They have dozens of huge, ugly grey buildings erected solely for the purpose of housing swallows and their nests and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what the nests are for and where they're destined. Yup, bird nests soup for the Chinese market. These are shipped by the container load over to China as the nests here were made with a type of seaweed held together with the all-important swallow saliva which has the necessary enzyme needed for the soup and those poor Chinese gentlemen with problems with their libido who probably can't get rhino horn or bear livers or tiger's pancreas or whatever...... 'nuff said.

Kumai had the cheapest meals we've come across to date, mie goreng plus a Magnum ice cream for two came to less than $4 but there was no beer to be had – a strict Muslim area so no alcohol - we had to endure a few rather bereft cruiser blokes.

After returning from the tour, we left very early the following morning to skies so heavy with smoke that we could see next to nothing for the first few hours. The smoke was probably due to the slash and burn tactics that are used throughout this part of the world. It just doesn't bear thinking about!