I did not expect to see an orangutan on a Saturday morning

What I did on Saturday

It started like any other normal day.

A Friday. The 13th of May. Another average day. Tutorial day. Classes, back nap, the normal stuff.

I woke up from my nap at 6pm. Which was late compared to the times that i usually wake up.
But it what really happened, is that my day REALLY got interesting after midnight.
We (Triven, and I ) were bored as hell that night and we had no idea what to do. We spent close to 30 minutes just THINKING of something interesting to do that night. Either something to do or somewhere to go. Which was when we planned to go hang out at his new place over in Tasbi 2.

Then got a call from Esmeth saying that he's coming over and that we'd all just meet in Pa'Im (name of an old dude who has an AWESOME roadside lepak stall in Medan). It was after a teh tarik kurang manis and an hour later that we decided to go to Bukit Lawang.
So we met back at my place and talked the plans out. We'd have to take a small trip to Triven's new place to get a motorcycle helmet for myself, but before we could leave my place, it started to rain. HEAVILY. So we waited. For an hour or so before the rain finally let up. Then we got the helmet, and took off.

We started our journey around 3 a.m. and got there around 5.30 a.m. taking only two stops on the way there. The journey to Bukit Lawang was a little crappy because of the holes in the road and the lack or any proper lighting. Also, unlike Brastagi, where one can predict where the road is going to go, you can't for the roads to B.Lawang. It was a cold journey. The cold chilly air and fog made the night riding really challenging but fun. It felt like my face was gonna freeze and fall off my head. It was still dark when we arrived so we parked the bikes and headed for a stall for some breakfast.

After breakfast, we started to explore the area. Me for the second time, because I had already been there. We walked and walked till we found the cable bridge over the river. The three of us went up to the highest possible point of the bridge and watched the sunrise. It was amazing.

The time now was 6 something a.m. We went exploring the area further. Then about 15 minutes of walking later, we came to a river crossing that could only be made my a boat. It wasn't a huge crossing, just one about 5 meters wide, but you needed the boat because the river current was pretty strong. That crossing lead to the orangutan conservation area. We didn't cross it just yet, because feeding times were from 9-10 a.m. So we just checked out the river first.

The waters were so clear and the sounds of the water crashing upon the rocks was very calming. When the time got to 8.30, the rangers opened the crossing into the conservation. It was more of a hollowed out log than it was a boat.
We got to the other side, and there was a video briefing about the area. Before the video could finished, the rangers called us (Triven, Esmeth, and me, and a couple of other western tourists) to follow them because it was time for the orangutan feeding. I dunno about the guys, but I was pretty damn exited. There was a small hike through some jungle before we got to a little clearing, which was fenced up with some bamboo, and behind that fence was a platform between two trees. We all waited behind the fencing to see how it was going to be done.

Of the 4 rangers that were with us, 2 of them went to the top of the platform (which was level with the viewing area) and sat down. There was one carrying a backpack, and the other ranger was carrying a pail. Then sat down, and one ranger started knocking the platform with a rock that was already there at a steady pace. It was slow and continuous, for about 5 seconds. A few loud knocks every 10 seconds or so. I presumed that was the "breakfast call". Then, after about 15 minutes of waiting, there was a disturbance of branches from the trees behind us. We could hear it but see nothing, and so we waited. The rusting of the branches got louder and louder and finally, I saw something orange up in the trees. It was a real live orangutan! What was more surprising is that this one, had a little baby orangutan holding on to it!

It was such an awesome sight to see. The mother orangutan crawled down from the trees and made it way to the feeding platform through the bamboo fence (which was about 1M high). It was balancing on the top of the fence walking slowly towards the clearing where the feeding platform was. The orangutan passed less than 2 meters in front of me! It was sort of a rush seeing something like that, that close to you. Then the orangutan climbed up the feeding platform to where to 2 rangers were and were fed bananas and milk. Yes milk. That was the contents of the pail. The funny thing was, they fed it the milk with a metal cup and it drank the milk properly! Which was amazing to see of course. The little one then slowly left its mother and went swinging from a tree like, well like an orangutan would. Then the mother and the baby left but there was still more food.

Then the ranger did what he was doing before. Took the rock and started knocking the platform again. This time we waited 10 minutes for another one to come. But in those 10 minutes, we all watched the first one slowly, climb tree after tree and slowly disappear into the jungle. Then another one came shortly. This one was a little aggressive because it was making a lot of noise with the twigs before we saw it. It was breaking twigs and rattled the branches before we saw it. The rangers told all of us to back off a little from the viewing area. So we did, and the other orangutan came down from the trees. This ons was much bigger, and it had another baby too! Even the baby was a little bigger than the previous one. This one while climbing down kept looking at us after taking a few steps. It looked kinda "tak puas hati" with the rest of us there. This one was a little more entertaining to look at. Then after eating, it climbed the nearest tree and was eating the remaining bananas. The funny part was then the mother orangutan slapped the kid and it gave a short whelp. hahaha...

⁃ After the feeding we climbed back down the trail and back across the river and went for breakfast.
⁃ Nothing really interesting happened here. Just some regular old nasi goreng. Then we decided to go for a little walk. Esmeth went back after 15 mins of walking. So it was just me and Triven. We went for a hike to see just how far the trail would go. It ended at a flying fox platform. Or so I'm guessing thats what it was. So then we walked and discovered some awesome spots on the river that would awesome on photo. Sadly, none of us brought a camera with us.

I was so desperate to take a dip in the river that i bought myself a pair of camouflage shorts just to save my jeans from getting wet. We then went for a swim in the river. Believe it or not, there was a spot that was deep enough to dive from a rock ledge. I attempted some flips but were unsuccsessful. Perhaps I need more practice. Haha. After the swim, it was lunch time, and after that we began the tiresome journey back to Medan.

The return journey was much MUCH worse compared to when getting there. The potholes, the cracks in the road, the holes, the sand the dust, the diesel smoke, the grit, it was a NIGHTMARE. On top of that, it began to drizzle and rain a little, which meant that everything that was suspended in the air, now mixed with water was hitting us in the face, and being breathed in, and the best part was, I was the one riding the bike back. I had to endure that nightmare till we got to Binjai. Then Triven took over and rode the bike till we got back to my place. We got back at exactly 5.30p.m on Sunday. After talking a bit and washing off the "contaminants" on our faces, I took a nap. A LONG one. It was about 6.15 when my head hit the pillow, which was also the exact time I loss all consciousness.

I went for more than 24 hours without sleep on an almost massively epic journey that took less than 30 seconds to go from bored idea in the head to reality.


This is the crap that we get up to in Medan. Welcome to Indonesia everybody....




Joel out....