Riverboat kings

In Kumai we arranged with a local tour guide to do a 3 day/2 night cruise up the river to visit a couple different orangutan rehabilitation centers. 

There is extreme deforestation occurring on the island of Borneo by palm oil producers. They are buying up massive swaths of land, cutting down the trees to sell as lumber and then planting palms for their oil. This all poses an incredible hardship on the orangutan population.

Our gang for the river cruise includes Omar, Allison, Rhiannon, myself and Shophia, a Brit we found wandering around Kumai looking for others to do the orangutan tours with. Our crew on the river boat include Jeffery our guide, the boat captain, our cook and a boat boy who was a personal valet of sorts.

Our boat, or klotok, named the Chaya Purnama 2 was a double decker with a wide open upper deck where we ate, slept, read, played cards, did seven minute workouts, pretty much where we spent the entirety of the 3 days when we weren’t in the rehabilitation centers watching the orangutan feedings. 

Heading up the river

Another klotok

Our riverboat gang: Alison, Omar, Me, Sophie and Rhiannon

Probably one of the biggest males we saw

Chilling on the bench with my relatives

Look close and you can see a baby peeking around its mother

This gibbon monkey was all arms

Rhiannon and our floating mansion.

Big old tree we saw on our jungle trek.

This old lady was following me down the road. (The monkey, not Rhiannon)

Taking it all in at feeding time.

We're the five best friends that anyone could have.

(Written on 10/10/13 at 9:02 am, In port at Kumai)