Welcome to the Most Beautiful Island in Indonesia, Welcome To Borneo Island
Tanjung Puting is a National Park on Kalimantan Island that is dominantly protecting a unique animal, the Orangutan. Two islands in Indonesia are centers for Orangutan protection, Kalimantan and Sumatra. Tanjung Puting is a national park that has the largest number of Orangutans in the world, around 6,000 more Orangutans live there. As well as this, around Sumatra live about 7,000 orangutans. But this time we will review the Tanjung Puting National Park in Kalimantan or Borneo Island.
For tourists, a visit to the Tanjung Puting ecotourism is not only seeing and feeding Orang Utans but also trekking into the forest, and seeing other animals such as wild boar, proboscis monkeys, gibbons, sun bears, and wild birds. The park is home to eight species of monkeys including the very distinctive proboscis monkey, with their long noses that will amaze you. Try to see wild Orangutans swinging through the dense and lush vegetation. In addition, this park is also home to more than 220 species of birds.
One of the interesting places in Tanjung Puting is Camp Leakey, an Orangutan conservation site. Today the camp remains a research center for these amazing animals. You can learn more about Orangutans at the Camp Leakey information center. Daily feeding of wild Orangutans will be the highlight of your visit as you will likely see wild Orangutans up close in their natural habitat.
Pondok Tangui is also a rehabilitation center for ex-captive Orangutans located in the park which feeds the monkeys every day. At both centers, you will get the chance to see these amazing primates up close and learn more about how we can protect this endangered species on Borneo Island.
Not only protecting orangutans and monkeys, this park is also home to birds and other wildlife, not to mention pristine forest vegetation. It is a world-famous natural treasure that attracts more and more international visitors every year. Here, you will go around on foot into the Tanjung Puting forest and walk in nature as much as you like. When you travel here, you should stay alert for Orangutans, monkeys, wild boars, and wild deer.
Tours in Tanjung Puting often take tourists on houseboats and down the Kumai River in traditional wooden boats, known as Klotok, a popular river transportation in Kalimantan. Klotok is public transportation used by local people to cross the rivers in Kalimantan. The Klotok Orangutan houseboat tour gives you the chance to see birds, crocodiles, and monkeys in the trees by the river. And for breakfast, you will be served by your tour guide team. This will be a tour trip you can’t forget.
Dayak Jungle
They are very dependent on forest life; therefore they still maintain it today. But this Dayak village is unique because we can still find traditional longhouses (Betang), old Dayak Kaharingan cemetery, and traditional rice barns. The Dayak of Kalimantan have a strong commitment to maintaining their ancient customs and culture and protecting the tropical rainforest as their natural habitat. They believe if their tropical rainforest disappears, it will destroy their community because their life depends on this tropic rainforest such as; food, medicine, and ritual ceremonies.
One of the annual events that many tourists look forward to is the big Dayak Festival which is usually held around 7 July (contact us for specific dates). At this festival, people show their best customs and traditions. Many traditional dances, sacred weapons, and all the valuable belongings of this community are exhibited at this event.
How to get there?
You have to fly to Pangkalan Bun, which is the main entry point to the park. Pangkalan Bun Airport is accessible by daily flights from Jakarta or Bali (DPS) via Semarang and Surabaya. There are direct flights from Jakarta, Surabaya, and Semarang. If you are departing from Bali, you will need to take a flight to one of the 3 cities, and then connect a flight to Pangkalan Bun.
Another easy way to reach Tanjung Puting is to take a boat from Java Island to Kumai, from the nearest port: Tanjung Puting. There are several Pelni boats per week between Semarang on Central Java and Kumai, but these ferries take about 72 hours. There are also weekly boats between Surabaya in East Java and Kumai, which take around 24 hours. Choosing a ship is indeed cheaper but much longer. You need to note, that domestic flights in Indonesia tend to have very affordable prices.
You might think of combining your trip to Tanjung Puting with a visit to Balikpapan, it’s not as easy as it looks on the map. Borneo is a very large island, the third largest island in the world which still has dense forests and most of it still wild and undeveloped. It takes a few days to travel overland by bus or means paying for multiple domestic flights.
Once you reach Pangkalan Bun or Kumai, you can’t just walk into this national park if you are traveling alone. First, if you fly to Pangkalan Bun, you are required to register at the police station. In Kumai, you must register at the park head office. Both places will require photocopies of your passport and visa.
These procedures are one of the reasons why it is easier to visit Tanjung Puting with a group tour, although it is very possible to do it by yourself, it just requires a little effort.
Best time to go
This is because during the dry season in Indonesia: July – August is the busiest season for all tour agents.
Tanjung Puting is easy to reach from anywhere else in Indonesia with flights to Pangkalan Bun. The classic way to experience the park is on a multi-day river cruise on a traditional Klotok riverboat. Enjoy your best trip here!