Northern Sumatra: Where the Orangutans still roam free

We had our first WOW A+++++ moment today. We got up at

4 AM and drove almost 3 hours out to a huge national park / jungle where the

Orangutans still roam free. There are only 6,00 orangutans left in the wild and the largest population is here: in Northern Sumatra. We arrived in a village that is largely built on stilts on the banks of a river, hired a local guide and set out into the jungle

. At 8:30 AM every day the park rangers provide extra food and milk for wild orangutans. Mainly mothers with their babies show up as they need extra nutrition for breast-feeding. But the feeding platform is deep in the jungle. First we had to cross a pretty rapid current river in a flat-bottom boat that is dragged across the water by a series of pulleys and ropes. Then we climbed up-hill into deep forest until – after about 30 minutes – we got to a clearing where a wooden platform

is built into the trees. 2 rangers climbed up and hit the platform with a wooden stick several times (apparently the jungle symbol for “chow time”).

We immediately started seeing the trees around shake and rustle as the mommy orangutans (with babies in tow) came to get extra food. It was one of the most amazing experiences.

The orangutans swung by right next to where we were sitting

on the ground and – in one circumstance – right overhead. I could have reached out and touched them. They climb onto the platform, take a tin cup filled with milk and drink from it, then return it to the ranger for more, give their babies the tin cup (who hold it in their two hands and drink like children with a cup of cocoa) and then start eating the bananas and fruit that the rangers have. Every orangutan had to dig into the ranger’s backpack to confirm – for themselves – that the rangers had shared out all of the food and had nothing else. And one even hugged the ranger as she came onto the platform. Even after the feeding was over, the orangutans hung around and watched at us - watch them - and made you feel like you were in the zoo. After all, we had hiked our happy butts into the jungle to look at them in the wild. And they were looking right back at us. The babies were adorable, swinging around, hanging by one hand and generally just showing off.

After the feeding, our guide took us for a 2

hour hike into the jungle. It was so beautiful and it felt great to be outside walking around. That is us below a 300 year old gum tree. They literally just bore a hole in the gum trees and let the glue / sap trickle out into a hollowed-out coconut shell and then collect all the sap and sell it.

We ended our trek with a late breakfast at a backpacker inn built right on top of the river and then crossed back over the river on a shaky, very scary (mainly because

I am afraid of heights and things that sway back and forth) wooden bridge that is literally built on ropes tied across the river.

Update on our Tuk-Tuk, Kady. Kady was supposed to arrive late, late the night before yesterday. We stayed up watching TV waiting for her. Nothing. We had the hotel call the driver and he said that he would be here by 7 AM. 7, 8, 9 AM came and went.. no sign of Kady. Then the ransom notes started. First the driver called the hotel and said that he was stopped by the police and did not have the right paperwork and needed money for a 300,000 rupee fine. Since Rainey had gone to the police station in Jambi to get the correct paperwork, we refused the first bribery attempt. At 11 AM, we got the second ransom demand. The driver called and said that he did not have enough money to buy gas and he was 5 hours from Medan and needed 300,000 rupees (Funny how the money was identical). This time we felt like we had no choice. The hotel arranged for us to wire the money to him. Even though we had given in and negotiated with terrorists, it still took until 11 PM last night for Kady to get here. And then – she was broken. Somewhere along the line – whether in the loading, unloading or traveling process, a bar underneath her got twisted and locked up one of the wheels. Kady could not drive.

The hotel staff in Medan were awesome. When we got back from the orangutans today, even though it was Sunday, one of the bell men got on his motorcycle, disappeared for over an hour, and returned with a mechanic on his back. Every man in the vicinity came to help / watch. Several hours later and Kady is back up and running and ready for the trip tomorrow to the port. Phew !!!! I was starting to panic. We are now back on schedule.

We meet up tomorrow with our third team member, Chris Hunte (my niece's boyfriend). He has bee trying patiently to get an Indonesian visa but the embassy in Houston has stubbornly refused. He thus spent the last two days in Singapore and is going to meet us in Penang, Malaysia tomorrow instead.