Indonesia/Malaysia 2013: Orangutans
Bali, Indonesia to Penang, Malaysia via Orangutans and Singapore
We make our way through Western Indonesia and north to Singapore. Then up the Malacca Straits of Malaysia to Penang.
Day 156 – 158 – 2 – 5 Oct 2013 – Bali to Kalimantan, Indonesia
We weren’t ready to leave Bali… could have stayed months, if we had the time. we barely had a chance to explore Ubud and Lovina Beach before our time was up and we needed to press on. We left Lovina Beach and headed across the Java Sea heading north to Borneo, Kalimantan and the Kumai river, where we would begin our river cruise to see the orangutans. We had no wind at all and motored the three days and two nights to get to the mouth of the Kumai, then anchored there until morning, when we worked our way up the shallow river to the town of Kumai.
Day 159 – 161 – 6 – 10 Oct 2013 – Kumai and Tanjung Puting National Park
Our river cruise began on Monday, so on Sunday we packed and went to shore for a bit of a walk. This place really had the feel of a frontier working town… nothing for tourists here. There was a larger town about 25km away so I suspect that tourists flying in for the orang sightseeing would stay there rather than in Kumai. We scoped out where the market was, but decided to wait until after our trip before provisioning.
Monday morning found us waiting for our pick up… and waiting. This operation was definitely working on Indonesian “rubber time”. We finally got everyone collected onto our large river cruise boat… well-used “rustic” would describe the boat best. Although we had three boats for sleeping (16 of us in our group) we all traveled and ate together on one boat. Had we known this ahead of time, we would have booked smaller or individual tours. We also paid quite a premium for the ability to book in advance (somewhere between 30 – 40% uplift), which turned out not to be necessary at all. The food was okay, but there was a lot of deep fried stuff and they didn’t have enough for everyone… well, I should say rather that no one went hungry, but there wasn’t an abundance. They had wonderful fried bananas… not good for the hips, but yummy as an afternoon snack. They also had store-bought coconut cookies for a morning snack, which I loved even though they were cheap quality…. They tasted like coconut, so what could be bad? Then there were the mattresses… wafer thin. Even though they gave us double, it was still not the most comfortable nights rest. Okay, so enough on the complaints… other than the aforementioned, the trip was great! We cruised in our open boat through the jungle and rain forest seeing some lovely vegetation.
We visited three orangutan feeding stations, one each day of the trip. Many of the orangs are totally wild, but some are semi-wild, having been orphans released back into the forest after rehabilitation. They are still somewhat dependent on the daily feedings. Those feedings also help the tourism, as many of us were there watching and snapping photos.
Below are two of the MomOrangs… the babies will hold on and travel with their moms for about the first 4-5 years and then they will start venturing on their own, but still stay close to mom.
There were times when people bought and sold orangs, not caring for them properly, etc. Thankfully, the Indonesian government has outlawed this and the orangs seem to be holding their own in the national park. They are still threatened elsewhere, as rain forest and jungle are being cut down and replaced with palm oil plantations. I recently learned that it is less the palm oil in foods we eat, and more as a supplement for fuel… or maybe they can use it as fuel on its own… not sure about that. But what I am sure about is that only 37% of the rain forest remains in Borneo at the time of this writing, losing ground daily, and the animals are losing their habitat. This, along with the pervasive trash problem all over Indonesia, makes me terribly sad. On day 2 while several boats were rafted up and waiting to hike into the feeding station, we watched a mischievous orang sneak on board the boat next to us and steal a can of condensed milk from the table. Other cruisers who had done the tour just before us reported the same event, so I somehow suspect that this was part of the routine show. The orang knew just what to grab and the boat operators knew exactly when to look the other way and leave the table unattended! 🙂 Here is the thief with loot in hand…
That same day, on the way back from the orang feeding, we had a very close encounter with a male orang. I was walking along the path ahead of Roger and we were both back a bit from the rest of our group. I heard a rustling to my right and stopped to look. There, larger than life, was a big male orang. We looked at each other and then I saw Roger heading right for him. I yelled for him to stop, but he kept on until I repeated it more urgently. He said, “whaaaat?” and when I told him to look to his right, he saw him. He put out his hand, which might have been interpreted as a somewhat aggressive gesture, and the orang made aggressive noises and postures, so Roger decided to head back up the path in the direction we came from… the orang followed him. Luckily there was another tour group and the guide told Roger just to move off the path… the orang just wanted to get by him and get to the food. Whew!… what a scare!
On the last day of the tour we saw the big king (below left) … what an impressive being he is.
We feel so fortunate to have been able to do this trip. Roger told me that this rainforest was regrowth after logging because of the type and size of the trees and growth. If we decide to stay another season in SE Asia, we will likely come back to Borneo and arrange for a trip to the old forest.
Day 162 – 166 – 11 – 14 Oct 2013 – Kumai to Kalayang, Belitung Island
We did an overnight passage west, back across the Java sea to the island of Belitung. We motored most of the way, which seems to be a recurring theme since we are close to the equator. The beaches and rock formations at Kalayang are exquisite! The water is also very warm and we hopped in for a swim as soon as we got the anchor set and the boat opened up. It was very hot and muggy here when the wind died and after a day of hard work, Roger tending to the engine, changing oil and transmission fluid and filters… me preparing passage meals and sorting things in the galley for the next legs of our trip, we were knackered… completely exhausted. We were invited to a neighboring boat for sun-downers before the gala dinner, and we didn’t make it to either. We were just too hot and tired to move. I had put on one of my cute cotton sundresses for the evening, but that is as far as we got. The day we left we did make it onshore for a walk on the prisine fine white-sand beach.
Day 167- 169 – 15 – 17 Oct 2013 – Belitung to Linga Islands and across the equator, into the northern hemisphere
Merrily we motor along… no wind. It is very warm and we are drinking gallons of water and sports drink to stay hydrated. We decided to do a 2-night passage and make some progress toward Bintan, our checkout location from Indonesia. We will still have a week to meander around some of the islands near there, but we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss our deadline for leaving… heavy fines.
At about 5AM on the 17th, we crossed over from the southern hemisphere and into the northern hemisphere, so we’re no longer upside-down under (at least for the time being.)
We continued up along the Linga Island group, explored one possible anchorage and then decided to head to the north end and anchor there. The place we thought would be perfect turned out to be a “Fishing Condo City”, chock full of little houses with nets under them.
We wove our way through and then decided it was a bit too crowded for our taste and moved on to an anchorage described in the SE Asia Cruising Guide as “charming”. What seemed nice, but somewhat less than charming, turned out to be poor holding on coral and very exposed to the tidal currents and the thunder and lightning storm that was upon us that evening. We were up a few times that night… Roger longer and more often than I, and we decided to move and/or move on the next day rather than resting up there.
Day 170 – 171 – 18 – 19 October 2013 – Ansunda, Linga Islands to Raja Island, Batam
We crossed the channel into the Ruia Island group and made our way north, much of it against the current, but then in our favor the last few hours. The tide tables didn’t seem to help as they indicated it should have been flooding (and in our favor) earlier in the day. Close to last light, we anchored in a very-protected little spot. It would have been quaint except for the huge palm oil processing plant across the channel from us. Still, the water was calm and although we had a good rain and squall, it quieted down for the night and we slept very well.
Day 172 – 20 October, 2013 – Raja Island to Nongsa Marina, North Batam Island
We ran out of internet bytes while anchored by Raja, so although it was an excellent place to catch up on sleep (quiet and calm), and would have been a great place to do some of our internet projects as well, we decided to leave and head for the anchorage on top of Bantam island. We also thought that the anchorage on the island of Bintan, where we were supposed to check out of Indonesia, would not be a good place to hang out in the northerly winds and swell from all the shipping traffic toing and froing to/from Singapore. So we called and let Sail Indonesia know that we wanted to check out from the marina and headed up the 15 miles. The marina is lovely… 5 star resort with swimming pool and nice facilities. We are no longer used to being tied up to a dock, so the squeaking dock lines and the swell coming in kept us up. We’re not sure how long it will take to process our documents, but in the meantime, we’re doing our internet (they have wi-fi) and went to the supermarket to provision.
Day 172 – 174 – 21 – 23 October, 2013 – Nongsa Marina, Batam Island, Indonesia to Raffles Marina, Singapore
We spent four nights total in this marina, which was sort of a mixed experience. It was nice to go to their pool and to be able to get off the boat and walk around, but it was a little rocky-rolly for much of the time and not as relaxing as we had hoped.
Day 175 – 24 October, 2013 – Nongsa Marina, Indonesia to Raffles Marina, Singapore
We finally got our paperwork in order to check out of Indonesia and head into Singapore. We left at first light to catch the tides and to have enough daylight to check into the Western Anchorage area of Singapore, then work our way around to the western side and up to Raffles Marina. The amount of shipping traffic in the shipping lanes, anchorages and across the fairways is breathtaking. We had to wiggle our way across the shipping lanes, and at one point were head directly towards the side of a HUGE cargo ship. We were timing it so that he got past us and we could continue on and out of the traffic coming from both sides. Whew! Checking into Singapore was easy… didn’t even need to anchor, just hovered around for about 30 minutes until the boat got to us. They extended a fishing net on a poll to collect our passports and papers, returning them the same way. Overall, it took 45 minutes and we were on our way. There was a significant tide and we were carried away quite swiftly. This was a nice change, since we had the tide against us almost everywhere and any time we were underway in Indonesia! Raffles is a very nice marina and has a lovely swimming pool with hot tub, fitness room and nice facilities. We’ll enjoy being here for the next week or two.
Day 176 – 193 – 25 October – 12 November, 2013 – Raffles Marina, Singapore
Hot and humid, Singapore is another world compared to Indonesia of the last three months.
We had gotten used to the small villages and traditional markets, and here we could be anywhere in the US with wide paved roads, mass transit and huge shopping malls filled with fashion and electronics. Happily, the marina has wonderful and free internet, of which we are making great use. We also are connected to shore power for the first time since leaving Brissy… so I can have my “orange beast” of a computer plugged in for hours and hours (a real treat for me)! We had plans to meet with an acquaintance I worked with at HP and her partner, living in Singapore, but then needed to cancel/postpone as Roger has a kidney stone, which decided to start moving – making its way heading painfully for points south. That puts a wrinkle in all our plans (tourist, socializing and boat projects alike) and we’ll need to play it by ear for now.
It is very hot and humid in Singapore during the day, but cools down a bit at night. Still, we need to get work done during the day and it just saps the energy out of you. In addition, Roger started stressing about the long list of “to do” items for the boat… that combined with his not feeling well led to a good amount of stress for the two of us. This likely means that we will need to stay longer in Singapore than originally planned, but I think it is a pretty simple matter to extend our visas for 30 days.
We met some new friends through Vipassana, Hwai An and Wei Wei, who are assistant teachers living in Singapore. They came to the marina to pick us up on Friday and we had our first adventure into town. We visited Little India, which was getting ready for the Diwali holiday festival and was decorated and busy with preparations. We had a wonderful tandoori lunch (totally yummy) and then walked around the neighborhood a bit until it began pouring. We then drove around the CBD and over to Marina Bay where we had a splendid view of the Barrage, a project for water reclamation and to ease flooding in Singapore. The former seems to be working well, the latter not so much as flooding has actually gotten worse. They dropped us off at the Keppel Bay Marina, where we met with friends Glen (who I worked with at HP a decade ago) and Henry on their boat. I hadn’t seen Glen since she and Henry set sail from San Francisco heading across the Pacific. At the time, she inspired me greatly… leaving the corporate world and heading off on a life adventure, following your heart and your dreams. Now here I am 10 years later having done the same thing. We had lots to talk about and they have all the contacts for marine bits and pieces as well as great recommendations for sailing up the Malacca Straits through Malaysia and into Thailand. They travel that route every year and will be heading up there in January, so we’ll meet up with them again along the way. We navigated back on the MRT (train) and then caught a taxi back to Raffles. It was a full-on socializing day, and a good one. Roger’s kidney stone hasn’t been giving him much discomfort, so we were happy though hot and tired.
Did I mention that it is really hot and humid here?
We have been back to the CBD and have explored Orchard Rd, which is extremely upscale with Tiffany’s, Cartier, Hermes, etc. and have had lunch at local “hawkers” stands… sort of local food courts but with really good food, not chains like in the US malls. We have a few more errands to do, and a visit to the botanical gardens and then we’re off for the Malacca Straits and Malaysia!
We really like Singapore, and it helps to have some friends already here. We might really consider coming back and working here for a while… filling up the cruising kitty and enjoying some more of the great Singapore lifestyle. Shortly before leaving Singapore, we took the MRT into town and visited Marina Park, a recent attraction in Singapore. There are two lovely glass structures, one the Cloud Forest and the other the Flower Dome. Each showed the plant-life and flowers in various locations and climates throughout the world. The buildings themselves were gorgeous, and the exhibits were very well done… totally worth the visit and entrance fee.
Day 194 -0195 – 12 – 13 November, 2013 – Raffles Marina Singapore to Admiral Marina, Malaysia
We did an overnight passage to try to minimize our time out in the Malacca Straits with the thunder and lightning storms we had been experiencing and could expect along the way. We lucked out though as the rain cleared and we had a lovely and (happily) uneventful trip up the straits. We arrived at 8AM on the nose and pulled into an available slip next to our friends on another boat. We got our immigration and customs done in town with the help of one of the Admiral Marina staff, then cooled off in the pool in the late afternoon.
Did I mention that it is really, REALLY, hot and humid here?
Day 196 – 225 – 14 – November to 12 December, 2013 – Admiral Marina, Port Dickson, Malaysia
We met up with new cruising friends Tom and Colleen (we met them at Belitung in Indonesia) and decided to take a trip to visit the historic city of Melaka. We took a taxi there and stayed overnight at the Hotel Puri in the historic Chinatown district. We walked all over the place and enjoyed the touristy sights. We rode up in the sky tower to see a lovely panoramic view and took a river cruise at night after dining on the bank of the river and eating beef ribs (well, Colleen and I had ribs). We saw a few temples and mosques, and then Colleen and I branched off to do some shopping, which we enjoyed immensely.
They had these hysterical passenger bikes (seats two plus driver) and each one was decorated more outrageously than the last! Then at night, they are all lit up with lights, blinking and flashing and every color you can imagine!
I had caught a cold, so was a bit under the weather, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying our time there. Unfortunately, as soon as we got back, Roger got the bug that I had and was down for the count.
We flew back to the US for Thanksgiving to visit my Mom and see friends in SF. And boy, do we have a lot to be thankful for!
Day 226 – 12 December, 2013 – Port Dickson to offshore banks NW of Port Klang
We left the Admiral Marina after our month stay and headed out for a long day up to Port Klang area. We decided to continue on the outside and not head through the inner channel and wound up anchoring in 22 feet of water in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. We couldn’t really see land clearly through a bit of haze, so we could have been offshore anywhere.
Day 227 – 13 December, 2013 – Offshore banks NW of Port Klang to Pankor Island
Another long day, we continued heading northwest and reached Pankor Island. We anchored in a lovely little bay on the west side. It was calm and quiet, though hot, so Roger didn’t sleep that well.
Day 228 – 230 – 14 – 16 December, 2013 – Pankor Island to Penang
We made good time and reached Penang with over an hour of daylight left. We sailed under the new bridge in the south and anchored in a calm little spot that turned out to be right in front of the Agilent Technologies buildings here in Penang! We decided to stay a few days to rest up since we had pushed hard the last few days from the Admiral. The sailing itself wasn’t hard, it was just long hot and humid days. After two days at anchor with a nice breeze both days, and fun alfresco showering on the back deck (after dark! J ), we felts somewhat refreshed and ready to head into the Straits Quay Marina and a visit to the Thai Embassy for our visas.
Day 230 – 232 – 17 – 19 December, 2013 – Penang and Straits Quay Marina
We got settled at the marina, which was a small facility with a lovely retail and condo complex built around it. The marina was hot, so we took refuge in the cool mall. We arranged a private tour to take us from the Thai Consulate where we submitted our visa applications and spent the day touring temples, old George Town, Clan Jetties, and the old Fort and had some local noodles fried with prawns for lunch. I somehow thought that George Town would have been a bit more quaint, but the temples where very impressive. We visited the largest Buddhist temple in SE Asia and an enormous reclining Buddha. The driver took us back to the consulate to pick up our visas in the afternoon and then dropped us off at the marina. It was an enjoyable and productive day. We provisioned up a bit on Thursday and are ready to sail out for Langkawi on Friday.