Borneo Orangutan Explorer

4 Days / 3 Nights

Pangkalan Bun - Kumai - Camp Leakey - Tanjung Harapan - Pangkalan Bun

Destination Highlights

Embark on a once-in-a-lifetime journey into the heart of Borneo with a 3-night eco-adventure through the lush jungles of Tanjung Puting National Park. Travel by traditional klotok boat along the Sekonyer River, stay in a secluded jungle eco-lodge, and experience unforgettable encounters with wild orangutans at renowned sites like Camp Leakey, Pondok Tanguy, and Tanjung Harapan. With guided treks, river safaris, and visits to local villages, this immersive experience offers a rare opportunity to connect with nature and witness Kalimantan’s extraordinary biodiversity.

Perfect for wildlife lovers and conscious travellers, this orangutan tour in Kalimantan combines comfort and conservation in one of Indonesia’s most pristine natural settings. Explore dense rainforests, observe endangered primates in the wild, and unwind at the sustainable Rimba Lodge—an ideal base for your Borneo adventure.

Itinerary

Pangkalanbun – Kumai River - Rimba Lodge

Welcome to Pangkalanbun, the entry point to Central Kalimantan.

Upon arrival at Pangkalanbun Airport you will be greeted by your local guide and transferred to the Kumai port to board a local Klotok boat for a scenic journey along the Kumai and Sekonyer River.

Start your navigation first on the wide Kumai River and after 30 minutes enter the much smaller Sekonyer River that marks the board of the Tanjung Puting National Park. The lush vegetation along the river bank first consists of Nipa palm (a palm tree only found near estuaries as they grow in salty water), slowly replaced by Pandan trees.

Lunch is served on board.

After 2 hours of navigation you’ll reach the Rimba Lodge, an eco-lodge located on the edge of Tanjung Puting National Park and only accessible by boat. This area is notable for its ecologically and biologically diverse areas with mangrove swamps, rain forest and dense jungles filled with primates, leopards, lizards and more than 250 bird species.

Check in at the lodge and rest of the day at leisure. Dinner is served on board.

Overnight at Rimba Lodge.

Meals: lunch, dinner

Rimba Lodge – Camp Leakey – Rimba Lodge

After breakfast at Rimba lodge, back on board your local Klotok boat and start navigation upstream the Sekonyer River.

After about 1h15 the boat will turn off the main Sekonyer river and enter a small narrow branch of the river where suddenly the water changes from its brown color to a natural black color. Along the way your guide will point out the various birds that live in the jungles around the river: kingfishers, broadbill, hornbills.

Continue the navigation for about 2 hours to reach Camp Leakey, the most famous place for orangutan research in the world. Over the years as many as 200 orangutans were gradually reintroduced to the wild since the camp was founded in 1971. Today the camp only operates as a feeding platform but orangutans are still fed and medically monitored by the local rangers. There are no more reintroductions nowadays in the all Tanjung Puting National park as the overall population of Orang Utan has reached a sustainable number of between 5000 to 6000 individuals spread across the 4,000 km2 superficies of the park.

There are only 3 feeding platforms in Tanjung Puting providing supplementary food to the orangutan so that they do not remain wholly dependent on the feeding sites and are instead encouraged to get their all food in the jungle. Most of the orangutan in the park are born in the wild and the ones that do come to the feeding sites are generally mothers with young offspring and animals that have been recently released.

Lunch is served on board near before arriving at Camp Leakey.

Disembark at Camp Leakey for a 30-minute walk along a wooden pontoon then following a jungle path with a chance to observe more wild animals on the way: gibbons, long tail macaque as well as wild pigs.

Feeding at Camp Leakey takes place daily at 14:00 when rangers bring bananas or other fruits to wooden platform inside the jungle. Slowly many Orangutans start coming down: Watching them going from branch to branch sometimes high up in the trees with agility and grace is an unforgettable experience. You will sit on fallen trunks only about 10 meters away from the platform and will have rangers with you. The orangutan may come to the platform from anywhere in the jungle with the dominant male usually always coming first and followed by females coming one after the other with their young offspring.

Return to the boat and around 16:00 start your navigation back to Rimba Lodge.

At this time of the day many proboscis monkeys, an endemic species of Kalimantan and easily recognizable by their long red nose, are coming close to the river banks to spend the night in large groups hang in the trees. You also have a good chance to watch wild orangutans coming down to the riverside to pick up the fruit of the pandan trees, one of their favorite foods.

Dinner is served at the lodge.

Overnight at Rimba Lodge.

Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Rimba Lodge – Pondok Tanguy – Tanjung Harapan

Breakfast at the lodge.

Today you will enjoy another full day trip around the jungles and explore 2 other feeding posts inside Tanjung Puting National Park.

Back on board and navigate upstream for about 1-hour to reach Pondok Tanguy, the 2nd feeding center of orangutans: a 700m walk first on a wooden pontoon then on a sandy path surrounded by ferns and lush vegetation. Feeding Time at Pondok Tanguy is at 09:00.

After spotting the Orangutan at this post 2 platform, return to the boat for boating down to Tanjung Harapan Camp where you will visit the 3rd and least visited of the 3 orangutan feeding platforms in the National Park. Here they feed the orangutan at 15:00 in the afternoon.

Back on board for a short crossing to Harapan village, one of the only settlements along the river. Take a walk through this village to watch the Malayan families and their daily activities.

Back to Rimba Lodge which is just over the river from the village.

Dinner is served at the lodge.

Overnight at Rimba Lodge.

Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner

This is a private itinerary and can be tailored to your needs.

Accommodations

Rimba Lodge

Stay in the Diamond Room, a cool and calming retreat built from native Ulin wood, offering natural comfort in the heart of the jungle. Located in a private block of just three rooms, it promises peace and seclusion, complete with a private veranda overlooking the forest.

The eco-lodge features 35 air-conditioned rooms connected by elevated timber walkways, powered 24/7 by a state-of-the-art solar hybrid system. Experience sustainable comfort surrounded by nature.

What's Included?

Standard hotel accommodation in half-twin/double room with daily breakfast.
Meals as mentioned in the itinerary
Tours and transfers by private air-conditioned vehicles.
English speaking local guide (No other languages available)
All entrance fees and tours as indicated in itinerary (including Conservation Fee)

Price from £1049 pp, subject to availability. This itinerary can also be tailored. Please enquire

Borneo Orangutan Explorer

Destination Highlights

Itinerary

Pangkalanbun – Kumai River - Rimba Lodge

Rimba Lodge – Camp Leakey – Rimba Lodge

Rimba Lodge – Pondok Tanguy – Tanjung Harapan

Rimba Lodge – Pangkalan Bun – Departure

This is a private itinerary and can be tailored to your needs.

Accommodations

What's Included?

Plesir

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