Forest of the Apes: Tanjung Puting

Ingat adegan dalam film Rise of the Planet of the Apes saat Caesar semakin pandai dan matanya semakin mirip dengan mata manusia?

Remember that scene in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” when Caesar was becoming smarter and his eyes look more like the eyes of humans.

Bertatapan dengan orangutan akan membuat kita bertanya-tanya, apa yang ada di pikiran mereka. Orangutan memiliki kemiripan DNA dengan kita, bahkan hingga 96,4%, orangutan juga memiliki kecerdasan yang luar biasa.

Being face-to-face with an orangutan makes us wonder what is going on in their head. The DNA of an orangutan is similar to ours - up to 96.4%. They are also very smart.

"Tom kalau bertarung jika ia mulai kalah maka ia akan lari cari kayu, kemudian ia pakai kayunya untuk memukul pesaingnya," ujar Adi, guide kami saat menyusuri Sungai Sekonyer di Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting, Kalimantan Tengah.

“When Tom is losing a fight, he will look for a wooden log and start to hit his opponent with it,” says Adi, our guide as we cruise in Sekonyer River in Tanjung Puting National Park, Central Kalimantan.

"Ia dulu sering dipukul dengan kayu oleh orang-orang, jadi Tom belajar pakai kayu untuk memukul lawannya," Adi menambahkan. Tom adalah orangutan paling terkenal di Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting. Ukurannya paling besar dan tentunya ia jadi jantan dominan di kelompoknya.

“He used to often be beaten by people using a wooden log. That’s why Tom learned to use a wooden log to beat his opponent,” added Adi. Tom is the most famous orangutan in Tanjung Puting National Park. His size is the biggest, and of course is the dominant male in his group. 

Sayangnya kami tidak bertemu dengan Tom saat datang, entah sedang kemana Tom saat itu. Namun Tanjung Puting tanpa Tom tetap membuat kami mengagumi polah dan tingkah laku orangutan ini.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet Tom when we arrived – who knows where Tom was at that time. Even without Tom, Tanjung Puting would still make us be astonished by the behavior of those orangutans.

Kapal siang itu merapat ke dermaga Camp Leakey, area penelitian dan rehabilitasi orangutan tertua yang didirikan oleh Dr. Biruté Galdikas di tahun 1971. Kini, Camp Leakey merupakan daya tarik utama Tanjung Puting, termasuk bagi saya. 

The afternoon boats docked at Camp Leakey, orangutan research and rehabilitation founded by Dr. Biruté Galdikas in 1971. Now, Camp Leakey is a main attraction in Tanjung Puting, and an attraction for myself as well.

Saat kapal mendekat kami melihat gumpalan coklat di ujung dermaga, orangutan! Kami langsung menuju ke sisi kapal untuk melihat lebih jelas, rupanya orangutan itu sedang asik selonjoran di sisi dermaga.

When the boat approached, we saw a brown ball of mass at the end of the dock – an orangutan! Immediately we went to the side of the boat to get a better view. It turns out that an orangutan was just chilling out at the side of the dock.

Siswi with Adi

"Itu Siswi," ujar guide kami saat kapal sudah merapat dan orangutan itu kemudian merubah posisinya menjadi duduk ke arah kami, seakan menyambut kedatangan kami. Siswi tetap duduk diam dan cuek saat kami berfoto-foto dengannya. Namun saat salah satu teman saya yang juga namanya Adi duduk di sebelahnya, Siswi mengambil slayer milik Adi dan berusaha memakainya. Setelah itu Siswi penasaran dengan isi kantong celana Adi dan menemukan saputangan putih yang kemudian ia letakkan di kepalanya, sangat lucu! :D 

“That’s Siswi,” says our guide when the boat has docked. The orangutan then changed its sitting position to face us, as if to welcome us. Siswi still sat quietly and remained aloof when we took pictures with it. But one of our friends that is also named Adi, sat beside it. Siswi then took Adi’s bandana and tried to put it on. Then Siswi was curious to find out what was inside the pockets of Adi’s trousers and found a white handkerchief that it put on its head. Very cute! :D

Meski tampak sangat ramah, kami tetap mesti hati-hati, jangan sampai membuat orangutan ini marah, bagaimanapun mereka tetap binatang liar sehingga untuk mengambil kembali saputangan itu, guide kami harus membujuk Siswi pelan-pelan agar mau mengembalikan saputangan milik Adi. 

Even if they seem very friendly, we must be very cautious not to make an orangutan angry, as they are still wild animals. To get the white handkerchief back, our guide had to somehow slowly convince Siswi to return Adi’s white handkerchief.

in action!

Sambutan di dermaga ini baru sebagian keseruan saja, kami segera masuk ke area dalam Camp Leakey, melewati jalan setapak hutan dan tiba di dekat area feeding ground. Lagi-lagi salah satu orangutan "beraksi" di depan kami. Saya tidak tahu namanya namun orangutan yang satu ini bergelantungan dan bergaya di depan kami dan pengunjung lainnya. Kadangkala ia berhenti beberapa detik seakan memberi waktu untuk kami mengambil fotonya. Rupanya ia narsis juga :) 

The warm welcome at the dock is just part of the fun. We rushed to enter Camp Leakey, going through paths in the forest and arriving near the feeding grounds. Once more, one of the orangutans went into ‘action’ in front of us. I didn’t know its name, but this orangutan was showing off its tree-climbing skills in front of us and other visitors. Sometimes it stops for a few seconds as if to give us a chance to take its pictures. Quite the narcissist, I must say :)

Waktu pemberian makan atau feeding time di Camp Leakey dimulai dari jam 2 siang hingga jam 4 sore. Di belakang tali yang memisahkan area feeding dengan pengunjung terdapat banyak bangku untuk menunggu. Kami datang pukul dua kurang dan sudah ada beberapa orangutan yang datang dan terus bergaya. 

Feeding time in Camp Leakey starts from 2 in the afternoon until 4 in the evening. Behind the rope that separates the feeding area and visitors are a few chairs for people to wait at. We arrived before 2p.m., and there were already a few orangutans showing off their tree-climbing skills.

Saat makanan sudah disiapkan, orangutan mulai berdatangan ke platform kayu yang dipenuhi pisang dan rambutan. Salah satu yang paling menggemaskan adalah orangutan dengan anaknya yang masih kecil yang terus memeluk induknya. 

When the food is served, orangutans started coming to the wooden platform , full of bananas and rambutan. One of the cutest things I saw is when a mother orangutan was with its baby, the baby kept hugging its mother.

"Dulu ada orangutan yang paling 'ramah', Peta namanya," ujar guide kami. "Peta ini biasanya duduk-duduk di dermaga, mau diajak foto bareng dan tidak iseng," tambah Adi yang membuat saya semakin penasaran ingin bertemu si Peta. 

“In the past, there was a friendly orangutan, its name is Peta,” says our guide. “Peta usually sits around the docks, is willing for pictures to be taken together with others, and is not naughty,” added Adi, making me more eager to meet this Peta.

"Peta ini pintar, suka mengikuti apa yang kita lakukan. Kalau ada yang mandi dia ikut menggosok badannya, dikasih baju dia bisa ikut mencuci," ujar guide kami sambil tertawa.

“Peta is clever, and likes to imitate what we are doing. If someone is taking a shower, he rubs their body as well. If given some cloth, he can join us washing clothes,” says our guide laughing

Ah, lagi-lagi sayangnya kami tidak bertemu si Peta. Ia baru beberapa bulan lalu menghilang. "Peta suka ikut dengan turis, waktu itu ada yang trekking ke Pesalat dan ia ikut, lalu belum balik lagi," ujar Adi.

It’s such a pity we do not get to see Peta. A few months ago he disappeared. “Peta likes going with tourists. Last time there were some trekkers going to Pesalat. He went along with them and hasn’t returned yet,” says Adi. 

"Tapi Peta masih hidup kan?" tanya kami dengan khawatir. 

“But Peta is still alive, right?” we asked worriedly.

"Oh, iya, biasanya ia pindah tempat saja," ujar Adi menenangkan kami.

“Oh, yes, usually he just moves to another location,” says Adi calming us.

Semoga lain waktu saya bisa datang ke Tanjung Puting lagi dan bertemu si Peta, dan Tom tentunya. Melihat orangutan selalu menarik, mereka punya karakter masing-masing yang berbeda sehingga kita tidak bisa hanya bilang "Saya ketemu dengan orangutan," namun "Saya bertemu dengan Siswi," atau "Kami lihat si Gundul" 

Hopefully another time I can come to Tanjung Putting and meet this Peta – and Tom, of course. It’s always interesting looking at orangutans, as they all have their own different characters. So when someone asks us, we wouldn’t just say “I saw an orangutan.” We would say “I met Siswi,” or “we saw Gundul (the bald one)."

Take as many as you can!

Just chillin' bro

Mereka punya nama dan karakter unik masing-masing, sama halnya dengan manusia. Hanya saja 3,6% perbedaan itu membuat perbedaan masif. Jika tidak, bayangkan ada di Planet of the Apes. 

They all have their own names and characters, just likes us humans. But the 3.6% difference in our DNA makes a massive difference. If not, imagine Planet of the Apes coming to life. 

@marischkaprue - she loves to see orangutans, but prefers to be oranglaut instead

NOTES:

• Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting terletak di Kalimantan Tengah. Untuk menuju ke TN Tanjung Puting, ambil penerbangan menuju Pangkalan Bun (harga tiket Jakarta - Pangkalan Bun berkisar Rp. 1,2 juta PP), kemudian menuju Pelabuhan Kumai (dengan mobil/ motor sekitar 30 menit perjalanan dari Bandara) dan dilanjutkan dengan naik kapal.
• Tanjung Puting National Park is located in Central Borneo, to reach the National Park you can take a flight to Pangkalan Bun (Jakarta - Pangkalan Bun return flight is about IDR 1.200.000,-), then continue to Kumai Port (it's about 30 minutes car ride from the airport), then continue by boat (river cruise)
• Budget untuk menikmati 3 hari river cruise di Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting sekitar Rp. 3.700.000,- all in (t termasuk tiket pesawat), untuk mendapatkan kisaran budget tersebut sebaiknya pergi bersama-sama atau ikut open trip sehingga biaya lebih murah. Untuk trip river cruise ke Tanjung Puting, hubungi Tukang Jalan ,via email: tuk4ang.jalan@gmail.com atau telp +62 813158 09191
• The budget for 3 Days river cruise in Tanjung Puting National Park is around IDR 3.700.000,- all in (include plane ticket), to get this price with proper facilities, you can join open trip so the cost is cheaper. Contact Tukang Jalan for the trip to Tanjung Puting National Park: tuk4ng.jalan@gmail.com or phone +62 813158 09191