Jungle Boats & Orangutans: Our #RusticGlam Borneo Family Adventure

The call to prayer reverberated across the still water. The sun was barely peeking above the horizon. My eyes fluttered open as the scent of the jungle filled my nose, and a deep sense of gratitude for this life completely took over.

And then reality clicked back in: yesterday we had just seen wild crocodiles, monkeys, and, of course, orangutans.

Thankfully, our adventure hadn’t started too early. We were collected from our hotel at Pangkalan Bun after a very locally-flavored (if you get my drift) breakfast at around 10:00 AM. Very reasonable.

About 30 minutes into the drive, we stopped suddenly on the main street of a small town and were told to alight the vehicle. After a short walk down an alleyway on wooden planks, we realized we had actually arrived at the port. Waiting for us on our boat was Addy, our Local Guides representative. This boat would be our home for the next two days and two nights.

Life Onboard: The Definition of #RusticGlam

The boat was surprisingly large, spanning three levels. Well, the top level was actually just the roof, but it had chairs, so it absolutely counts. The middle floor held the dining, lounge, and viewing area alongside two bedrooms. The bottom floor housed another bedroom, the galley, the captain’s room, and three bathrooms.

Interestingly, the toilets were flushed not by a button, but by scooping water directly from the river. The shower was also in the exact same tiny room, ensuring that absolutely everything got soaking wet each time someone used it. #rusticglam at its finest.

There are actually quite a few boats on the river, which becomes glaringly apparent the second you arrive at the feeding stations.

I was super pleased to find out we had a female guide. Addy was a gracious host, and when she wasn't guiding or serving us meals, she spent much of her time playing with the kids. She and the crew certainly kept us well-fed. We had three meals each day, plus snacks and cool drinks waiting for us after every single walk. For someone who is typically not an adventurous eater, Archie absolutely loved the meals—especially the fish. He spent most of his day talking about the delicious way the cook had prepared the food.

Meeting "Roger"

On the first morning, it took a few hours to reach the initial feeding station. At each stop, it’s about a 30-minute easy walk to a platform where local staff place food for the orangutans so they can view them and check on their health.

On the way, we happened across a massive freshwater crocodile who swam directly in front of our boat for about 500 meters, almost like he wanted us to follow him. Not long after that, we spotted a mother and child orangutan playing in the trees beside the river. These were truly wild orangutans, completely separate from the ones that frequent the feeding stations. It was the perfect warm-up for what was to come.

Arriving at the first feeding station in Tanjung Puting National Park began with an adventure course, climbing through various other docked boats before finally landing on a large pontoon. From there, it was a short, flat walk - you couldn’t even really call it a hike - to the feeding area.

It was incredibly easy to see exactly where the orangutans were because a crowd of nature photographers was already huddled under a tree, extra-long lenses pointed diagonally upwards.

This specific orangutan was an old bloke named Roger. Honestly, he looked like a Roger, too - flat face, leathery chest, and completely used to the crowds. He was entirely unbothered by our presence. Once the bananas were placed on the station, he lumbered over to the platform, greedily peeled each banana one by one, and ate them up. It was quite wonderful.

But it was also incredibly hot. After about an hour, we made our way back to the boat.

Winding Down

It was lovely to be greeted by the staff with fresh watermelon, cool jugs of water, and an ice-cold towel the second we stepped back onboard. We spent the afternoon reading, going through our photos, and chatting while the boat found a spot to dock for the evening. After a dinner of chicken, prawns, noodles, tempeh, and vegetables, the kids went up onto the roof to gaze at the stars. It was incredibly peaceful.

It was equally lovely to awaken the next morning (after a very sticky and humid night) to a cool breeze and the sun reflecting kindly over the water. Breakfast was eggs with pancakes and fruit; Archie could not have been happier.

Then we were off to two more feeding stations with lunch in between. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any more orangutans that day due to it being fruiting season in the wider jungle, but we still thoroughly enjoyed the nature walks and the boat ride through the river.

To wrap it all up, the crew very kindly started our final day early so we could make our flight. We were up at 5:00 AM, eating by 5:30 AM, and off the boat by 6:00 AM. The entire trip was seamless.