After two action-packed days we’ve had nearly two full days at sea to reflect upon our special time with the orangutans and to visit with Dr. Galdikas who joined us on board in Kumai. It was fascinating to hear her lecture, focusing on the threat to orangutan habitat with the world’s insatiable demand for palm oil, which it seems is
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It was an early, pre-dawn start from Orion II as we departed in a flotilla of zodiacs for the 2 ½-hour trip up the Sungai Sekonyer River. Life on the river began to awaken as we did and within the first 40 minutes of the journey we were treated to our first orangutan sighting in the wild — a large
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The word “orangutan” derives from the Malay words, “orang” is person; and utan comes from human which means “forest” … thus, “person of the forest,” and that is what we’ve come all this way to see! It is the largest tree-dwelling mammal, the only ape in Asia and shares 97% of human DNA. They are only found on Borneo and
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After two and a half days at sea, it is a happy event to catch our first glimpse of the third largest island in the world, Borneo, or Kalimantan, as the locals call it. As seen from the sea, it is seemingly flat and featureless, however, we all know that it’s lowland rain forests contain one of the most diverse
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In anticipation of the exclusive Frontiers group that I plan to escort next winter, Indonesian Interlude, I drove two hours to Cleveland to see a 40-minute IMAX film, “Born to Be Wild…” sound crazy? It was worth every minute! The movie explored the incredible bond that forms between humans and animals spotlighting two extraordinary women and their life-long work with
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