We went on a two day jungle adventure on Sumatra, Indonesia!

The trek was part of a group trip (my very first!) together with 12 other people from Denmark and Scandinavia. In total, the trip to Indonesia and Malaysia lasted 3 weeks with the group, and we had a couple of days to ourselves in the end – making the entire trip 3.5 weeks long.

In this post, you can read about our visit to the village named Bukit Lawang on Sumatra, from where we embarked on the jungle trek into Gunung Leuser National Park in search of the Sumatran orangutans!

Table of contents

1. Our mission: Finding wild orangutans in the Sumatran jungle!
2. Introduction to Gunung Leuser National Park and the ecosystem
3. First we stayed three nights in Bukit Lawang
4. A 2 day trekking adventure into the Sumatran jungle in company of several guides and cooks
5. Our basic jungle camp for one night
6. River tubing back to the village – what an adventure!
7. Conclusion

Our mission: Finding wild orangutans in the Sumatran jungle!

The plan in was to complete a 6 km trek into the jungle and spend a night in a basic camp by the rushing river in the ‘middle of the jungle’.

The main objective of the jungle trek was of course to see a wild Sumatran orangutan in its natural habitat.

The orangutans near Bukit Lawang are only semi-wild, because they have been released from captive breeding in an attempt to boost the decreasing population of Sumatran orangutan. Read more about the conservation efforts of saving the two species of great apes, the Sumatran- and the Tapanuli orangutan population, found nowhere else in the world than the very sparse remaining wild forests on north Sumatra.

Bukit Lawang is an excellent location for seeing wild orangutans because of the proximity to Gunung Leuser National Park and the selection of available hotels in various price ranges. From my perspective, Bukit Lawang seems like a genuinely good community that coexist with the National Park. The local guides come from the village or nearby, and the staff working at the hotels are also local.

Introduction to Gunung Leuser National Park and the ecosystem

Gunung Leuser NP is one of the first ever National Parks in Indonesia, and was named after Mount Leuser. The national park is unique in a way that it protects four iconic Sumatran mammals, all endangered to becoming extinct: The Sumatran orangutan, Sumatran tiger, Sumatran rhino and lastly the Sumatran elephant.

Gunung Leuser National Park covers 830,000 ha tropical rainforest, and the largest threats towards its’ existence is habitat loss (due to logging and palm oil demands) and poaching (the illegal killing of wild animals).

Illegal trapping of wild songbirds is also a massive problem – not only on Sumatra, but in Southeast Asia in general. Exotic birds are sought after products for the illegal pet trade, songbird competition, medicine and food. If you want to know more about – and how you can help – head to the Silent Forest Campaign here.

First we stayed three nights in Bukit Lawang

Before venturing into the jungle, and because we had just arrived in Medan in the middle of the night after more than 40 hours of travel (we got delayed by 24 hours already before our second flight due to missing our connection to Singapore!), we stayed at our hotel ‘Ecolodge’ close to Gunung Leuser National Park for three nights.

Our first day was spent catching up on sleep, exploring Bukit Lawang and paying a visit to the bat cave near the village. We had breakfast at the hotel, and had dinner on a nearby restaurant.

In the village it is possible to buy some souvenirs, t-shirts, dresses, shirts, hiking trousers, towels etc. But it is quite low key, I don’t think there is an ATM anywhere in that village, so be sure to bring your cash!

When having dinner at the nearby restaurant, some locals gathered together and played the guitar and sang a few songs. There was a very lively atmosphere during the evenings. I think the theme of our three week long trip to Indonesia and Malaysia was ‘Karaoke’ – but not with any participation from our side, unfortunately.

The river through Bukit Lawang flows very strongly and the sound is quite dominant. Nevertheless, we were kept up at night during the weekends due to the karaoke bar across the bridge from our hotel (despite us closing all windows and sleeping with airtight earplugs). Somehow the river echoed the sound, or the loudspeakers were at their absolute maximum! It was indeed part of the whole experience 🙂

A 2 day trekking adventure into the Sumatran jungle in company of several guides and cooks

After a couple of days in Bukit Lawang (including a day river rafting on Wampu River), it was time for us to embark on our jungle trek.

We packed our backpacks, tied our hiking boots and dressed functionally as we departed on our jungle trek. As my partner and I was traveling as part of a larger group of young Danes, we were a great number of people including the guides and cooks, possibly up to 18 people hiking together.

Our jungle guide Idris was very knowledgeable and shared his wisdom about the jungle.

It wasn’t long into our hike until we met the first orangutans!

In the beginning of our hike, the trail was very straightforward and not too difficult. After we encountered the first two orangutans, the terrain changed quite a bit.

The first Sumatran orangutans we met was a mother and her young – we were so thrilled to see them! The orangutans were very curious and came quite close, very likely because they were used to being given fruits (probably by the local guides). It was really mesmerizing to see two orangutans together in their natural habitat.

The baby orangutan was only about three years old at the time, and it was still learning to move around in the treetop. Before we knew it, there were a lot of other tourists that had joined us with the orangutans.

Other species of monkeys had also joined the crowd, hoping there would be any food for them. Unfortunately for them, it was not that kind of gathering! I did not witness any monkeys being fed while we were on the trek – which was quite nice, because it would have ruined the experience of seing ‘wild Sumatran orangutans’ – even if they were re-introduced.

After spending time with the orangutans and the Thomas’ leaf monkey (pictured above), we continued our hike for a short while before we had a break with delicious snacks. The guides laid down a plastic floor and started cutting fresh fruits and presented them as pictured below.

Since we were a large group there was a large variety of fruits, such as watermelon, pineapple, passion fruits, dragon fruit, papaya, oranges. We were sweating so much on our hike that these natural sugars were in high demand!

Later we were also served lunch, and I was really happy with the number of breaks during the trek. It was a highly demanding trek (to me, at least), mostly towards the end of the trek when we were getting nearer to the camp.

The slopes were steep, and we climbed vertically down, then up, down, up, down (you get the point!). It was a good challenge – but the days after the trek my legs were in much pain! At least the two days after the trek we didn’t have much physical activity, allowing me to recover fully. I also managed to get a much needed massage at the hotel after the hike!

The camp in the jungle was very basic and simple, and totally integrated with the surroundings. There was a slim mattress, a tiny pillow, a mosquito net and a sleeping bag for every person. I really recommend that if you have a small travel pillow, that you bring it for a more comfortable night. They are very light weight and do not take much space in your backpack!

The ‘bathroom’ was an experience in itself, but if you are used to traveling in Asia this will not be a big deal. Be sure to have a buddy with you, to keep watch that nobody is coming 😉. Bring a head lamp so that you can see what you are doing!

The meals that were cooked for us were so filling and they served typical dishes for the region. We had a lot of varied dishes, since we were such a large group. Other visitors to the camp had their own sections for dining and sleeping.

River tubing back to the village – what an adventure!

After waking up in the jungle with the sound of the animals and the rushing river, we had our breakfast and final meal. Then we were guided to a nearby small waterfall not far from the camp, where we did our ‘jungle make-up’ and enjoyed our time in the jungle to the fullest. You will have to see it for yourself 😉

After the waterfall visit, we crossed the river and packed our bags to leave the camp on the alternative route. Then we prepared ourselves for the next adventure: River tubing back to Bukit Lawang!

Although I have tried river tubing before, this was a different kind of trip.

The river had much more speed than what I had experienced before, but we were tucked on the tied-together floating tubes. We were about 4 passengers and 2 guys steering the tubes, as seen on the photo below. Our belongings (including shoes!) were safely packed into plastic bags, that were sealed air-tight on the different tubes. I was slightly nervous, because I had brought my mirror-less camera with me on the trek. Luckily nothing happened to it.

The river tubing trip did not last long, because we had not hiked more than one day into the jungle.

The ‘jungle guys’ used wooden sticks to steer us away from the rocks. At some point, my tube was punctured because of the stick by accident, and eventually my partner and I were out of the tube before we were at the finish line (it was intense!), but we were always safe and no harm was done to us nor the dry bags.

I recommend to wear regular clothes and not just swimwear. If you have waterproof shoes, that do not easily fall off, you can wear them on this trip. Although they would not suit for the hike, as you need good hiking shoes/boots for this part.

Conclusion

If you find yourself in Indonesia or Malaysia, don’t miss a chance to see wild orangutans. The Sumatran Orangutan jungle trek was a unique experience for anyone interested in nature and wildlife. You don’t have to spend a night in the jungle to see wild orangutans. But staying in the jungle camp was a very precious experience to me, that I would highly recommend to all adventurers.

Stay tuned, as I will post more content from my trip to Sumatra and Malaysia in November and December 2024!

*None of the mentioned places or experiences in this post were sponsored.

© All photos are my own unless stated and may not be used without permission.