Tropical Rainforest Sumatra

The Gunung Lauser National Park is special as it is one of the few places on earth where you can see the Orang Utan (ind. for Man of the Forest) live wild. However due to the rehabilitation program the Orang Utans seen very adapted to humans and because tourist groups leave their fruit snacks along the hiking paths there is a natural attraction for the apes to come close. We saw eleven in total incl. male with typical face and many mother/ child duos. On day 2 and 3 of our hike we were also alone with two orang utans each which was amazing. Of course it's not all about Orang Utan in this tropical rainforest, but it surely is the highlight. We also saw black gibbons, white gibbons, long tail makakes, Thomas Leaf monkeys (endemic to Sumatra) and pigtail makakes. We didn't see any birds despite watching for them. We heard a few though. You can also walk in 7 or 8 days through the forest from Bukit Lawang until Kutacane and go back by Bus in about 15 hours via Medan or in about 20 days until Gunung Lauser mountain and raft back to Bukit Lawang. With at least 7 days there is the option to see wild elephants. Also our guide has seen a tiger once in his career of 7 years and about 7 times a python. He had never seen rhinos or nocturnal leopards.  
 
As all the other tourists we went to Bukit Lawang …

I visited this WHS in September 2018 spending 4 nights in and about the Gunung Leuser National Park in Sumatra Island. After a long and bumpy ride from Medan Airport to Bukit Lawang (and a cheap overnight stay), we left for three days to explore the tropical rainforest of Gunung Leuser NP, camping at different places within the inscribed NP.

Our main goal was to admire the Sumatran Orangutans in the wild and we got to see more than a dozen including alpha males, females, young as well as newly born orangutans. The orangutan sanctuary was closed down and the few orangutans kept there were released as the number of orangutans grew enough over the years. We were lucky to spot a female orangutan with her baby around sunset just before she prepared their night nest high up in the trees just above our camping site. Early in the morning, they played together at the small waterfall nearby while we had breakfast which was an unforgettable moment.

Apart from the orangutans we also spotted several white handed gibbons, black gibbons, long-tailed macaques, pig-tailed macaques, Thomas' leaf monkeys, silvery lutungs, Sunda slow loris, monitor lizards, jungle peafowls, Salvadori's pheasants, Roll's partridges, Sumatran Laughingthrushes, Sunda Laughingthrushes, Rueck’s Blue-Flycatcher and countless butterflies.

Even though the Gunung Leuser NP's size is mindboggling (almost 8000km2), our nature guide was very knowledgeable in tracking and spotting different fauna species (mostly monkeys and primates) but also sun bear claw marks on different trees. Even …

In July 2018, I spent a few days at the Jungle Inn in Bukit Lawang, the gateway to Gunung Leuser National Park, probably the best place to see Sumatran orangutans, where I spent two days hiking in the national park and saw more than a dozen orangutans over both days, ranging from an infant being carried by its mother to a large male.

I went to Mt. Kerinci as part of Kerinci Seblat National Park, as part of the series of rainforest and mountain range in Sumatra Island in Indonesia.

The location is quite far from the closest airport. It is 7-8 hrs drive from Minangkabau International Airport in Padang, West Sumatra.

If you are a hiker/mountaineer, it is definitely worth a visit (and hike).

Out of all three national parks composing this WHS, perhaps the easiest one to visit is Gunung Leuser on the border of Aceh and North Sumatra Province. Visitors center is in Bohorok, which is located around 3.5 hours by car from Medan airport (from the city of Medan it should take around 3 hours). There are no rental cars available in Medan airport so you either get a taxi or go to the city of Medan and rent a car there. I took a taxi and for a whole day I paid 1.2m INR (around 65-70 EUR). The road is very bad and leads through very populated areas, so drivers must be very careful.

I had only 4 hours to stay in Bohorok, so I had to arrange my visit quickly. It is not a problem at all as foreign visitors (quite many for this part of Indonesia) are immediately surrounded by guides. I was offered with 3-hour trekking which costs 35 EUR per person, 3 people minimum. We agreed for 50 EUR for just me, park fee included.

Of course I desired to see the main attraction of Gunung Leuser – Sumatran orangutans, but the guide realistically told me that the chances to see them during 3-hour trekking are not higher than 30%. Usually people stay there at least overnight or for a couple of days to maximize the chance to see these apes. The park offers long trekkings with a few nights in the jungle, so the participants …

Despite external forces of corruption there are still people in Sumatra that are dedicated to halting further encroachment by farmers, loggers and poachers on the remaining areas of tropical rainforest.

I met rangers in the Gunung Leuser National Park who care for the burgeoning number of orang-utans in their care. This notwithstanding that the forest can no longer sustain the numbers now there, requiring the rangers to supplement their food supply.

In the Kerinci Seblat National Park there are similar individuals trying to protect the remaining wildlife and flora, all the time having the forest encroached on by farmers, hunters and loggers.

I visited these two National Parks as part of a tour of Sumatra that also took in visits to Berestagi, Lake Toba, Bukittinggi and Padang.

This WHS is spread out all over Sumatra. All jungle national parks look the same to me and so to find a reason to check this WHS off your list is to get to Medan in North Sumatra and visit the Bohorok Orangutan rehabilitation center, a two hour drive from Medan. Orangutan babies are collected illegally by killing their mothers. They are then sold as pets. The problem is that when the Orangutans grow up and become unmanageable, they are abandoned. The rehab center is to save these animals and train them to survive in the wild with some supplemental milk and food. Orangutan rehab centers exist also in Borneo but this site is more primitive and so much more natural then others I have visited. I visited this site in August 1994 and also nearby Lake Toba and the native villages around the lake.

Bohorok is part of Gunung Leuser National Park.