Primary Rainforest

We had such a wonderful time with Nasib at the market, that we asked him to take us out into the Gunung Leuser National Park to see the flora and fauna of the primary rainforest. We had a great time exploring the jungle with Nasib. He knew a lot about the plants and wildlife and the people of the region.

A primary rainforest is an original forest that has not been cut down and reforested. As you can see, these trees have been around for a very long time. Rain is a natural element of these moist, tropical forests.

There are not many primary rainforests left in the world. We will not preach, because we are just as guilty as the next person for the deforestation that occurs to provide us with the resources that we feel we need. Instead, we will try to be more aware of conserving these precious natural resources for our future generations.

If we ignore these issues, then the "men of the forest" cannot stand a chance, as they too need a home.

We were very excited to see a group of five orang-utans playing in the rainforest. They were swinging in the trees and gathering fruits. We saw a mother carrying her child as she went swinging through the trees. It was great to see these animals in their natural habitat. Nasib was an excellent guide. He did not feed the apes, as many guides are guilty of doing. Instead we watched the orang-utans from a distance and did not disturb them.

This older male orang-utan calls out to his friends.

The orang-utans are excellent in the trees. They can climb and swing all day long. In fact, the orang-utan does not come down to ground level very often. Each orang-utan will build his own nest each night high up in a tree. We saw many of these nests as we traveled deeper into the rainforest.

Rich dips his feet into the river while we rest and snack on delicious tropical fruits, including bananas, pineapples, lychees and mangosteins.

Finally--you get to meet Nasib! Nasib is forty-years old, although he looks like he is twenty. He says that he looks young because he has lived a happy and simple life. Nasib is married with five children. He is a jungle guide and he also manages his own mandarin tree plantation. Nasib is Muslim and he told us a lot about the religion and the celebration of Ramadan, which was currently in progress.

We came out of the rainforest a different way then we came in--and that is by following the river. Many times we had to walk through the water as jumping stone to stone sometimes proved to be impossible. We had a great time. Here Kelly and Nasib look for monkeys in the trees.

Nasib was very good to us. If you visit Bukit Lawang, which we hope that you do, you can find Nasib hanging out at the Bukit Lawang Cottages. If he is not there, the people there will be able to find him. Enjoy!

Come along with us now as we travel south to the massive and picturesque Danau Toba.

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