Didn't sleep too badly, after we'd stopped the bit of palm coming through the side of the boat and poking me. Until 03.30 and the call to prayer anyway.
The flight from Surabaya, Java to Samarinda, East Kalimantan on Borneo was followed by a 4 hour drive with a break for lunch, to get us deep into the island with it's tiny stilted villages on the banks of the jungle clad Mahakam River. We hoped to see the rare, critically endangered Mahakam River dolphin shown in this poster, the unusual culture of the Deyek people and the many wild birds and animals that call this their home. It's far from creature comforts and little visited by tourists
Our first boat finally arrives and we set off to our first homestay in the stilted village of Pela set on a tributary of the Mahakam, the Pela river
We went under this impressive bridge, built at least 15 years ago but leads nowhere, is not used and was a complete waste of money. The connecting roads were never built. Some farmers use it to hold their livestock on in times of flood as it is the highest ground around in this flat land that is just above sealevel
The floating NGO building in which Innal, our guide volunteers. They are attempting to protect the dolphin, which Innal holds dear to his heart, but it does seem a very uphill task against the competing interests of the overfishing that takes place and the corruption from local and national governments.
Arriving at Pela village. The dock floats on the water but the village is on stilts some 3m above the current low water level. Even that can be borderline in times of high water
Our homestay. The Motorbike is parked on the raised wooden road which runs the whole length of the village but, in high water that can be half a meter under water. The homestay is raised that bit higher so it should always remain dry
Some older houses have not been raised to the same level and you can see the marks on the side of this building where the water has been. Apparently the whole village can get together and, with many jacks underneath, raise the whole building and install new stils bolted to the existing. A huge operation
Walking along the raised roadway. This is a common layout for all the villages we passed on the river. They are all mainly fisherman, showing the scale of the problem of overfishing and the threat to the dolphin and nature
View of a village (not Pela) from the river. See those blue buildings at the waters edge? Those are WC's and the waste goes straight into the river, untreated
Our homestay wasn't quite as basic as that, but there were no flushing toilets, only a bucket to pour river water down after. The shower on the right is traditional - a vat of water with a bucket to pour river water over yourself. It might be away from the river, but it all goes straight into the river, untreated
Our room, first door on the left, had a double bed, no mosquito net and a fan. Welcome to rural Indonesia! We kept the curtain drawn across the door to stop the blighters getting in through the vent and the window closed. Surprisingly, overnight it wasn't too hot, at this time of year the nights can be cooler
A Golden Kingfisher perched on a pole right out the front of our homestay
This was our two days journey through the lakes and tributaries of the Mahakam River. We started on the right, the triangle represents where we were at the end of day two and, for day 3 we went all the way back then into a car for a 5 hour drive to Balikpapan
We did see some dolphins but I didn't get a photo as they only broke the surface on their travels for a time too short to get a fix, zoom, focus and take. However I got photos of lots of other things. Here's a Langur monkey, one of a group jumping through the trees
A monitor lizard
A Lesser adjutant bird. They might be fairly ugly but the are very big and protected
A very common sight in the stilted villages as well as throughout Indonesia, except this mosque is built entirely on stilts. It's impossible to escape the call to prayer 5 times a day, the first one being before dawn around 4/4:30am
Fish farms along the river in one of the villages we passed through
Fish being dried in the sun for export, mainly to Japan
This is a Grey headed fish eagle, another competitor for the fish!
Well done to our boatman for spotting this mangrove snake sleeping in a tree above the water. We passed by, he stopped and went back for us. Even then it was difficult to spot, how he saw it while driving we don't know
A Snake necked bird
Proboscis monkey, one of many playing in the trees
Another beautiful Golden Kingfisher, I do love them. They have three species in Indonesia, this is the most common, the rarest, Oriental I tried hard to photograph but failed
Another expert find by our boatman. Its a python snoozing in a tree
Our lunch stop on the river. I tied the boat up but no-one got out, it was more comfortable to sit in the boat and eat
Homestay number two in Tanjung Isuy, the Losmen Wisata, a converted long house. It was similar to the first, slightly better and had a non-flushing western toilet but showers were still the traditional type. A hard bed with mosquito net that we didn't use as it stopped the air from the fan too much!
The Lamin Mancong traditional Long house with totems outside that Jackie explained in the text above. This one was built around 1920 apparently so is over one hundred years old
Us by some of the intrically carved totems
We came back for the village welcome dance especially for us. The small children taking part we're an absolute delight!
They wanted photos with us, so we got one too
A stop on the way to refuel. The sachets on the ground is how the fuel is dispensed
The floating fuel station
A traditional fisherman fishing sustainably. He is casting his net, it falls to the base of the lake, only a couple of meters deep at the point and hauls it back in again. Nearby sits the agent in a boat who buys the fish and takes them to market
Here he has hauled it back in and is removing the fish from the net ready to cast again. Now contrast that with the long net behind him that more modern fisherman use to trap thousands of fish, many too small for sustainability, dividing the lake into rows that can trap dolphins
After a very long day we arrived at our very posh hotel, the Platinum Hotel & Convention centre in Balikpapan to a very nice surprise provided by Erwin, the house manager. This hotel has a flush toilet and proper shower as well as air conditioning - how novel!
Beer and food on the rooftop bar in Balikpapan, home comforts again after our adventure!
One final picture. Jackie took this of a model of the rare one horned Java rhino that we were hoping to see in Ujung Kulon NP south of Krakatau. I guess this is the closest we'll get. It was at the airport in Balikpapan
Last breakfast on the boat and back to the harbour. Airport and on the flight to Surabaya which actually left early, I guess everyone was onboard! This did mean the driver wasn't there to collect us though! Not that it mattered as it happened, we couldn't get into our room till 13.00 anyway!
Still, lovely shower, AC on, clothes washed, blog done. Just early dinner before breakfast at 05.00 and 05.30 to the airport.
Day 10
Another early start, before flight number 3, back to Samarinda in East Kalimantan. This expedition was something Brian wanted, because it read well in the Lonely Planet, rather than something that was suggested to us, so far we've had 2 hours driving, lunch and are now on a second 2 hours driving. All to get to the Mahakam River where we hope to see dolphins, but there are only about 80 left, so we shall see! These are a freshwater dolphin which is very rare, but despite being protected they are at odds with the fishermen who string out long gill nets, trapping everything down to 4cm which seems a bit short sighted.
We arrived at the port in Kota Bangun, but no boat, eventually Innal, our guide managed to get hold of him, he had not responded to WhatsApp or call, he was sleeping. He turned up a bit later and we got in, very close to the water, and chairs just thrown in, and life jackets, that's a novelty. The boats are getting smaller, and apparently tomorrow's will be even smaller!
We set off down the big river, and did spot a dolphin, small apparently, which makes it unusual to be alone. We followed it for a while, saw a blow and a couple more fins. The last time we saw it break the surface I could almost be convinced there were two but I couldn't swear to it. We crossed with a tugboat and a large coal vessel and that seemed to be that, so we turned round and went back the way we were meant to be going towards our first Lohsmen or homestay.
We were shown to our room which although high ceilinged could be likened to a sauna. Fan on and open window and door, but is this dangerous? There is no mosquito net. The shared toilet was a squat, no paper and not even a hosepipe, just a big bucket and a small bucket. The bathroom was similar, just a big bucket and a small bucket. The plus? Starlink WiFi!
We had a moment to ourselves , but that was it, shut the door and window, and back into the little boat and off to the lake for sunset. We passed another dolphin which Brian and I both saw, though I obviously wasn't vocal enough as we didn't stop. There are no photos but of 70 or 80 dolphins we've seen 2 or 3. We got to the lake which is so shallow there are bits of land showing. What we didn't see was sunset, the sun just vanished behind a cloud.
Back for dinner, cold shower and bed.
Day 11
Actually slept better than expected, despite being woken at 04.30, even while wearing earplugs. Did go back to sleep only waking shortly before 07.00 for breakfast.
A little walk through the village along the raised walkway, 2m above the river to which every house is connected. All very impressive, except that in rainy season the water actually comes another half metre above the walkway!
Back to the homestay where our next boat is waiting, yup, it's smaller, we are sitting on the bottom on a 5cm pad, fortunately we opted to sit side by side so we could also have a pad for our backs. No life jackets and it feels we are only just above the water level. Don't want to think about what happens to us, or more importantly our bags, if it rains.
Quick trip back to the big river looking for dolphins, nope so back again, onto the small river past the homestay and on to the lake. Across the lake, through a little village and on. More river and after 2 hours a stop in a bigger village, a short walk to stretch our legs and collect our pre-ordered lunch boxes. The harbour guys let Brian use their toilet, in exchange for photos with us, if it makes them happy! Another lake and villages and a small river where the boat driver came into his own, how he managed to spot mangrove snakes and then a python curled up in the branches of trees I have no idea. The other wildlife spotting includes langur monkeys, proboscis monkeys and macaques, and monitor lizards and then birds. Bee eater, snake neck bird, heron, egret, stork bill and kingfishers.
Got to our furthest point and had lunch (which was very nice, fried chicken, vegetables and rice with spicy peanut sauce). Back to the last village we came through, to our second Lohsmen in a converted long house. Drop the bags and into the car to have a look at a traditional long house where families all lived together in their own little rooms.
The totems lined up outside were used for ceremonial purposes, those with a collar at the bottom were used in funeral services, that seemed to involve a water buffalo being tied to this collar before being slashed to death, as we understood it, and fed to all the mourners. Innal has seen this ceremony once, which was enough so I was a bit worried what we were going to see, nothing as it turned out, fortunately. Back to the homestay where we had a few minutes to chill before the dance troop and band came to perform, just for us. The ladies took it very seriously, but the children were a delight, some of them so tiny they didn't seem to have a clue. Obviously we had to dance with them when pressured, much to our embarrassment, before more photos!
Out for supper where we had Innal's recommended chicken noodle soup, flavoured with cardamom, star anise and cloves it was very interesting. Back through the concert celebrating a wedding, very loud, oh joy. Cold shower and bed ear plugs in. We'd been pleased to see a mosquito net in this room, but it's amazing how much of the fan breeze the net blocked out. We'll do without.
Day 12
Special bread was available, so fried egg on toast for breakfast, not sure why it was special, but apparently we are lucky! We felt much more welcomed by the lady running this Lohsmen than the last one, even if her indoor cats were too scared of me to say hello.
We were early, so back into the boat at 07.30 and back to where we started, 3 hours later and with numb bums. Back into the car, and 5 hours to Balikpapan, which is not where we flew into, but is where we fly out of, tomorrow, at 06.30, so another 03.00 pick up!
Two flights, 9 hours of driving and long hours in a very simple boat for a brief dolphin sighting, a few animals and birds, a glimpse at a different way of life, and two very hot nights in some very basic accommodation. Was it worth it? I'm not sure. Brian was also not sure to begin with, but already the pain is fading for him and he's thinking it was a 'great experience'
Arrived at the very posh hotel, we do go from the sublime to the ridiculous, neither of which are quite right. As we walked past the duty manager, Mr.Erwin's, desk we struck up a conversation about the screens they have showing the flights. Fortunately we hadn't gone too far as the receptionist who had denied they were taking us to the airport had realised that they were arranging transport. The itinerary said 03.30, Erwin said 05.00, I went for 04.45. that's better anyway. Having struggled with the lift (don't ask) again he leapt in, giving us his card incase we needed anything.
We were only in the room a moment when there was a ring on the bell and a man brought us cake, with compliments. How lovely. We thanked Erwin via WhatsApp and got a message about the Italian buffet on the rooftop, which we didn't want, just something small. We did however think sunset on the rooftop and a beer sounded good. Hot shower, bliss, and clean clothes and off we went. There was Erwin, we said we only wanted a snack but that was fine, he seated us to watch the sun vanish behind the cloud, but still with a great view and we had a lovely evening. Perhaps big and posh isn't always impersonal!
Here's a little video of some of their dance
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