Bukit Lawang
The small town of Bukit Lawang is the main jumping-off point for nearby Gunung Leuser National Park. Located in north, central Sumatra, the park, along with Kerinci Seblat and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Parks – forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage designated Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra., The former alone covers an area of 8,000 square kilometres of rainforest-covered hills with the total protected area extending to an impressive 25,000. According to UNESCO, the area is home to an equally impressive 10,000 plant species, over 200 mammals and 580 bird species with many being endemic to the region.
Notable residents include the critically endangered Sumatran tiger and Sumatran rhino as well as elephants and sun bears Along with Borneo, Sumatra is also the last remaining refuge for orangutans with the latter being the principal draw for the overseas visitors who make it this far. An estimated 5,000 orangutans live in the park, while the small settlement of Bukit Lawang also supports a rescue and rehabilitation sanctuary. Fortuitously for visitors, the rehabilitated animals that are subsequently released into the park have a familiarity with humans, meaning they are less shy and reclusive than would normally be expected. Furthermore, offspring of said rehabilitated individuals, born in the wild, have clearly learnt that – in this protected area at least – humans are not a threat,
For better or for worse the survival of many mammals, and indeed bird, species in an increasingly crowded Southeast Asia today depends upon their ability to adapt to living in close proximity to the dominant primate species.
As far as Gunung Leuser goes, while you’re not going to see any rhinos or tigers on a day hike through the park’s edges, you will have a very good chance of observing orangutans as well as various macaque and langur species. On our last hike in the park, our group spotted a dozen or so orangutans including large males and mothers with babies, as well as white-handed gibbons and Thomas’ langur. Abundant bird life included at least two species of hornbill.
Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra Clearly, with 8,000 kilometres of rugged terrain, any day hike from Bukit Lawang is only going to skirt around the edges of the park and reaching remoter areas of the park is limited to full-on expeditions with camping gear, porters and so on. This is tropical rainforest with correspondingly rough, muddy tracks, frequent leeches and of course, as the ecosystem implies, showers, so for casual visitors, a shorter hike around the better-beaten paths of the closer, more accessible sections of the park suffices.
Numerous cave shelters provide refuges for various species Bukit Lawang is still relatively remote and the Sumatra roads not great (hence the relatively low visitor numbers), so our visit begins with a morning drive from Medan and mid-afternoon arrival at a riverside eco-lodge with time to settle in and perhaps stroll around the village.
On the morning of our second day we’ll hike into the adjacent forest (the resort has the river on one side and jungle on the other), and make our way on jungle trails to the park entrance. Precise routes change from day to day depending upon the movement and location of wildlife with expert local guides and hike leaders keeping each other informed of sightings and promising areas. With whatever diversions may present themselves, our goal for the morning hike is a rocky section on the bank of the Bahorok River which makes a picturesque spot for a picnic lunch as well as the starting point for our return journey. The river flows east to Bukit Lawang and is the same one that passes in front of our resort, thus providing a quick and easy route back instead of having to spend the rest of the day retracing the morning’s steps. Our means of transport are improvised rafts made from inner tubes no less so we’ll simply float down the jungle-lined Bahorok to town. As we said, an easy and fun way back.
Back to the resort for perhaps a well-earned, chilled Bintang? Supporting Bukit Lawang’s low-key tourist infrastructure, as well as using trekking guides, provides vital income and employment for locals in this somewhat far-flung outpost in addition to providing incentives to protect the flora and fauna. It’s all very well designating huge chunks of forest as parks or wildlife sanctuaries but they have to be monetised and locals have to see the benefits.
Our Bukit Lawang – Gunung Leuser programme features on our Sumatra to Bali Indonesia small group tour as well, of course, on our 1-week Sumatra itinerary.
