Indonesia Wildlife Expedition - Orangutans & Komodo Dragons
Orangutans: they are the stars of this unique adventure. Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, orangutans are found only in the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo. Join Wild Focus on this exclusive small group Indonesia Wildlife Expedition starting off in Sumatra where our group has been granted access for one full day by special permission to the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine Facility managed by the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program (SOCP). We will meet Director, Dr. Ian Singleton who will share his expertise, knowledge, and experience with us about Sumatran orangutans.
We will have a unique opportunity to observe orangutans (up-close) and we will photograph the human-like behavior of these charismatic and wonderful animals. After this amazingly fun experience, we will then visit Gunung Leuser National Park in northern Sumatra which is one of two remaining habitats for Sumatran orangutans. Our base will be Bukit Lawing, a small primitive jungle village that sits on the Bahorok River. From here we will cross the river to explore the rainforest looking for the orangutans.
From Sumatra we will take a flight to Borneo where we will spend 3 days exploring the jungle of Tanjung Puting National Park, the third largest tropical rainforest in Borneo. Tanjung Puting is home to gibbons, proboscis monkeys, macaques, clouded leopards, sun bears and the Bornean orangutan.
Here we will visit Camp Leakey – the orangutan research center developed by renowned primatologist, Dr. Birute Galdikas. Camp Leakey was established by Dr. Galdikas and named it after the legendary paleoanthropologist, Dr. Louis Leakey who was a mentor to Dr. Galdikas and colleagues Dr. Jane Goodall and Dr. Dian Fossey. The Bornean orangutans that we will meet will continue to surprise and delight you.
The Wild Focus Indonesia Wildlife Expedition offers you the best insight into orangutans, their life in the wild, conservation efforts as well as their threats. At the same time you will enjoy plenty of opportunities to photograph many other wildlife species that inhabit the Indonesia's jungles.
Our last stop on the Indonesia Wildlife Expedition but not less exciting is a visit to Komodo Island. The island is famous for its prehistoric looking reptiles - the Komodo Dragon.
Komodo dragons are the largest living lizards in the world. They are identified by their massive size, flat heads, bowed legs and long, thick tails. The name comes from rumors that a dragon-like creature lived on the Indonesian island of Komodo. No Western scientists had seen a Komodo dragon until 1912, according to the San Diego Zoo. Local people call them "ora," or "land crocodile." The average size of a male Komodo dragon is 8 to 9 feet and about 200 lbs (90 kg).
With luck we will be able to see and photography the dragons walking along the beach looking for prey. It is quite a sight watching a Komodo Dragon patrolling the beach with the ocean and mountains in the background.