Orangutans of Indonesia

 One of the things that travel allows you to do, is to explore the wildlife of different parts of the world. Africa has the Lions, South America has the Alpacas, North America has the Bison, India has the Tiger, and Indonesia has the world's highest number of Orangutans. 

We visited Central Kalimantan to see the Orangutans at the Sebangau National Park.

We visited with the guide and he gave us binoculars. 

Sebangau National Park has 9 primates, however if one wants to see them all, it's a 5 day trip into the rainforest jungle.

We had a day to spare so, were interested in the Orangutans. The only way to see them was to stay on the boat and then view them on the trees. 

Our first sighting was just after few minutes on the boat.

This one was standing tall with it's long arms.

A small video showing the number of primates we saw on the boat ride. 

The river water was dark brown from the rainfall that had happened through the last few weeks.

We had to walk sometimes through the rainforest to reach places where we could see them. 

There were a bunch of teenagers (according to our guide) who were messing about and were full of energy.

We also saw a baby and mum.

The mum was keeping a close eye on us, and was quite protective.

When viewing the forest from the top, we could only see green forest and nothing else. The air felt fresh, the sky looked clean and we were ready for the end of the day.

Our boatman and the guide were brilliant that day. 

We loved every moment at the park.

We viewed a beautiful sunset on our way back.

Bea-U-Ti-Ful!

Yogyakarta Palace & Jomblang Cave

We also got a chance to visit Yogyakarta, they say it: Jogjakarta or Jogja. 

From the flight we could see Mount Merapi.

A small video showing how massive the mountains are. The only place in Indonesia where there are no mountains or volcanoes is Kalimantan. All other Indonesian islands have mountains and volcanoes, it's difficult to ignore them.

Jogja is also the only kingdom in Indonesia. This city and region still has a Sultan. We stayed very close to the palace and visited it one afternoon. 

Location: Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat

It was alright.

Once you have been to the palaces of India, the palaces & royalty in other parts of the globe look average and incomparable with the Indian royals.

The Water Palace! 

There wasn't a palace but a green pond. A-V-G!

But, the main reason we stayed in Jogja was for some adventure. So off we went to Jomblang Cave.

Note: A 40 m deep single-shaft with a diameter of 50 m formed by dissolution and collapse of 15 million years old limestone. This occurred after the limestone was uplifted from the sea floor about 1.8 million years ago. Bottom of collapse-sinkhole connected with a horizontal passage that ends at Grubug Cave. Grubug Cave, a single-shaft of about 90 m, is the deepest vertical caye in Java Island. The phenomenon of Grubug underground river and upward view from the bottom is very amazing.

We were 3rd in the queue and didn't realise how scary this would be. 

We were harnessed and ready.

We then saw the staff praying together and wishing us all good luck.

As soon as it was our turn. I was shitting my pants! This was probably the scariest thing I have ever done, apart from skydiving. My legs were shaking and I was having 2nd thoughts. But then we just go with the flow and the whole thing is pretty safe.

I wasn't thrilled at the start, but then the drop was for 30 seconds.

A small group had already assembled. So here we were in the middle of the cave ready to go through a tunnel into another cave. 

The cave was huge. It was probably the biggest one I have ever been in.

The mouth was huge too.

As we started our walk, the muddy path was extremely difficult to navigate. 

It was hot, sweaty, slippery and unsafe. I kept falling.

But, after about 40 minutes, as we reached the 2nd cave and saw the light, it was a wonderful feeling. This cave is called: Grubug Cave.

We spent about 30 minutes there clicking photos. Loved the noise of the river as we admired the light.

Our guides were brilliant photographers too. 

Another photo to show their skills.

...and another.

She looked like the Amazonian Queen who had just landed in the cave from the light!

We clicked some more photos.

And some more light shown upon us.

We got messy and our shoes got dirty.

Trupti was sweaty max.

And our black shoes became brown.

and then we were pulled back up with the rope! Off we went! 

Wow what a day, what an experience, what fun!

Lembongan - The hidden gem of Bali!

We got a chance to visit Lembongan Island. It's about a 30 minute boat ride from Bali. One can take a boat from Sanur Port to Mushroom Bay. 

The Island is pretty small, but has lots of things to do and also a very relaxed vibe. 

This is the Sanur Port, and it looks pretty organised.

...however, the Mushroom Bay at Lembongan is not that organised. It is a Bay! That's all. Off you go from the boat to the beach and then hop on a "refurbished truck taxi" to your hotel!

We were staying pretty close to the Devil's Tear & Dream Beach area. Our visit to Devil's Tear was on a morning of high tide. We saw some absolutely huge waves. It's recommended not to swim on the beach during high tide. 

We then stood under the splashing waves and cooled ourselves down! 

In the evening we saw a beautiful sunset. 

With clear skies & gorgeous sea, we did manage to make a time-lapsed video.

The night sky stars were very lovely. I remember, during my childhood in India, we didn't have a lot of light pollution, so saw very clear night skies during summer months. 

We also went to the Kuningan Ceremony. Some very well dressed and excited!

The dancers were ready and their dressing was over the top.

A video showing their music and dance celebrations.

We visited Nusa Cenningan and Nusa Penida.

Secret point beach allows some beautiful views and lots of people do cliff jumping.

Ceningan Island had some beautiful yet rustic shallow water beaches.

The Yellow Bridge joins Ceningan & Lembongan Islands.

We also went to Penida Island.

Crystal Bay in Penida Island.

Broken Beach on Penida Island.

Broken Beach on Penida Island.

We were exhausted but the views were stunning. 

Lembongan also has restaurants which serve delicious food. 

The mangrove forest was very relaxing.

I still don't understand how some trees die in the swamp and how some grow into forests. 

Our boatman was very polite.

It was also the time of Seaweed Farming.

Our small hotel was very nice. It had a pool, lovely rooms, outdoor bathroom and of course relaxed vibe. 

The owner's 3 year old son was quite funny and he liked touching my beard. He had not seen many men with beards, as the Indonesian men have quite light facial hair. 🧔

Our last sunset at Lembongan.