Orangutans and Language Barrier: Time Traveling through Central Kalimantan River

If you are a visitor or an expat in Indonesia with an opportunity to travel within the country, one of the most memorable trips you can take is a river tour to observe the orangutans in the wild in Central Kalimantan. In my recent trip there with my family, I learned about nature, wildlife and the local culture of the villages surrounding the national park, all while having plenty of time and chance to ponder about language and connection despite communication barrier.

For such tour, we hired a private boat for two and a half days of the journey. As the rickety boat made its way up the river, we watched the town of Pangkalan Bun fades behind slowly. The sounds of the town were gradually replaced by those of the forest and the constant murmuring of the boat’s old engine.

 

The trip might make you feel like a time traveller, an aristocrat travelling on a slow boat, who never leaves her home without a personal cook and guide, both of whom would be accompanying you on board.

Through the guide, the boat captain and the cook, I learned about Dayak customs and their families, just as they did mine while our lives interconnected for those two days. Somehow I managed to do this despite the language barrier, my few words of Indonesian and their simple English.

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The boat and the accompanying cook would be among the highlights of the trip. As the boat moved slowly along the river into the Tanjung Putting National Park, the pace, the scenery, the food and the attention from the crew were as much part of the enjoyment as seeing the orangutans, which we were told we might or might not see on our trip. There is no guarantee you will see the orangutans, they warned as we boarded the vessel.

At the feeding stations, the boat stopped to let us witness orangutan families as they descend for some bananas, durian and sweet potatoes. In the forest their presence felt like a crowd, though in numbers, they were far fewer than the typical hordes of people at any Jakarta intersection waiting for red light during rush hour.

In fact, just the three of us on the boat besides the crew for much of the 2.5 day trip was precious. Enjoy this rare opportunity before you go back to crowded Jakarta.

What you will not have, if you do not speak Indonesian, however, is information in English. The extensive information boards in the park, though paid for by USAID, were exclusively in Indonesian. During night walk in the wilderness, the ranger pointed his light to various creatures of the forests – sleeping birds, glowing snakes, colourful spiders – and told us their names in Indonesian. From these fragments of information, an improved understanding of this this natural beauty emerged like a mosaic.

We spotted troops of various monkeys preparing their nest for the night high up on the tree branches, the back of a crocodile submerged under the tea-coloured water, romantic images of birds of prey flying into the ever-changing shades of dusk.

The boat came with an English-speaking guide, but the thin conversations left me hungry for more information. With the cook, however, this communication barrier were overcome with our common language of food, as we went on a journey of local tastes of fish, vegetables and fruits. Her keenness to show me how to make tasty dishes from a limited set of ingredients and tools; my keenness to learn.

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But all good things must come to an end. As the boat approached the port in Pangkalan Bun, our phones started buzzing with all the messages that did not reach us in the wilderness, where there was no mobile reception. I was reminded how great simple life can be, even if two-thirds of what I heard or read was incomprehensible.

Back at Iskandar Airport, we encountered English again on a huge information board. In tiny print, the board explained in four points all you need to know about fighting money laundering and the illicit trafficking of goods. Accompanied by clear pictograms, it gave a stern warning: NO GIFT, NO BRIBERY, NO KICKBACK and NO LUXURY HOSPITALITY. Other than this board, there were no other signs in English, including exits and toilets.

Clearly, we have reached the end of our time travel. I imagine that visitors from the time of my great grandfather were known to have moved artefacts and wild animals out of Indonesia at their pleasure, this is no longer allowed. That is at least a sign of progress for the orangutans.