Orangutan jungle trekking in Bukit Lawang!! (Sumatra, Indonesia)
Oct 5, 2018, 1:44 pm
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Join Date: Aug 2018
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Orangutan jungle trekking in Bukit Lawang!! (Sumatra, Indonesia)
Hey there FT’ers!
We recently visited the small jungle town of Bukit Lawang on Sumatra, Indonesia and wanted to share our thoughts on the trip here since we could not find much detailed information online when we were planning our own trip.
Why you should visit Bukit Lawang
Bukit Lawang used to be home to an orangutan rehabilitation centre which aimed to preserve the decreasing numbers of orangutan in Gunung Leuser National Park due to hunting, deforestation and animal trading. The rangers from the centre took care of the orangutans (some of which had been freed from captivity), taught them the skills they needed to survive in the wild and then released them into the jungle once they were self-sufficient – while still providing daily feedings at a feeding platform near the centre.
The rehabilitation centre has been closed for quite a few years now and the feeding platform was shut down a while back as well. But today a lot of the orangutans still hang out near the edge of the jungle because it is where the centre and its rangers used to be. So most people who visit Bukit Lawang nowadays – just like us – still go there with one goal in mind: to do a jungle trek where you have a really (and I mean really) good chance of spotting orangutans in the wild.
So what’s the jungle trek like?
There are a few different options to choose from when you go hiking in Bukit Lawang. The first option is to go on a day trip, which I think includes about half a day of hiking – if you don’t count breaks and orangutan worship stops ;-) the second option, which is the one we took, is an overnight jungle trek. We left our guesthouse around 9 AM on the first day and hiked 6 or 7 hours into the jungle (with some stops along the way of course), then camped overnight near the river and returned to the village the next day by rivertube (arriving back in the village around noon). Both options usually include meals and some snacks. If you’re hardcore, there is also the option to do a one week trek across Gunung Leuser National Park with an experienced guide.
Since the town of Bukit Lawang is on the edge of the national park and the orangutans mostly hang out near the outskirts of the jungle, you probably won’t have to trek long before you’ll spot some. The orangutans often chill near to the old feeding platform, so most guides will circle the surrounding area for a while as it’s the best place to see the apes.
We spotted at least 10 orangutans on our way into the jungle, mostly in the first 2 hours of hiking. The first pair we came across was a mother and baby playing in the trees. We were really amazed at how similarly these animals behave to humans – which made it probably our favourite wildlife encounter so far! Since they are used to having people around (previously rangers from the centre and now because of the trekking encounters), the orangutans were not scared at all and gladly stuck around for a while climbing trees and chilling out.
If you hopefully get to see some of these animals, please do bear in mind to keep your distance. The orangutans we encountered were super chill and just curious and friendly, but some are less keen on humans. For example, there is one orangutan which is called Mina that guides usually keep a very good distance from since she’s been known to get too curious and try to take food, backpacks, etc. from people and has even bitten a guide on at least one occasion.
I am not saying this to scare anyone out of going to Bukit Lawang because it is an awesome experience seeing these animals – but when they are looking all cute and fluffy it can also be easy to forget that these are still wild (or at least semi-wild) and physically very strong animals that you do not want to mess with. Most of the orangutans have names and your guide will probably be able to tell them apart – and to tell you which ones to keep a bit more distance from. If you take normal precautions, you will have a great time and be totally safe.
While it’s very, very likely that you’ll see a lot of orangutans if you do this trek, nothing is of course guaranteed… However, almost all the groups of fellow travelers we met during our hike had seen a lot of orangutans – some even saw 15-20! Only one small group we met did not see any after a few hours of trekking. In addition to orangutans, we also came across a few Thomas leaf monkeys, macaws, etc.
All in all, we are happy we did the overnight trek. If you are short on time and just want to see the animals, then a day trip may be a better option since we saw most of the orangutans in the very start of our trek. But the overnight stay was an awesome experience and we highly recommend it, especially if you’ve never camped in the jungle before!
In case you’re interested, we also made a travel video about our visit to Bukit Lawang and the trekking in particular:
Cool! How did you arrange the trip and how much did all this awesomeness cost?
We arranged the trek via our guesthouse, On The Rocks. For the overnight trek with just the two of us, we paid 1.500.000 IDR / 97 EUR in total (so for two people). We felt like this was a very reasonable price as this included everything from the moment we left the guesthouse until our return the next day (so lunch, dinner, snacks and water and accommodation on the first day, and breakfast and river tubing the second day). Our guide, Wong, was really nice and a good guide. He was respectful of the animals – did not give them food like some other guides did, kept his distance from the orangutans, etc. The food was good as well and the campsite we stayed at had good tents and matresses.
But what else is there to do in Bukit Lawang?
Aside from jungle trekking, there is not really that much to do in Bukit Lawang for travelers. Or at least that was our experience. We spent a few extra days there because we just loved our guesthouse so much and were still recovering from jetlag. But generally one extra day in addition to your trek is enough to take in the rest of the town, by having a stroll along the river which runs through the village (and which locals use to go river tubing – which you can do as well if you rent a river tube).
Over recent years the town has seen more tourists and so accommodation and food options are pretty decent:
- For food we can definitely recommend our guesthouse On The Rocks (they make a crazy good coconut shake!) and the Eco Lodge Bambu Restaurant which is also on a nice location next to the river. Food at both places was pretty cheap – e.g. mains for 3 EUR – and very tasty. Although there are even cheaper options in town, some of those tend to have dishes sitting out in the sun for hours after the food’s been made, which tends to attract quite some flies and is a bit more risky. But if you are feeling adventurous, definitely go for it ;-)
- For accommodation we were really happy with On The Rocks – the atmosphere there is super chill and we had a beautiful bungalow with private bathroom and a hammock for just 200.000 IDR / ca. 13 EUR.
So... How exactly do I get to Bukit Lawang?
Admittedly, Bukit Lawang is not much of a travel hub and getting there is a bit of a hassle (yet completely worth it).
The most common way to get there is via Medan, the capital city of Sumatra. From Medan you can take the bus to Binjai (40.000 IDR / ca. 2.5 EUR per person). When you get to Binjai, you will have to take a tuktuk to transfer from the bus station to the mini bus station (costs around 50.000 IDR / ca. 3 EUR per tuktuk). The mini bus then takes you to Bukit Lawang on a bumpy 2.5 hour ride (50.000 IDR / ca. 3 EUR per person). All in all the trip from Medan to Bukit Lawang will probably take you more than half a day because the bus connections aren’t always reliable.
Hope you found this interesting and useful if you are perhaps already planning a trip to Bukit Lawang. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away ;-)
Wishing you all safe and happy travels,
Kim
We recently visited the small jungle town of Bukit Lawang on Sumatra, Indonesia and wanted to share our thoughts on the trip here since we could not find much detailed information online when we were planning our own trip.
Why you should visit Bukit Lawang
Bukit Lawang used to be home to an orangutan rehabilitation centre which aimed to preserve the decreasing numbers of orangutan in Gunung Leuser National Park due to hunting, deforestation and animal trading. The rangers from the centre took care of the orangutans (some of which had been freed from captivity), taught them the skills they needed to survive in the wild and then released them into the jungle once they were self-sufficient – while still providing daily feedings at a feeding platform near the centre.
The rehabilitation centre has been closed for quite a few years now and the feeding platform was shut down a while back as well. But today a lot of the orangutans still hang out near the edge of the jungle because it is where the centre and its rangers used to be. So most people who visit Bukit Lawang nowadays – just like us – still go there with one goal in mind: to do a jungle trek where you have a really (and I mean really) good chance of spotting orangutans in the wild.
So what’s the jungle trek like?
There are a few different options to choose from when you go hiking in Bukit Lawang. The first option is to go on a day trip, which I think includes about half a day of hiking – if you don’t count breaks and orangutan worship stops ;-) the second option, which is the one we took, is an overnight jungle trek. We left our guesthouse around 9 AM on the first day and hiked 6 or 7 hours into the jungle (with some stops along the way of course), then camped overnight near the river and returned to the village the next day by rivertube (arriving back in the village around noon). Both options usually include meals and some snacks. If you’re hardcore, there is also the option to do a one week trek across Gunung Leuser National Park with an experienced guide.
Since the town of Bukit Lawang is on the edge of the national park and the orangutans mostly hang out near the outskirts of the jungle, you probably won’t have to trek long before you’ll spot some. The orangutans often chill near to the old feeding platform, so most guides will circle the surrounding area for a while as it’s the best place to see the apes.
We spotted at least 10 orangutans on our way into the jungle, mostly in the first 2 hours of hiking. The first pair we came across was a mother and baby playing in the trees. We were really amazed at how similarly these animals behave to humans – which made it probably our favourite wildlife encounter so far! Since they are used to having people around (previously rangers from the centre and now because of the trekking encounters), the orangutans were not scared at all and gladly stuck around for a while climbing trees and chilling out.
If you hopefully get to see some of these animals, please do bear in mind to keep your distance. The orangutans we encountered were super chill and just curious and friendly, but some are less keen on humans. For example, there is one orangutan which is called Mina that guides usually keep a very good distance from since she’s been known to get too curious and try to take food, backpacks, etc. from people and has even bitten a guide on at least one occasion.
I am not saying this to scare anyone out of going to Bukit Lawang because it is an awesome experience seeing these animals – but when they are looking all cute and fluffy it can also be easy to forget that these are still wild (or at least semi-wild) and physically very strong animals that you do not want to mess with. Most of the orangutans have names and your guide will probably be able to tell them apart – and to tell you which ones to keep a bit more distance from. If you take normal precautions, you will have a great time and be totally safe.
While it’s very, very likely that you’ll see a lot of orangutans if you do this trek, nothing is of course guaranteed… However, almost all the groups of fellow travelers we met during our hike had seen a lot of orangutans – some even saw 15-20! Only one small group we met did not see any after a few hours of trekking. In addition to orangutans, we also came across a few Thomas leaf monkeys, macaws, etc.
All in all, we are happy we did the overnight trek. If you are short on time and just want to see the animals, then a day trip may be a better option since we saw most of the orangutans in the very start of our trek. But the overnight stay was an awesome experience and we highly recommend it, especially if you’ve never camped in the jungle before!
In case you’re interested, we also made a travel video about our visit to Bukit Lawang and the trekking in particular:
Cool! How did you arrange the trip and how much did all this awesomeness cost?
We arranged the trek via our guesthouse, On The Rocks. For the overnight trek with just the two of us, we paid 1.500.000 IDR / 97 EUR in total (so for two people). We felt like this was a very reasonable price as this included everything from the moment we left the guesthouse until our return the next day (so lunch, dinner, snacks and water and accommodation on the first day, and breakfast and river tubing the second day). Our guide, Wong, was really nice and a good guide. He was respectful of the animals – did not give them food like some other guides did, kept his distance from the orangutans, etc. The food was good as well and the campsite we stayed at had good tents and matresses.
But what else is there to do in Bukit Lawang?
Aside from jungle trekking, there is not really that much to do in Bukit Lawang for travelers. Or at least that was our experience. We spent a few extra days there because we just loved our guesthouse so much and were still recovering from jetlag. But generally one extra day in addition to your trek is enough to take in the rest of the town, by having a stroll along the river which runs through the village (and which locals use to go river tubing – which you can do as well if you rent a river tube).
Over recent years the town has seen more tourists and so accommodation and food options are pretty decent:
- For food we can definitely recommend our guesthouse On The Rocks (they make a crazy good coconut shake!) and the Eco Lodge Bambu Restaurant which is also on a nice location next to the river. Food at both places was pretty cheap – e.g. mains for 3 EUR – and very tasty. Although there are even cheaper options in town, some of those tend to have dishes sitting out in the sun for hours after the food’s been made, which tends to attract quite some flies and is a bit more risky. But if you are feeling adventurous, definitely go for it ;-)
- For accommodation we were really happy with On The Rocks – the atmosphere there is super chill and we had a beautiful bungalow with private bathroom and a hammock for just 200.000 IDR / ca. 13 EUR.
So... How exactly do I get to Bukit Lawang?
Admittedly, Bukit Lawang is not much of a travel hub and getting there is a bit of a hassle (yet completely worth it).
The most common way to get there is via Medan, the capital city of Sumatra. From Medan you can take the bus to Binjai (40.000 IDR / ca. 2.5 EUR per person). When you get to Binjai, you will have to take a tuktuk to transfer from the bus station to the mini bus station (costs around 50.000 IDR / ca. 3 EUR per tuktuk). The mini bus then takes you to Bukit Lawang on a bumpy 2.5 hour ride (50.000 IDR / ca. 3 EUR per person). All in all the trip from Medan to Bukit Lawang will probably take you more than half a day because the bus connections aren’t always reliable.
Hope you found this interesting and useful if you are perhaps already planning a trip to Bukit Lawang. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away ;-)
Wishing you all safe and happy travels,
Kim
