Borneo

Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo, has recently come an exciting tourist destination for adventure travel and is undoubtedly one of the best islands in Indonesia. Gratefully, the grisly ritual of headhunting is a practice of the past. Instead, you’ll find natural wonders and endemic species, such as the pygmy elephant, nebulous panther, Malay bear, long-nosed monkey, and freshwater dolphin. Camp Leakey in Tanjung Puting National Park is home to a rehabilitation program for orangutans where you can see these fuzzy red-haired creatures being fed and interact with their offspring. 21st-century Borneo is a fast-changing region. Logging and oil palm plantations have destroyed a considerable part of this Indonesian island’s sacred rainforests, and this trend is likely to continue in the near future, considering depleting oil reserves. But productive forces are at work in Borneo, and not everything is bad news for the environment. Particularly, ecotourism and sustainable tourism are playing an essential role in the economy of the island. Despite the rapid pace of change, daily life still spins around the river and longhouse. For me, it’s the traditional hospitality of Borneo’s tribal people, as much as the tropical rainforests and rich fauna themselves, that make Borneo such a mystical place to explore. One of the easiest ways to explore the Borneo jungle is to do it by boat. I toured on a traditional Indonesian island klotok, which are covered houses made of wood, and from the upper deck, I could see the dense rainforest as we moved along the river. The crew of the ship included the person in charge of the boat, cook, and expert guide.