I smell a rat

Irena: Upon arriving in Kumai, as we motored near the town a speedboat very quickly approached us with a man waving his arms in the air, signaling us. Mr. Bain introduced himself in excellent English and within minutes he was on board showing us where to anchor and shoving flyers into our hands about his trip up the river to see the Orangutans. He was friendly enough, but rather pushy, and we knew that there would be several operators to choose from for our guided trip. And indeed a second speedboat rushed over also waving pamphlets and recommendation letters. This second boat with a tour operator named Adi, kept a little more distance, but gave us their information to look over. After several tries at getting Mr. Bain off the boat (he was now comfortably ensconced in the cockpit), we told both operators that we would think it over and decide later. We still had 3 days before we would take the trip, so no rush.

The only cruising boat in the river, we easily found a nice spot to anchor across from the town. Finally we were anchored, fed and cleaned up as Dennis, Rita and I ventured out to see the town, while Cress went to work preparing for his conference call later that afternoon. Both operators told us they had a place for us to dock our dinghy while we went ashore, and we choose the place closest to the National Park Office - which happened to be near Adi and his crew. As soon as we neared the shore, there were Adi and his friends (Ali and one other) ready to take our lines and help us on shore, securing the dinghy and inviting us to tea, and talking about anything else they could do to help us. So we had tea with Adi at his house across the street, and learned a bit about his tour operation. Very good English and good recommendation letters.

Also friendly and helpful. He even showed us the boat that we would be going on, which was large and commodious to accommodate only the 4 of us. He explained we would have a guide, a cook, a captain and an assistant.All good. Again, not rushing in, we walked into the town, found the market and stocked up with some fresh fruit and veggies.

When we returned to the dinghy, Adi and Ali were both there again to help us with all our stuff. Ali then invited us to attend a local wedding celebration that evening for dinner. Although we did not want to impose, he assured us that this was standard practice to invite 'tourists' - so we agreed to come. Later that evening, we all came back to shore, Ali and his wife and daughter were there to meet us and escort us into the wedding. It was an unusual affair, in an alleyway at the back of the main street with a buffet table setup and about 30 tables for guests. Guests came in through a receiving line made up of family of the bride and groom. Next we immediately went to the buffet table, loaded up and found a table to sit and eat.

The bride and groom were in a throne like setting right near our table and were seated as if on display - fully made up and dressed up (man they would have been hot, it was about 85 degrees still). After we finished the local dinner (fairly meagre), we went to congratulate the bride and groom, dropping off our 'gift' (money). And that was it! We left! And more people arrived to take our place. Basically people rotate through for a couple of hours eating and then making space for new guests. I suppose this way the young couple maximize their 'gifts' without needed to rent a huge hall or find enough tables for everyone. We were told there would be dancing later on, but we did not stick around.

Cress here, continuing the tale.

In the end we booked with Adi, and we had a good trip with excellent crew, great Orangutan viewing and a comfortable, but slow boat. It was a great two nights and three days, really, very relaxing going up the jungle river sitting up on the top deck, the crew, captain and cook preparing meals, laying out bedding and pointing out the Proboscis and Macaque monkeys hanging over the river from the tree tops.

We all loved it. The Orangutans were so impressive – especially the ‘Kings’ of the 2 large families we encountered. Basically at several camps along the river, we took a 15-20 minute walk through the jungle to a feeding station, where the rehabilitated Orangutans are fed once a day as they transition back into jungle life. They were amazing to watch, the mum’s and babies were adorable.

The little ones were so much like 2 year olds – squirming and jiggling and jumping around with one hand or foot always on mum. But there was never any doubt about the hierarchy. When the king arrived on the scene, the whole area cleared immediately to make room and left him alone to eat what he pleased for as long as he pleased. It truly felt like he was gracing us with his presence, totally on his terms!

Now, back to the river boat….. and Adi. We learned over time that Adi was quick with promises and short on delivery on a number of fronts. We all went along in the spirit of not taking things too seriously, but we took him to task when he shortened our trip by half a day without telling us before-hand. After some serious feedback to Adi and some rather harsh negotiations, we settled for a reduced rate on the balance of the trip. We learned later Adi has a reputation as bit of an operator with a taste for the local rice wine apparently, and other substances. I think I re-learned, when the second sentence out of Adi’s mouth after we first met him was, “You can trust me”, I ought in the future to be thinking about moving on. To you cruisers out there reading this, we recommend this excellent trip up the River from Kumai, but do it with a different operator. And, oh yes, when we returned to Conversations after the river trip, that night we had a new guest onboard – a rat scurrying under foot, crinkling at the food packaging all night long in the dark. Later Irena laughed, “I smell a rat” and we all wondered “Did Adi leave a calling card?” We don’t know for sure how he got on board – could have swam from a nearby freighter and climbed up the anchor chain, could have jumped from another boat while we were away and Adi and his ‘guard’ were minding the boat…. We will never know. Luckily we managed to get hold of some rat poison and within a couple days our new crew Ali found the dead rat lying in the cockpit and threw him overboard for good. What a relief!!!

One of Adi’s crew from the river trip, Ali, is still onboard with us. We were curious to experiment with having paid crew on board and he practically begged to come with us. So, while Dennis and Rita flew overhead on their flight to Jakarta, the three of us set sail from Kumai on the 400 NM ocean passage to Jakarta. Ali, at 36, has been a delight to have onboard. He has proved to be a quick learner, agile and at ease, and speaking some English, has helped us interpret here in Jakarta.

The passage from Kumai was, mercifully, downwind. Though we had to beat our way out of the river and over the approach shoals against 20 knots of southerly winds, after two hours we were able to lay off on a beam reach for Jakarta. We sailed most of the passage at 7 and 8 knots down the rhumb line – pure magic after the five days pounding to reach Kumai. With trepidation, we sailed into Jakarta in the dark and approached the shoal shore line where the marina was thought to be. We found a pair of marks and ducked into the wrong harbour! We got the Marina on the phone and they sent out a boat to guide us down an adjacent channel – least depth of 2.0 meters, which is coincidently exactly what we draw! Sweating bullets in the dark, it was a long slow trip over the bar. When we finally ‘landed’ at the dock, we discovered we were, and are, the only sailing yacht at the Batavia Marina. In the heart of old Jakarta, the delight of the Batavia Marina club is the new and stunning building. The folly and passion of a wealthy Indonesian, it is brimming with the best of classic Indonesian furnishings, art, antiques and architecture. Truly an amazing building, well kept, well staffed and a secure place to leave the boat for a few weeks while we go back to Singapore for work.

We will return here by the end of July to prepare for the next leg of our journey to Cocos Keeling. Until then, hope you are all enjoying a great summer!