In search of Orang utans

Following a flight to Medan, Sumatra, we head on unmade roads towards Bukit Lawang (gateway to the hill). A 2km walk from the bus station in the preceding village finds us in a deep valley with a fast flowing river running through. Bridges cross cross the river with some guest houses one side and others further along the valley on the other. It is a lush green valley with primary tropical rain forest on one side, this is the Gunung Leuser National Park, a UNESCO world heritage centre dedicated to the protection of Sumatran orang utans.

Orang utans are only found on Borneo and Sumatra. The Sumatran Orang utan's main predator is the Sumatran tiger, therefore they spend most of their time in the trees. They are critically endangered, it is believed that only around 7000 now exist on Sumatra. They are one of the most intelligent of the primates and so human in their facial expressions and how they care for their young. A most loving and caring of mothers. The males stay deep in the jungle and well hidden, only appearing for what the guides call 'boom boom' before disappearing again.

We trekked in the jungle for 6 hours with our guides Pen and Rain, who really looked after us on the climbs up and down and were amazing at spotting the animals. We had several sightings of orang utans, and were lucky enough to see 3 mothers with babies, thankfully one wasn't Mina, a notoriously aggressive orang and, sadly, not Jackie who is prone to taking a fancy to tourists and hugging them. We also saw long tailed macaques, Thomas' Leaf monkeys and gibbons. Lots of beautiful butterflies fluttering around, centipedes and the biggest ants you've ever seen. The last hour of our trek is done in torrential rain, making the paths and tree roots slippery, thank goodness for those old Tarzan vines to cling on to. We finish by tubing back down the river, the white water sections being quite exhilarating. I've never been so wet when not in the bath! A truly memorable day.

Just 2km from the village on the edge of the jungle is a cave where the bats roost during the day - known, obviously, as the Bat Cave. En route we meet two other couples and all join forces for a guide, getting a pretty good price to that advertised. Our guide is amazing, the British Caving and Potholing Association (if it exists) would have palpitations at the thought of people without equipment and largely wearing flipflops going anywhere near this cave. We saw big bats and little bats and scorpions and centipedes and black widow spiders and other poisonous spiders, all in virtual darkness with just our little torch lights. As we exited the cave system, a tropical rain storm commenced but we were enticed from our shelter by an orang utan, probably headed to the cave for shelter. By this time we were drenched so headed back to town for several beers and a musical interlude where Adrian was crowned number 1 African drum player. We all agreed that the cave was truly truly dangerous but... Such fun!