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4-Day Private Orangutan and Bornean Primates Tour from Pangkalanbuun
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Ways to Experience Orangutan Applause - Day Tours
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Reviewed September 17, 2019 via mobile

Absolutely phenomenal multi-day trip. All the other reviews talk about what you can see on this trip so I will focus on what to expect on the boat.

First of all the crew, because they ensured our trip was a 10/10 experience. Our guide was Jeffrey, his father was a ranger in the park and he grew up here. We are avid birders and he was able to identify every bird off the top of his head by sight or by song. Our captain and first mate were great at spotting animals in the trees or in the water, and positioned the boat so we could view them. One night we heard a fish owl and our captain scrambled along several docked boats to get the shot for us! Our cooks name was Yummy and she prepared us 3 delicious meals per day as well as several snacks. The plantain pancakes were AMAZING!

The crew were also very accommodating. The trip centres around the 3 feeding stations but we preferred to see animals in their natural environment. We mentioned this and it was not a problem, just let your guide know when you're done with the feeding station.

The boat is a klotok, all boats on the river seemed roughly the same regardless of the company, I don't think shopping around with different companies will get you a better or worse boat. You get the top deck to yourself, which includes a bed (with mosquito net), a table with chairs for meals, and several lounging chairs for viewing the nature around you. Downstairs is the kitchen, crew bunks, and a toilet shared by both you and the crew. The toilet is a Western toilet, not squatty potty, but you cannot flush toilet paper and will have to learn how to use a bidet or hand shower to clean yourself afterwards! However this is the norm in all of Indonesia.

There are lights and a charging point to charge cameras and phones on your private top deck. We brought headlamps and portable backup phone batteries but they weren't necessary.

Special note: try not to leave electronics out overnight as there is a lot of moisture. Bring a ziplock bag and store in your bag/suitcase overnight. However, my Samsung S8 is waterproof and it was fine to lay beside me overnight.

The first night we docked alongside some mangroves, where fireflies prefer to live, and fell asleep watching the fireflies. The second night we docked at a research station in order to walk through the trails on a night walk to look for nocturnal life. I have arachnophobia so I just stayed on the boat, my boyfriend went with Jeffrey for about an hour and saw loads of creepy crawlies! If you aren't too interested in the night walk I would recommend asking to just have the boat parked away from other boats instead as the first morning, where we woke up to gibbons hooting and the morning chorus of the birds, was absolutely magical.

The one issue we had was the crews all joined together to play games directly beside the boats until 11pm and we finally asked them to quiet down as we found we would wake up at around 5am each day and wanted some sleep!

Thank sweetie_sabi
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
orangutanApplause, Owner at Orangutan Applause - Day Tours, responded to this reviewResponded November 22, 2020

Dear Sabi,

Thank you for sharing your experience with other travelers.
Your visit absolutely helps for the future of Orangutan, forest nad providing green jobs for locals.
Thank you for your suggestion about the electronics devices because of the humidity. ziplock bag or dry bag can be useful.
We don't work like a robot, we always try to provide a long-lasting experience tour meet with the traveler expectations'. If you have any special interest such as birding or something phobia, it will help us if you tell in advance.

Best regards,
Arif

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Reviewed September 17, 2019

We are frequent travellers and can confirm that this Orangutan Applause experience it was one of the most amazing experiences ever! Something very special… Why? Because of the beautiful Borneo and its wildlife, and because of each one of the Orangutan Applause team members: Arif, Dessy, my dearest Alan a passionate tour guide, Tarmi the Chef, Habib: taking care of all and of any small detail. All of them made every second of the 3 days tour very special. A kind of Magic!
Beginning from the zero experience with Orangutans, this excellent, personalized and unforgettable trip exploring one of the beautiful rain forests in Borneo on the extremely clean houseboat will remain with us forever and it is already recorded at the bottom of our hearts.
@orangutanapplause, Thank you! Thank you! ¡and Thank you! Everything was perfect! and a last request: please, do not let anyone harm your surroundings or orangutans.
Mercè _ Catalonia

Date of experience: August 2019
Thank Mercè P
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
orangutanApplause, General Manager at Orangutan Applause - Day Tours, responded to this reviewResponded November 22, 2020

Bon dia, Merce

Un mun de gracias, a Spanish cheerful girl with excellent English.
Since we correspondence on email, I know that you are nice and respecful. And it is absolutely true.
Thank you for visiting, Alan told a lot of story while you were in the jungle. Keep in touch.

Warm hug,
Dessy

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Reviewed September 15, 2019 via mobile

Our 3 days on the houseboat was simply magical. Checking out the Orangutans (and a Gibbon!) during the day and sleeping next to the Proboscis and Macaque monkeys at night, under the milky way, shooting stars and the glow of the fireflies. We saw both the salt and freshwater crocodiles as we were sailing and there were tons of birds flying about each day, including a flock of hornbills!

We were also very fortunate to have had Alan as our guide. He is so passionate about the environment, the community and all the animals in Tanjung Puting. He's always curious and eager to learn and share information. He's also super attentive and always around when we had a question. His English is excellent so there were no barriers to communication. It's very clear how much he loves and is great at his job. Throughout the 3 days on the houseboat, we learned so much (the good and the bad) about the wildlives and the park conditions as well as his personal history and culture. We had a blast hanging out with Alan and would highly recommend him to anyone considering this tour.

The boat crew was awesome as well. Delicious meals every day and all the details of the trip were well organized and conducted. We wish we could have stayed longer! The experience is well worth the money and something we will not soon forget! Thank you Dessy and team!

2  Thank cyndee524
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
orangutanApplause, General Manager at Orangutan Applause - Day Tours, responded to this reviewResponded November 19, 2019

Dear Cindy,

We are happy to hear that you said: "The experience is well worth the money and something we will not soon forget!". We are so proud of our guide Alan was met your expectations. We always allocate time to our guide to share their knowledge and experiences.
Thank you very much,
Dessy

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Reviewed September 14, 2019 via mobile

We went on a 3day2night tour and it was an amazing experience. Dessy, the tour manager, helped us with lots of practical things which was very nice. Mita, our wonderful tour guide, spoke with such enthusiasm about the animals and the park. She and the rest of the crew helped make this a truly special experience. We saw many orangutans at the feeding stations and even some free roaming along the river, did a night walk in the jungle and planted a tree. If youre more keen on reptiles and jungle trekking, then this might not fully fill your needs. However, there are plenty of primates to be spotted, which is very much worth the trip!

Date of experience: September 2019
Thank Harir888
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
orangutanApplause, General Manager at Orangutan Applause - Day Tours, responded to this reviewResponded November 19, 2019

Dear Harir,

Thanks for leaving some nice reviews. We are happy to invite you coming back here and stay longer 4 or 5 days. We will make some custom itinerary for you with jugle trekking and canoeing into the small black water river.

Warm hug,
Dessy

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Reviewed September 2, 2019 via mobile

This was a trip from my dreams! You can relax read books and observe wildlife. The boat is extremely clean, and the crew is changing the sheets every day I was impressed by this. We were on a special diet, and lady chef put all the efforts to make delicious food, and it was truly stunning to this point that later we stayed at Sheraton hotel and food there was much less impressive. Our guide had plenty of interesting stories and facts about Borneo species. Whole crew was extremely nice and they always tried to find monkeys for me and crocodiles and birds for my hubby:) Bed on the boat was really comfortable and at night they put mosquito nest, so it's exceptionally comfortable. There was even a real bathroom with a shower and toilet.
For each day, there is an activity, and they even have night walking to see wildlife at night - birds and tarantulas.
What was the best that at the end of the trip each of us can choose a tree and plant it To grow the forest? That was a fantastic experience that you can help the national park and wildlife in Borneo.
I have to say my husband was not so excited about going on this trip, but he was stunned by the crew and the wildlife and now he thinks it was a great experience!

Date of experience: September 2019
1  Thank juleshi
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
orangutanApplause, General Manager at Orangutan Applause - Day Tours, responded to this reviewResponded September 6, 2019

Dear Juleshi,

Thank you so much for visiting, it really helped for future of Orangutan and our forest. Thank for getting back with your reviews. It very helps the traveler to prepare the tour.

We are so glad to hear that you enjoyed the tour. Thank for mentioning the detail about the guide, boat, crew, cook, and meals we served. We tried to provide food according to your dietary. Yey, happy to heard that you enjoy a loy, and even blow our minds up when you comparing the food from 5 stars hotel. OMG. Thank you a bunch!

Best regards,
Dessy

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