Early Morning Walk to PangKalan Bun Village.
Early the next morning we left the hotel at 7 AM and walked down to the Arut river in the town of PangKalan Bun, a town with 200,000 people.
I really enjoyed the walk especially finding that the people were extremely friendly.
Watching the fishermen go by in their spruced up single engine boats which are very noisy but very colourful was a treat.
The century old river front houses and shops were painted in vivid colours.
`We also had to shop for some necessities for the boat such as snacks, dried fruits and chocolate for us boys.
We found an Indo Mart open but no transportation available in the way of share riding or even taxis.
So finally we reluctantly agreed to be taken back to our hotel, which was only a five minute trip, on the back of two motorcycles laden with a large amount of snacks etc.
At a cost of only four dollars for the two of us who's to complain.
At 10 am we checked out and picked up by the tour company Be Boreno right on time and headed to another river for our port departure to the National park and our magical experiences with the largest quanity of Orangutans in the wild .
Day 1 of River Cruise Tour: Pangkalan Bun - Kumai - Tanjung Harapan
The local guide Zulman picked us from the hotel in Pangkalan Bun to go directly to the port in Kumai and take the boat directly to Tanjung Harapan Camp, where we will met the orangutans in person. 
Our Jungle cruise boat Spirt Major Was a former fishing boat that was converted into a jungle cruise boat. Thus the reason for the high bow. Unlike most of the boats on the trip that we ran into it had a serious four cylinder engine as opposed to most of them they had two-stroke engines.
It was detailed very well and in very good shape and included two bathrooms and two showers a kitchen, room to sleep for the four of us. That night they made up into lovely bedding area with mosquito screens, although there was not many mosquitoes around.
My observations of most of the boats we ran in to is that it was one of the nicest looking and probably best preserved. 
Soon we cleared the harbourmaster's office and were on our way down the major river to the smaller inlet that we would go through.
There were plenty of professional traditional boats there including Phinnisi fishing boats. 
Along the way next their washotels for starlings which are famous for making the Bird's Nest. soup. There were literally hundreds of buildings around. I believe that this is one of the major places to provide Bird's Nest soup in the world a favourite Chinese delicacy.
Then we came to the entrance to the national park which is a smaller river The Sekongyar River which will take us to three locations that we visited the next two days.
Agus the Captain was certainly well experienced and helpfull as well.
Zulham was a excellent guide with good english skills.
When we first entered the park I was pleasantly surprised to see that virtually there was no plastic garbage along the rivers as is common in most Indonesian rivers where there are heavy populations. There are only a few spots on this river where there are any fishermen living at all the so no plastic in the river.
I was also surprised to see that at high tide the river actually reverses because it is still flat in this area. The ocean which is many kilometres away actually pushes the tide way back up this far.
Video of River
When my boys found out there was crocodiles around they were looking at under every tree. Should be noted we did not see any crocs during the whole three day trip.
Although there is a story about a policeman who who was stationed at this very spot and decided to go for a swim one day. He was seen taken down by a crocodile.
As we moved further and further in land the river began to narrow and become even more beautiful.
Our son Darius took it upon himself to take several shots with the Nikon.In the end we found that our brand-new phone Galaxy S 20 Ultra took shots and video equal to or even better than the very expensive, heavy Nikon.
Finally it was time for lunch and we were pleasantly surprised at the lovely array of chicken vegatables, rice and fresh fruits. Chef Ljus was very talented.
One of the best things about this trip there was no Wi-Fi available. So for the first time in a long time our sons actually sat and talked to mom and dad instead of being on their phones, playing games or listening to music all day.
The scenery became more and more beautiful the further we went up the river into the national park which is one of the largest rainforests in the world.
Our 18-year-old Xander decided it was time for good nap.
Soon, many Monkeys started showing up on the river of all sizes, shapes and species.
Mom and dad enjoyed some quality time forgetting about the stresses of modern day living and running several businesses back in Bali.
We noticed some boats were purposely beached on the river.
They told us that during the pandemic unfinished boats were purposely placed here instead of the ocean where they could have serious hull damage to them. 
There were a few colourfull small fishing villages on the way.
Finally we arrived at our first stop to go visit the famous Orangutans.
A sign next to the wharf made us realize that we don't want to fall in the water.
Although we are recommended to spray ourselves with mosquito repellents as this is the dry season there was few if any around. I believe maybe I only got one bite the whole trip.
The paths to the feeding sites are relatively clean and well-maintained by the park rangers.
Evidently there is a lot of other things looking at you along the trip that perhaps you don't even notice.
Finally we reached this feeding station around 1 o'clock .
It's like the orangutans knew it was lunch time and were already hanging out in the trees above us.
In fact one dropped a pretty heavy branch which just missed me. Another decided to be naughty and sprayed over several people including our son.
I told him it was a blessing of good luck.
Soon a mother and her child showed up for the feed to be laid out.
Then there was lots of action with a large single male which can grow up to 90 kg.
Seeing them in their natural enviroment as opposed to behind cages and even enclosures was magical. I think they enjoy the encounters as much as we did especially since there has not been too many people coming the last 2 1/2 years.
Our guide called this one the Raja which means King in Indonesia. So long as he is not challenged he is very calm and gentle with everyone. But I certainly would not want to anger him. The huge flaps along his neck evidently are used to send long heavy sounds throughout the jungle when he wants to mate.
After approximately one and a half hours it was time to head back to the boat and continue up the river for our mooring for the night.
Along the way there was plenty of other primates including the long tail long nose monkey.
The captain found a spot when there was a family of around eight monkeys who sleep there the entire evening They were still there the next morning at 6 AM.
This one certainly had a great pose. Must've been working as a model before.
As The sun went down and we enjoyed a delicious meal of chicken and vegetables rice all of which was thoroughly enjoyed by my very picky Indonesian family.
Xander and Darius decided to try some night fishing to no avail.
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See the whole five day trip Video on Utube
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