Bako National Park in Sarawak

Orion II called upon Bako National Park on Friday, October 7. This park is one of the oldest in Sarawak, as it was established in 1957. To that end, the animals are very used to people and it's easy to get great photos here.


The approach by sea is breathtaking as Bako's coastline is one of steep cliffs and sandstone outcroppings.

The morning began with a walk on nearby Pulau Lakei. Leonard did this hike while I stayed aboard to catch up on blogging.


In the afternoon, three walks were offered directly at Bako. Two of them were very intensive and not for the faint-of-heart or the out-of-shape (one was a three-hour hike that included steep inclines). We ended up doing the easiest of the three walks...a stroll along the mangrove boardwalk.

Here we saw proboscis monkeys, long-tailed macaques, Borneo bearded pigs (and piglets), silvered langurs, and a few birds.

The Zodiac ride back to Orion II was beautiful with the setting sun lighting up the water.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for Luxury Cruise Bible

Photos © Leonard Hospidor

A Visit to Kuching, Semengoh, and Sarawak Cultural Village

Thursday was a whirlwind as Orion II docked at Kuching, a Malaysian city on Borneo. Guests spent the morning on their own exploring the city. In the early afternoon we all came together at the Riverside Majestic Hotel to catch our bus to Semengoh Rehabilitation Centre for the 3pm orangutan feeding.


I am so glad we had the chance to visit Semengoh. This national park has a very different approach to conservation than Camp Leakey, which we visited earlier in the week. At Semengoh, you can't get as close to the wild orangutans but the setup of the feeding platforms still make it easy to get excellent photographs. 

We saw a large cheekpadder male named Ritchie as well as "Hot Mama" and her baby and another mother and daughter. These orangutans looked different than the ones at Camp Leakey...these seemed to be brighter orange and hairier. Their faces also looked more ape-like.


We lucked out and enjoyed amazing sightings before taking part in a ceremony at which Orion announced their long-term adoption of Ritchie.

After this we loaded back onto the bus and headed to the Sarawak Cultural Village. The guide on our bus was fantastic and told us about the various cultures in the area as we drove to the cultural village where we'd enjoy a show and a Malaysian Banquet.

We arrived just about sunset so we didn't get to explore much of the village, but we all donned sarongs and then settled in for the dinner show. Lots of traditional songs and dances and we sat on pillows on the floor.


It was hot and steamy but once the show got started, everyone forgot about that. Orion II's waitstaff was on hand and made sure everyone had plenty of wine, beer, soda, and juice. The meal was buffet-style and consisted of regional favorites.

This was a long day but it was so much fun. I only wish we had spent another half day or day in Kuching. There was so much we left unexplored.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for Luxury Cruise Bible

Photos © Leonard Hospidor

Pontianak: The Capital of West Kalimantan at the Equator

Sometimes when you're considering an itinerary, there's a port or two that you're ambivalent about. That's how I felt about Orion II's visit to Pontianak, which is at the Equator. I didn't know exactly what to expect and, therefore, wasn't expecting much. It turned out to be a fantastic day!

Orion II is the first ship of its kind to call upon Pontianak. While the Indonesians here have encountered Westerns before, it's usually just a few backpackers on their way to treks within West Kalimantan. This was the first time so many Westerners descended on the city and the first time so many arrived by boat.

It seemed like every local official was on hand at the port, as were the local media. This was a big event! A landing party consisting of the captain and some guests went ashore and took part in a ceremony.

Afterward, everyone boarded modern, air-conditioned buses for a half-day tour of the area. Here's what we saw…

• State Museum
• Mujahidin Grand Mosque
• Equator Monument

The State Museum was interesting and we were treated to Chinese dragon dances. This was a lot of fun and it was made all the more special because a school field trip was also at the museum at the time. It was great fun taking photos with the kids and watching them enjoy the Chinese dragons!

Next to the museum was a lovely craft shop and we were able to browse as a local musician played and a beautiful Indonesian woman danced. Handicrafts included clothing, wood carvings, beaded jewelry, woven bags, and more.

Many of us also stopped into a local candy shop. I purchased several items to try, including fried basil leaves, aloe vera tea, durian candy, and other assorted crunchy and sweet snacks.

We ended up at the mosque during midday prayer so we could only walk around the building but dozens of children came out to greet us. They were so interested in  meeting us and having their photos taken. Boys and girls mixed freely and the mosque seemed totally integrated. I'm so glad we made this stop.

Finally, we visited the Equator Monument, where you can stand on the line that divides the northern and southern hemispheres… a great photo op!

While we only spent a short while in Pontianak, it was well worth the visit. This was a challenging call to make due to the river depths (1 meter of clearance and at one point Orion II did touch the muddy bottom of the river). We can't thank Orion enough for scouting such a unique port and finding a way to bring us here.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for Luxury Cruise Bible

Photos © Leonard Hospidor

A Visit to the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine with Orion II

Orion's Faces in the Forest expedition doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging. We're up early and fall into bed fairly late. I've got a bit of time today though (I'm not doing the three-hour trek on Palau Lakei this morning) so I thought I'd catch up on explaining what else we've done on this Borneo expedition.

On Monday my group (half the ship) visited the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine, which was established in 1998 by Orangutan Foundation International (Dr. Galdikas is the founder). The facility itself was built for a few hundred orangutans but its resources are being stretched due to the number of animals that are in need of rescue and rehabilitation. The staff is currently caring for 330 orangutans as well as a few sun bears, macaques, and some other animals. Each of these animals will be eventually released back to the wild to live a normal life.

How does an orangutan end up living at the care center? Some have been confiscated from individuals who kept them as pets (that's illegal in Indonesia), others are sick or injured and are being nursed back to health.

The center is located in the village of Pasir Panjang, near the town of Pangkalan Bun in Central Kalimatan. Orion arranged for air-conditioned buses to take us from Kumai to the center. We even had a police escort! (Everyone we go, the local people are happy to see us—the welcome has been wonderful.)

Dr. Galdikas gave us a tour of the 80 hectare facility, which includes an operating room, X-ray room, lab, library, and living quarters for the veterinary staff. There is also a quarantine area for animals suffering from various maladies.

The complex is located within a peat forest, which acts as a "halfway house." Orangutans are released during the day to learn how to forage and build nests and there are even a few wooden structures scattered throughout the forest so the apes and their caregivers can sleep in the forest.

Our tour included some time at the play area for juveniles between the ages of 4 and 7, the training area for older orangutans, and a stop at the nursery.

The Orangutan Care Center is not generally open to the public and so our visit was incredibly special. There is a no camera policy at OCCQ so I unfortunately can't share photographs. The photos accompanying this post are, instead, of the orangs at Camp Leakey in Tanjung National Park.

This was an incredible opportunity o get close to these animals who seem to have close relationships with their human caretakers. In the play area, a young female walked right to me, took my hand, and started to lead me to the forest! I think she wanted some time in the trees! Another orang climbed right into my arms. One bad boy did pull my hair and untie my shoes, but I do believe he was just playing.

I will caution that these are still wild animals and extreme care must be taken. A few people in the group did get bites and scratches… none were bad. The animals are babies and juveniles and, just as a human toddler might bite, so will an orangutan. Most everyone did their best to follow instructions and the experience was well worth it.

Traveling through Borneo and seeing these red apes brings up so many questions. Conservation is an incredibly tough business and a multi-prong approach is necessary in order to save the orangutan from extinction. Please visit the website for Dr. Galdikas' organization, Orangutan Foundation International, for more information on how you can help protect orangutans.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for Luxury Cruise Bible

Photo © Leonard Hospidor

Orion II Quick Tip: Room Service Menu

Orion Expedition Cruises offers a single seating for dinner with one dining options each evening (The Restaurant on Deck 2 or outdoor dining on Deck 5 aft, weather permitting).

Orion offers a very limited room service menu, but we've sampled a few things already. We were dead tired upon our return from Camp Leakey one night so we ordered up a few sandwiches. Here's what you can expect from in-room dining.

Orion II Room Service Menu

Breakfast

• Juice (orange, apple, grapefruit, pineapple, tomato, V8)
• Fruit Platter
• Cereal (Cornflakes, Weet-Bix, Sultana Bran, Museli, All Brain)
• Yoghurt (plain or fruit)
• Fresh from the Bakery (danish pastry, croissants, toast: wholemeal, rye, white)
• Preserves and Butter (strawberry, orange, apricot, honey, Vegemite, butter, margarine)

Available Noon–9pm

• Grilled Fish of the Day with Green Salad
• Grilled Rib Eye Steak with Vegetables
• Sandwich of the Day with French Fries
• Garden Greens with Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Caesar Salad with Crispy Croutons and Parmesan

Available 24 Hours

• Ham, Cheese, Smoked Salmon or Turkey Sandwich with Potato Chips
• International Cheese Plate with Crackers
• Fruit Platter
• Plated of Cookies

During breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you may also order selections from the daily Restaurant menu.

I'd love to see Orion add a few things to the room service menu, especially grilled chicken, pasta, hamburger, and hotdog entrees.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for Luxury Cruise Bible

Orion II Quick Tip: Internet Service

Three cheers for Orion Expedition Cruises! Orion II is the first ship I've been on in a long time that provides fast and reliable Internet service—and we're way out here in Borneo!

Orion doesn't use MTN (one of the main providers of Internet and other communication services at sea). Instead this cruise line is using PatronSoft.

There are two packages—one-hour and two-hour blocks of time—that are reasonably priced. Two hours of Internet service costs $50 (Australian dollars).

Thank you, Orion, for understanding that travelers want—and need—to be in touch via the Internet while on a cruise ship!

—Andrea M. Rotondo for Luxury Cruise Bible

Visiting Orangutans at Camp Leakey with Orion II

Sometimes when you travel, if you're lucky enough, there are moments that are extraordinary… connecting with someone from a culture vastly different from your own, seeing an endangered animal up close for the first time in the wild, or simply watching the sun set in a brilliant blaze of yellow and red. It's rare that one day can hold so many special moments but it happened for us aboard Orion II on Sunday.

Every passenger on this ship was looking forward to visiting Camp Leakey at Tanjung Puting National Park. Dr. Birute Galdikas, who's been onboard lecturing since embarkation in Bali, has fought for and protected Tanjung Puting for the last forty years as part of her effort to study wild orangutans and rehabilitated ex-captive red apes. She put a stop to illegal logging here and made sure the practice of poaching animals was shunned by locals.

This place is incredibly special and worth protecting. The park is home to orangutans, proboscis monkeys, macaques, gibbons, clouded leopard, wild Borneo pigs, porcupines, Sambar deer, sun bears, crocodiles, monitor lizards, pythons and an incredible number of bird species such as hornbills and kingfishers.

Our day here started early. Half of the ship visited Camp Leakey on Day 1 of our visit to Tanjung while the other half went there on Day 2. This kept numbers somewhat reasonable but it still meant a large group (about 50) visited the camp together each day.

We loaded onto several zodiacs at 6:30am and traveled along the Sekonyer River for two hours. 

We stopped along the way within the national park to visit a feeding platform in the forest and saw almost a dozen orangutans, including a large adult male with cheek pads. It was a short, easy walk into the forest to the feeding station and we spent about 45 minutes there. The orangutans that come for the daily feedings are those ex-captive apes that were rehabilitated by Dr. Galdikas and her team and then released into the park. Some orangutans continue to return for the feedings and others disappear into the forest to fend for themselves for the rest of their lives.

It was amazing to stand so close to the orangutans, who didn't seem to mind that we were there. Today's meal was milk and the animals drank up with gusto!

Upon departing the feeding station, local boats called klotoks picked us up and took us upriver to Camp Leakey. The river passage was beautiful and we spotted dozens of proboscis monkeys and macaques along the way. Local guides and Orion expedition leaders were on each klotoks and took the time to point out the flora and fauna and explain more about Indonesian culture.

Orion II's chef packed lunches (two sandwiches, an apple and orange, guava juice, peanuts, cookies, and cake) for guests and we ate aboard the klotoks before going on a tour of Camp Leakey guided by Dr. Galdikas herself. This was an incredible opportunity to learn firsthand about orangutans and the plight of Borneo's ecosystem.

Here we walked along well-trodden paths and saw a gibbon, many orangutans, Borneo pigs, and macaques. The walk to the feeding platform was special since Princess, a longtime resident of Camp Leakey, and one of her offspring accompanied us down the path.

At the feeding station we saw many more orangutans enjoy a lunch of mangoes and play on the platform and in the trees above.

In addition to our group was a handful of Indonesia school children. It wasn't easy to communicate but it was clear both groups were enamored with these beautiful red apes.

By early evening we all loaded back into our klotoks and sailed back down the river. It was a magical evening… the sun set a brilliant red and was the perfect backdrop for photos of those large-nosed proboscis monkeys. As dusk approached, we spotted several owls and hornbills. When night fell around us, fireflies light up trees on both sides of the river… better than any Christmastime lighting spectacular!

The day was very special and makes this itinerary a must-do. In fact, if the cruise ended then and there, it would have still been worth the price of admission! Luckily though, this was just the beginning. Stay tuned for my next post, which will discuss our time at the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine in the village of Pasir Panjang, near the town of Pangkalan Bun in Central Kalimantan.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for Luxury Cruise Bible

Photos © Leonard Hospidor.

Orion II Quick Tip: The Spa at Sea

Two sea days are part of our itinerary from Bali to Borneo to Singapore and I'm sure many travelers will spend some time relaxing in Orion II's spa. I'm not one for spa treatments but I do like having my hair done before the Captain's welcome reception.

Here's a look at spa options. (Prices are listed in Australian dollars.)

Hairdressing by De Lorenzo

• Shampoo, blow-dry, or set is $50–$60, depending on length of hair
• Simple comb-up to repair your existing blow dry or set from $27.50
• Men's haircut from $41
• Haircut with a shampoo and blow dry or set is $68.50–$77.50, depending on length of hair
• New hair color, regrowth retouch, gloss color, or highlights starting at $64
• Range of hair and scalp treatments to rebalance, restore, and protect from $32

Make Up by Jane Iredale

*natural, chemical-free mineral based make up is used on board

• Makeup application is $50
• Private makeup lesson is $50
• Eyelash tint and eyebrow shaping is $50

Hand and Foot Pampering Therapy

• Express manicure (nail file, buff, and polish) is $50
• Express pedicure (nail file, buff, and polish) is $68.50
• Essential hand indulgence (60 minutes) is $60
• Essential food and leg indulgence (60 minutes) is $77.50

Facials

*Jurlique skin care products are used

• Anti-Stress Facial (30 minutes) is $64
• Aromatherapy facial (60 minutes) is $95.50

Massage

*massage techniques range from Swedish, aromatherapy, lymphatic drainage, reflexology, remedial, sport injury, and deep tissue are employed

• Relaxing and therapeutic aromatherapy massage is $72.50 for 30 minutes, $112 for 60 minutes, and $160 for 90 minutes
• Remedial and deep muscle work out is $82 for 30 minutes, $120.50 for 60 minutes, and $168.50 for 90 minutes

Pampering Packages

• Venus Face and Body Experience (90 minutes that combine a massage and a facial) is $150
• Antioxidant Body Buff (60 minutes) is $114
• Total Body Travel Treatment (90 minutes) is $150
• Moor Mud Body Wrap (90 minutes) is $163.50
• Orion's Ultimate Top to Tow (120 minutes) is $200

A more complete spa menu can be found aboard Orion II.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for Luxury Cruise Bible

Orion II Faces in the Forest Itinerary Change

Prior to joining Orion II in Bali, I blogged about the trip and explained a bit about our intended itinerary, which takes us to several national parks for wild orangutan sightings as well as a few Indonesian and Malaysian cities. Well, the game plan has shifted a bit so I thought I'd share it with you.


Our Faces in the Forest itinerary now looks like this…

• Bali, Indonesia
• at sea
• Tanjung Putting for Camp Leakey, Indonesia
• Tanjung Putting for Camp Leakey, Indonesia
• at sea
• Pontianak, Indonesia
• Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
• Bako National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia
• Pulau Natuna Besar, Indonesia
• Pulau Pu Bawah, Indonesia
• Singapore

So what's changed? Orion II will not call upon Gunung Palung National Park (Kalimantan). This is because the ship had to be very careful with the river tides in order to successfully arrive at Kumai, Kalimantan for our two days at Tanjung Putting National Park. Because of the tides, we wouldn't make it to Gunung Palung until late in the evening and it would be a wasted day. Instead, Orion shuffled the itinerary and added two days at different hideaway islands that offer some fantastic snorkeling: Pulau Natuna Besar and Pulau Pu Bawah.


Everyone seems happy with the change and Orion rolled out the news during our first sea day.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for Luxury Cruise Bible

Expedition team leader, Mick Fogg, is shown above as he explains the new Faces in the Forest itinerary to travelers during our first day at sea. Photo by Andrea M. Rotondo