Borneo Orangutans, Yogyakarta City, Majestic Bromo & Bali Temples (15D/14N)

Have your luggage ready, because today is the day to get to know one of the most important centers of biodiversity in the world and the third largest island on the planet: Borneo!!! After breakfast, you will be transferred to the airport to take the direct flight to Pangkalan Bun, on the island of Borneo, or better known by Indonesians as Kalimantan. Upon arrival at the airport, your guide will be waiting for you. You will transfer to the port of Kumai in about 15-20 minutes by car, where you will embark on a great adventure! You arrive at our traditional wooden boat, called a klotok. Our guide will reconfirm with the crew that everything is ready and start the cruise up the river in the famous Sekonyer River aboard a klotok. If your flight arrives early (before 11.30 AM), you can arrive in time to the rehabilitation center of Tanjung Harapan, where at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the rangers of the national park feed the orangutans, and you can have your first close encounters with them. The translation of Tanjung Harapan is Cape of Hope. This first camp is one of the ones with more wetlands, and in the afternoon, there can be mosquitoes, so make sure you put on enough mosquito repellent. Here you also can do the reforestation, where you can be volunteers to plant a tree, and so take pride that you have contributed a grain of sand to conservation with your step over there.

After visiting this Rangers Camp, you will continue upstream, resting on the boat, while you search for animals in the vicinity of the Sekonyer River. This afternoon, it is very frequent to see groups of proboscis monkeys and monkeys in the treetops, jumping from one branch to another, or even crocodiles, and lizards in the shallow waters of the sides of the river.

Prepare for sunset. The boat moored on one side of the river to spend the night. Tonight, you can do a walk into the jungle to look for night animals like snakes, tarantulas or if you are lucky luminescent mushrooms or tarsiers.

Meals: Breakfast – Lunch – Dinner

Accommodation: Standard Klotok Boat

Today you will wake up to the sounds and colors of the jungle. Without a doubt, you will never forget how you woke up on the river, surrounded by overflowing nature.

After an extraordinary breakfast, you will go in time to see the Pondok Tanggui Camp at the time of feeding (9 AM). Sooner or later, you will see how the branches of the treetops begin to move, and then you will see the silhouettes of the Orangutans arriving at the feeding platform. Pondok Tanggui was a release camp for young Orangutans that were rehabilitated, and they continue to add food every day to prevent the Orangutans from leaving because of a lack of food. They end up outside the National Park, with the following risk of falling into traps of settlers or fields of palm oil plantations. After the Orangutans begin to leave, you will return to the klotok again to go further up the river. You will see how the coloration of the river changes, and you will have the opportunity to see crocodiles and large lizards, together with Gibbon’s and proboscis monkeys.

Arrival at Camp Leakey, the old orangutan research and rehabilitation center since 1971, when a student at UCLA Los Angeles University, Birutte Galdikas began studying the Orangutans there. The name Camp Leaky comes from Birutte’s own teacher, the Paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey. At least 200 orangutans had already been cured and returned to the jungles, thanks to this center. However, since 1995, the Government of Indonesia has banned the introduction of more Orangutans into this camp, so Orangutans are increasingly adapting more to freedom. To this day, this camp is used as an investigation into the behavior and feeding of Orangutans.

You will take advantage of your guide to explore the interiors of the jungle a bit to look for orangutans in freedom and other animals. At 14.00, you can see the feeding time of the Orangutans. You can also visit the small museum made by the scientist Dr. Birute Galdikas.

When you are finished observing the orangutans in this camp, and if the weather and conditions permit, you will make a short trek through the jungle on the way back to the boat to look for wild orangutans and other animals. You will have the opportunity to learn from our local guides, some of whom were born in the jungle, how to look for animals or plants, or simply listen to their experience of life in the jungle. The jungles of Borneo have given life and have been home to the settlers for many years. The jungles, under the eyes of the grandparents, are able to give you everything you need. Food, water, medicines, etc. Yes… Never put anything in your mouth without the recommendation of your guide. In the afternoon, if the circumstances permit, the boat will be docked near a firefly congregation, and you can enjoy the show of its luminescence.

Note: The Birate Galdikas Museum at Camp Leaky is currently closed for maintenance purposes. Regrettably, visits to this site will not be possible until further notice. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and will keep you updated on the reopening of the museum.

*If your return flight leaves early in the morning (around 7 a.m.), tonight the klotok will sleep closer to the port in order to get you to the airport in time.

Meals: Breakfast – Lunch – Dinner  

Accommodation: Standard Klotok Boat

In the early morning you will enjoy the last moments of the sounds of the jungle before heading to the port to, in turn, be transferred to the airport to catch the flight to Semarang. After arriving at Semarang Airport, your Java guide will be waiting for you to start exploring one of Indonesia’s most traditional islands. You will arrive at Yogyakarta, a tourist destination for its ancient palaces, temples, batik workshops, Gamelan music orchestras, court dances and Wayang puppet shows. Your guide will take you to your hotel.  After check-in, you will have you have the rest of the day off.

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Hotel in Yogyakarta: Three options across different categories

You will have your deserved breakfast at the hotel. Today’s tour will make you enjoy the authentic Javanese essence. You will start your route in the direction of with the Borobudur Temple (Candi Borobudur), the great Stupa, the largest Buddhist monument in the world and one of the seven wonders. You will tour around the temple, observe the hundreds and centenary statues of Buddha and witness how dozens of Buddhists come to preach from all over the world. Historically it was established during the relatively brief Sailendra dynasty of Central Java between 778 and 856 BC and is in constant restoration due to the breaks that the tremors of the neighbouring Merapi volcano has been producing during its history.

Then we will go to Kaliurang / Kalidalem to see Mount Merapi in constant activity. Here in a 4×4 jeep driven by specialized drivers, you will climb its skirt to see the remains of the 2010 eruption such as houses buried by ashes, a multitude of objects paralyzed by lava, etc. In addition, an open-air tribute museum presided over by the clock that marks the time just when the lava passed through it has been improvised. Accompanied by photos of the rescue, it will make you feel very closely the experiences of that fateful day. After finishing this day full of emotions, we will take you back to your hotel

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Yogyakarta: Three options across different categories

After breakfast and at the agreed time, your guide will pick you up at the hotel and together you will head towards the heart of the city. You will visit the Keraton, or also known as the Sultan’s Palace. The palace is a complex building two centuries old. Next, you will hear the song of the “freedom” of the birds in the bird market, you will visit the “Water Castle” that occupies the highest part at the northern end of the vast complex of Taman Sari. Then, stroll around Malioboro Street, one of the main streets of Yogyakarta, with its merchants, horse carriages, taxi-bikes and markets. An incredible experience that will make the hours fly by.

Finishing the tour in the centre of the city of Yogyakarta, you will head northeast towards Prambanan, the temple of Hinduists and classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1991. This temple was completed in 856 AD to commemorate the victory of the descendant of Sanjaya dynasty, Rikai Pikatan, against the last Shailendra sovereign of Central Java. Take your time to enjoy each carving on the rocks and feel the spirituality that each of the stones perched in this set of more than 200 Hindu temples that are dedicated to Shiva, one of the Trimurti which is an expression of God as the Creator, the Preserver and the Destroyer. After this unforgettable day, we will take you to your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel in Yogyakarta: Three options across different categories

Today, a new adventure starts towards the volcanoes of Java. At the indicated time, around 6.00am, we will pick you up at your hotel for the transfer to the train station to start a long journey to Jombang/Mojokerto (around 8 hours). Upon arrival, transfer to the slopes of the Bromo Volcano. Check-in at your hotel for well-deserved rest after a long day of traveling.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Hotel at Bromo: Three options across different categories

In the early morning, your guide and a jeep driver will be waiting for you at the hotel to attend one of the most spectacular sunrises in Indonesia. Even if you have to get up early, it will be worth it. You will climb to a high point first in full darkness and, little by little, the first rays of sun are giving way to a huge and indescribable caldera that makes up the entire view of the Natural Park of Bromo and Semeru. With Bromo, a volcano of large fumaroles and behind it, the Semeru Volcano with explosions every 20 minutes exactly, you will have one of the most rewarding experiences ever had. After enjoying the sunset, by jeep, we will go to the slopes of the volcano where you can approach the Bromo volcano and after climbing some stairs you can reach the very edge of its crater and see the impressive activity it has. After the visit, you return to the hotel to refresh and enjoy your breakfast. At the agreed time, your guide and conduit will take you back to Surabaya airport to take your flight to Bali, where they will be waiting for you for the transfer to your hotel in Ubud. After arrival, you will have a free afternoon. Welcome to the island of the Gods.

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Hotel in Ubud: Three options across different categories

After breakfast, you start the tour with the visit to Tenganan Village, located in the northwest of Candidasa, Tenganan is a symmetrical village of Bali Aga with wall houses and unique handicrafts. Here you can see the way in which the true Balinese society lives its daily life through the traditions they have maintained, regardless of external cultural influences. The next visit will be Virgin Beach, a hidden beach, difficult to find and the only white sand beach in this area of East Bali. Locals call it White Sand Beach. Here, you can relax, eat fresh fish at the beach bars on the shore or sunbathe.

Finally, you will visit the temple of Lempuyang. Upon arrival, the temple will greet you with its gratifying panorama that extends into infinity. On a clear and sunny day, you will be able to contemplate the mountains, the city of Amlapura and Mount Agung, an incredibly beautiful sight. This temple is called the gates of heaven because it is located on a hill. With the gate and the volcano in the background, this photo has become famous for its beauty. After the visit, you will return back to the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Hotel in Ubud: Three options across different categories

After breakfast, your guide will pick you up and we will visit the places on the fantastic come2indonesia route. The first site will be the Taman Ayun Temple (it was founded in the seventeenth century), located in the village of Mengwi that until 1891 was the seat of a powerful dating back to the Gellel Dynasty, which is surrounded by a moat that looks like a garden shrine, which explains the term taman, or garden. The temple is a penyawangan or place to worship other sacred sites. From Taman Ayun, the compass heads towards Jatiluwih, where we will undoubtedly admire and enjoy a beautiful view of rice terraces that cover the entire landscape of South Bali. The name Jatiluwih is composed of two words, Jati which means ‘really’ and Luwih which means ‘beautiful, good and special’. Without a doubt, this place not only has a beautiful name but that beauty is really reflected in its landscape.

From Jatiluwih, you will go to Bedugul where you will visit the Ulun Danu Bratan Temple, the famous temple that stands in a small promoter located on the shore of Lake Beratan and has the beautiful landscape with the lake and the mountain as a backdrop. It is without a doubt, one of the most photogenic temples in all of Indonesia. This temple is dedicated to Dewi Danu, goddess of waters.

You will close the visit on this fantastic route and end the day watching the sunset at the most famous and photographed temple in Bali, the Pura Tanah Lot. Torn off from the earth on a stone pedestal sculpted by incoming tides, the lonely black towers of the Tanah Lot and the plumes of foliage spilled from the cliffs recall the delicacy of Chinese painting. The Pura Tanah Lot or the Temple of Earth in the Middle of the Sea was built in the sixteenth century. After this visit, you will return to the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Hotel in Ubud: Three options across different categories

Today you will quietly enjoy your breakfast at the hotel and the rest of the day will be for you. You can take advantage of the day for what you want, you can hire a massage, enjoy a spa, walk and go shopping or simply relax and enjoy the hotel facilities. You are in Ubud, here you can stroll through the local market, visit the hundreds of craft design workshops, sculptures and paintings in the shops that are on each side of the street. It is a perfect day to learn more about the daily activities of the locals, find a coffee overlooking the jungle or cross paths with a naughty monkey on Monkey Forest Street. At night there are performances of Balinese Dances, you can contact the hotel reception and request information to attend any of them.  If you need recommendations of places to visit this day, do not hesitate to call us and we will advise you the best ones!

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Hotel in Ubud: Three options across different categories

After breakfast, it is time to leave Ubud, and continue the journey to Seminyak. You will be transferred to your hotel and after that you will have the rest of the day for yourself.

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Hotel in Seminyak: Three options across different categories

Today is a free day. You will have breakfast at the hotel and the rest of the day you will have free time. You can take advantage of this by continuing with visits or personal activities, according to preferences, such as hiring a relaxing massage service, spa, enjoying the sun and the beach, shopping or simply resting and enjoying the facilities offered by the hotel.

Seminyak and Legian are north of Kuta, this is a place full of all kinds of restaurants, where you can taste all kinds of foods, with the typical Indonesian cuisine, Italian, Indian, Greek cuisine even some with Spanish food. The street Legian and Seminak are in the continuation of each other and go parallel to the beach of Arena Rubia, which extends for several kilometers and where hundreds of people take advantage to enjoy with family, relax in the hammocks or even, some, start in the practice of Surfing. Do not hesitate to choose one of the bars or restaurants next to the beach to taste some aperitif, refreshment or dinner, while enjoying the view of the sunset over the Indian Ocean. Every day with a different color, and without a doubt, this is a beautiful image for the cover of the photo album!

Meals: Breakfast 

Accommodation: Hotel in Seminyak: Three options across different categories