“We took the two night cruise to see the orangutans and visit the local Dayak river villages. Wow Borneo responded promptly to every question we had. Making reservations was very simple.
Top deck of the boat allows a lot of space to walk about and to sit in comfortable deck chairs to enjoy the river cruise. The dining area was at the back on the top deck as well. They have a great cook who prepared wonderful, tasty, local foods. I would say it’s some of the best food we’ve had in the two years we’ve lived in Indonesia.
The rooms were basic and the bed was very comfortable. We splurged on a room with air conditioning, which was well worth the added cost after an active hot day in Borneo. While there is no hot water for the showers, that’s not a real problem given that the water temperature was about 28 to 32 Celsius…It felt good to cool off a bit.
The visits to the Dayak villages were enjoyable. We took motorized canoes up the tributaries to access the villages, which added to the adventure. The villagers were very welcoming and you could tell that they were proud of their communities.
They had a local group of dancers and performers come right onto the ship in the afternoon. They were very proud of the dances that they performed. In fact, there are spirited competitions that the local community group had won several times. They were all wonderful.
The orangutans were a blast! We went to the orangutan rehabilitation center to learn about their initiative to return orangutans back into the wild. We took small motorized canoes up the tributaries to access the islands that the orangutans live on. They would come down by the river to watch us as we passed by. It was amazing to watch them as they would swing through the trees. Truly amazing creatures.
It was nice to get away from Jakarta to enjoy the beautiful scenery of this still wild area of Indonesia. It was great to stand out on the deck at night and watch all the stars. Ah, and what beautiful sunsets!
We had several hours between when the cruise ended and when our flight departed. We asked the crew if they could recommend places to visit in Palangkaraya. They called ahead to their friends and relatives and spontaneously made arrangements to tour the city for a nominal fee. They brought us to the old part of the city, which was fascinating to walk through.
This trip was great value for the money. It was an incredible memorable experience. One of the highlights of our stay in Indonesia.”
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