The primate route: gorillas in Africa and orangutans in Asia
MOUNTAIN GORILLAS IN RWANDA, UGANDA OR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
If you are one of those who have never been to Africa and the idea scares you, visit rwanda . It is a little paradise in which everything works (by African standards) and one of the most developed states on the continent, thanks to the post-genocide funds that Western countries allocate each year to this African homeland.
In Rwanda they assure you the encounter with gorillas. It is an experience difficult to match. Did you know that your nose is the equivalent of our fingerprint?
But before going into the jungle, you have to request a permit via the Internet from the Rwanda Development Panel, and make a transfer for the corresponding value: 375 dollars per person if you are a resident of Rwanda or East Africa, or 750 if you are a tourist to the use. Once you have the approved permit , you can start applying for the visa, But that is another story.
AND l Volcanoes National Park , where Rwanda joins Uganda and the DRC, is the habitat of gorillas. Musanze is the closest town, and has many accommodations, although given that you have to get up early (a little) to visit the primates, a good option is to stay at Kinigi Guest House, which is a few meters from the access entrance to the reserve. It's very basic but it includes breakfast and the enclave is spectacular.
Gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park
As for the travel options to the DRC, the country is somewhat unstable (especially in its eastern part, the border with Rwanda, which is the one that concerns us), and despite being much cheaper to visit gorillas than on Rwandan soil , there is the added risk of leaving without seeing anything, like Diane Fossey empty handed.
More options exist in Uganda , a much more stable country than the Congo. With a seductive name, the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest home to six groups of mountain gorillas.
If you want to add a hippy touch to your visit to the Ugandan gorillas, you can do it mounted on one of the Volkswagen Kombi that Kombi Nation makes available to its customers.
From there, it's time to enjoy the meeting. It lasts an hour and it will pass as if it were thirty seconds. And remember! Don't get closer than seven meters! Although no one seems to have given the gorillas the same safety guidelines...
Track gorillas in Bwindi
ORANGUTANS IN INDONESIA AND MALAYSIA
The hidden prophecy of The Jungle Book gives some shit. Remember when King Louie sings to Mowgli that he wants fire to be like him? Well, King Louie is an orangutan that you can see in the **islands of Sumatra (Indonesia) and Borneo (in parts of Indonesia and Malaysia, but not in Brunei) **.
And it is as sad as it is curious that he asked Mowgli for the fire, since destiny -and man, in particular- has taken him to the jungles of Sumatra and Borneo, creating a huge environmental problem: the burning of virgin forests and of high ecological value to transform gigantic extensions of these islands into palm oil plantations has made Indonesia the third country in the world that emits the most greenhouse gases, after the United States and China. Still, fortunately, they can be seen in several local reserves, such as the Tanjung Puting National Park , in southern Borneo.
In addition to learning about the ecological challenges facing orangutans and other rainforest animals, the experience will not be complete if you do not board a klotok , a kind of two-story ship, on whose upper deck you can sleep, eat, read and enjoy the river that runs through the park, the fauna and, at night, also the stars.
Our 'cousins' from Borneo
The guides will lead you to the platforms where a food supplement is provided to the inhabitants of the forest (not in vain “orang hutan” means in the local language "person of the forest") with abundant bananas. Many of them have been rescued from conflict zones with humans and reintroduced into the jungle . Be careful not to do something as absurd as photographing yourself hugging one, as orangutans get the same diseases as humans and you could be doing the creature a disservice. According to the Basque primatologist Karmele Llano, an authority on the subject with years of experience in orangutan rescue and reintegration in Indonesia.
If you are interested in learning more about orangutans, nature and conservation, you can book your trip with the ecotourism specialists Orangutan Odysseys, with whom Llano and his companions from International Animal Rescue they are trying to develop sustainable tourism. In Pangkalan Bun , in southern Borneo and near Tanjung Puting Park, the environmental group Yayorin offers accommodation in cabins set in the gardens of its headquarters. Basic but more than decent and at a very reasonable price.
In Malaysia, Sepilok is the preferred destination for the sighting of these arboreal primates. It is located a hundred kilometers east of Kota Kinabalu, a base to explore another of the country's major tourist attractions, Mount Kinabalu.
In both Indonesia and Malaysia, permits are obtained at the moment and for a ridiculous price (they do not exceed 15 euros, and you have to pay a small supplement for taking a camera) in the offices of the natural parks themselves . Visas can be done upon arrival at their airports. And good? Didn't you ever think that visiting your cousins would be so entertaining?
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Orangutans in Borneo