Flat Stanley's Adventures

Some of the junior children at Lake Tekapo School, in the South Island of New Zealand, have sent their Flat Stanley’s on an adventure to Indonesia. Their class is learning about different cultures and their Stanleys are going to help out by sharing their experiences in Indonesia and maybe other destinations.

Sunday, 15 May 2016

Bukit Lawang, Sumatra

The Stanleys and I were in a hurry to leave Medan so I spent a lot of money and got a private car to pick us up and take us to Bukit Lawang.


Click for the full map

On the way, we drove past a lot of Palm Trees. Companies are cutting down the jungle to grow palm trees so they can make palm oil. Maybe you can do some research and find out what happens to the animals when their homes are cut down or burnt so palm trees can be grown. You could also do some research to find out what palm oil is used for. I think you will be surprised how many different foods and products it is used in.

Palm trees


Bukit Lawang is a small village on the edge of the Gunung Lesuser National Park.

Click to see Bukit Lawang

The view from our room
Breakfast time visitors.
One cheeky monkey even ran across the table in front of me.



Here are some of the sights I saw when I was trekking:

A Viper that had been relocated from the village




When I went on a jungle trek, I saw 8 Orangutans; 3 rehabilitated females, each with a baby and 2 wild males.

Orangutans get rehabilitated and released into back into the jungle if they have been kept as pets (which is now illegal) or injured. Bukit Lawang used to have a feeding station where the rehabilitated Orangutans could come twice a day for food if they were unable to forage for enough in the jungle. The people running the feeding station kept the food boring to encourage to Orangutans to fend for themselves.



Long Tail Monkeys (Macaque)

You can see the cuts villages have made to collect rubber.


Fruit snack in the jungle

Picnic lunch
Rice, vegetables, fish, noodles and rice crackers

This guy was attached to the back of my shoulder. It had a good feed of my blood but it still looks hungry.

Termites

Bukit Lawang Village.
The locals swim, wash themselves and their clothes in the river.
Tourists from other places in Indonesia come to go rafting on the river in rubber tubes.

My 'Jungle Taxi' that carried me through the rapids back to the village.
It was made of a large tube tied together with two smaller tubes.


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13 comments:

  1. Anonymous15 May 2016 at 18:27

    Godley asks:Is that melon a watermelon? It's a funny colour?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nikki Brass23 May 2016 at 08:13

      Hi Godley Class,
      Yes it is a watermelon. It tasted a little different to the red watermelon. I think it was a little bit sweeter.
      Nikki

      Delete
  2. Anonymous15 May 2016 at 18:35

    Charlie asks: How did you know which orangutans were male and female? lol
    Ava asks: Why did the monkey jump on the table? and Why are the boats made out of rubber?

    Preston asks: How big was the monkey?
    Xavier asks: Why do the locals wash their clothes in the river? and
    How long did it take for you to go down the river in the rubber boat?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nikki Brass23 May 2016 at 08:16

      Hi Charlie,
      If you look at the photos you will see that one on the orangutans has a beard. That is the male. The other one is a female. Male orangutans also grow bigger than females.
      Nikki

      Delete
    2. Nikki Brass23 May 2016 at 08:19

      Hi Ava,
      The monkey was hungry and wanted some of my breakfast.
      The jungle boat was made out of tyre tubes. They are light to carry up the side of the river then they are tied together. Because the tubes are full of air, they float well.
      Nikki

      Delete
    3. Nikki Brass23 May 2016 at 08:21

      Hi Preston,
      The monkey that ran across the table would have been about 50cm tall.
      Nikki

      Delete
    4. Nikki Brass23 May 2016 at 08:23

      Hi Preston.
      The locals that wash their clothes in the river don't have washing machines. The lay the clothes on a rock and scrub it with soap then rinse the soap out.
      It took about 15 minutes to float down the river back to the village.
      Nikki

      Delete
  3. Anonymous15 May 2016 at 18:37

    Godley asks: do they use the rubber from the trees to make the boats?
    Katsuto asks: What else do they use the rubber for?
    Fred asks: What does it sound like when the indonesian people speak? Could you send us a video?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nikki Brass23 May 2016 at 08:25

      Hi Godley,
      The locals that collect the rubber, sell it to a factory and the factory makes the rubber into lots of things like rubber bands, tyre tubes and shoe soles.
      Nikki

      Delete
    2. Nikki Brass23 May 2016 at 08:29

      Hi Katsuto,
      I wonder if Godley class can find out what else the rubber is used for?
      Here is a YouTube video I think you will find it interesting.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKq42J7SaWw
      Nikki

      Delete
    3. Nikki Brass23 May 2016 at 08:42

      Hi Fred,
      That's a really good question.Unfortunately I've left Indonesia now but this might be a helpful video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbM1j8TyXYE
      or you could translate words and sentences using Google Translate: https://translate.google.com/#en/id/Good%20morning%20from%20Indonesia
      Nikki

      Delete
  4. Anonymous15 May 2016 at 18:40

    Nick asks: Are you going on the rubber boat again and if you are could you send a video.
    Paquita asks: Why do they eat in the jungle?
    Preston asks: Where does the big melon come from?
    Charlie asks: Can you send us a video of the people cooking local food?
    Nicks asks: Do you have to pay to go on the rubber boat?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nikki Brass23 May 2016 at 08:56

      Hi Nick,
      Unfortunately I didn't go in the rubber tube boat agin but I will post some other videos for you.

      Hi Paquita,
      I ate in the jungle because my hike took a few hours. It's the same as you taking food to school because you are there for a long time.

      Hi Preston,
      I'm not sure where the watermelon was grown but my guide carried it into the jungle in his backpack.

      Hi Charlie,
      I will take some videos of people cooking food and post them soon.

      Hi Nick,
      I paid to go hiking in the jungle and the included the guide, the food and the ride home in the boat.

      From Nikki

      Delete

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