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Next destination was to go see the crocodiles at Teritip Crocodile Breeding Farm . East Kalimantan is also famous with the crocodiles and in this farm, you can see many kinds of crocodilians of varying sizes and ages.  The farm is not far from Samboja Lodge; it takes more or less 35 mins. The entrance ticket is Rp. 15,000 ($1) each, doesn't matter whether you're domestic or international tourist. It was pouring rain when we got there but that wasn't going to stop us from witnessing these beasts. The crocodiles reside in water pens. There are probably more than 30 young crocodiles in one pen. Baby crocs This is also considered "baby" It was really sad to see because each water pen is too small for the crocs and this place is overpopulated, even though it is actually 5 hectares wide. The guides do not speak English so it is hard to get an explanation if you didn't speak Bahasa Indonesia. Joe was offered to feed the baby crocodiles with ...

Part of our tour at Samboja Lodge was the Sun Bear Sanctuary which we were led to after our experience at the Orangutan Island. After waiting to see the baby orangutans without any luck, we finally decided to check out the sun bears. Besides, the feeding time was over anyway and the orangutans had disappeared. For this trip, we had to hop on the car because the location is far from Orangutan Island. We were so excited to see sun bears because it was our first time experience. The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation is best known for its efforts in orangutan rescue and rehabilitation. But BOS is also involved in the rescue and confiscation of a number of other species, including the Malayan sun bear. At the request of the Government, Samboja Lestari is home to 46 sun bears, confiscated from the illegal pet trade or rescued from deforested areas. (Source: BOS Sun Bear Sanctuary ). The place is surrounded by fences and there is an observation deck for visitors out...

One of the highlights of our recent travels was getting to see Orangutans at the Orangutan Island. The orangutans (also spelled orang-utan , orangutang , or orang-utang ) are the two exclusively Asian species of extant great apes. Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, orangutans are currently found in only the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra. Classified in the genus Pongo , orangutans were considered to be one species. Since 1996, they have been divided into two species: the Bornean orangutan ( P. pygmaeus ) and the Sumatran orangutan ( P. abelii ).  ( Source: Wikipedia ) . We visited Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Indonesia this time, therefore the orangutans that we met were the Bornean orangutans. Many of the Orangutans on the islands are rescues with the ultimate goal of integrating them back into the wild; though, some will live the rest of their lives there.  We booked a standard room at Samboja Lodge, Balikpapan for one night for IDR 1,550,000 ($116) . Samboja Lodg...

It is always exciting to go to a place that we both haven't visited yet. It was our first time in Kalimantan and we chose to visit Balikpapan because Joe has been really wanting to see Orangutans since last year. We just arrived from Pahawang Island, Lampung the night before and took the first flight to Balikpapan the next day. We had already contacted the car rental ( Global Rent Car ) in the city previously so when we arrived at Sepinggan International Airport, Balikpapan, there was already a driver who picked us up there, so that was pretty convenient.  We decided to rent a car (plus the driver) because the cost was cheaper than reserving a transport from Samboja Lodge. Renting our own car also means we can go to several places first before we check in. Though, we only went to places around Samboja to save time. The first destination was Pantai Tanah Merah Tanjung Harapan Samboja. Mr. Amin (our driver) said that there are a lot of beautiful beaches in the city but we're...

Here are some pictures that we took during our time in Pahawang Island, Lampung. It's Joe's favorite past-time. Wonderful Indonesia!