Kalimantan Tour Operator
February 18, 2009
Mahakam River Dayak Longhouse Adventure Tours
The Fascinating Mahakam River at Indonesia Borneo Island is a intriguing history of Sultan Kingdoms and traditional Dayak Tribes, with a wealth of ecological and cultural treasures that survive deep within the rainforest jungle of Indonesia ’s largest island. It's the highway into Kalimantan ’s dense jungle where you can discover the rich Dayak Culture and their Longhouses. The grand diversity of exotic flora and wildlife from black orchids to fresh water dolphins and orangutans give you an unforgettable trip at East Kalimantans.
MAHAKAM RIVER
The Mahakam River is the most important traffic route in East-Kalimantan. Between the spring in the mountains and the delta along the coast, the river measures somewhere 1.000 kilometers. In between several big rivers mouth in the Mahakam River. Big ships use the big river system until the highlands, where rapids eventually make any progress impossible; from there “longboats” (big canoos with motors) are used.
UPPER MAHAKAM RIVER
The Mahakam springs in the 1500 to 2000 meter high Müller Range, not too far from the border with Sarawak. Before streaming down about 100 kilometers to the first Dayak village, Long Apari, three side-rivers - Apari, Hubung and Kasau - join the Mahakam. After several dozen small mountain villages, the river falls down about 150 meters through several dangerous rapids. Besides several noisy longboat there is no other traffic here. The Dayak along the Upper-Mahakam mainly live from agriculture ( ladang cultures ). Incidental income are gained from birds nests, ratten and washed gold. Because of the hard and dangerous transport through the rapids, basic goods are extensively expensife. Every once in a while a canoo turns upside down: the valuable goods are lost and sometimes also their even more expensife motors. People also get drowned regularly.
MIDDLE MAHAKAM RIVER
The village of Long Bagun, on threehundred kilometers from the spring of the Mahakam, is the final destination of traffic on the river, besides several longbot. The river reaches the small city of Long Iram through several more than 150 km long valleys, this is the final destination of the organised, heavy traffic. A big part of the year, smaller ships will continue the trip to Long Bagun, but a period of drought in the hinterlands can cause the waterlevel to drop very fast and make traffic impossible.
COAST & DELTA OF THE MAHAKAM RIVER
After Long Iram, the river widens. The brown water turns through the endless lowlands to the sea. Slowly the small villages are replaced by small cities. Through the sky, the distance between Long Iram and Samarinda is about 175 kilometers but over water it's about twice that distance. Near Muara Pahu, where a big side-river flows in the Mahakam, the hungry traveller is welcomed by a long row of food stalls. Several hours downstream, the river lingers between four big lakes. After that is streams towards the north to meet it's most important side rivers near Muara Kaman, the Kedang Kepala and Belayan. Most boats will stop for a dinner on Senoni, about 30 km downstream from Muara Kaman. Sometimes there is cold beer or river lobster; after a visit to the inlands, Senoni is the place to be for a culinair trip. Near Tenggarong, the governmental center of the Mahakam beaken, the river becomes a crowded traffic route for ships in all kinds and sizes. This lively crowd is kept until Samarinda, where the seaworthy ships make themselves ready for departure to Makassar Strait, 60 km to the east.
Tour Destination : Mahakam River, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
Main Interest & Things to do :
Jungle trek, and exploring the Flora and Fauna which can't be found anywhere else in the world, as only in along this Mahakam River which is the second longest River in Indonesia, and Third longest in the World, and steams from the Muller Mountains into the Sulawesi Sea. Several Tourism object can be found along the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan as : Muara Muntai, Tanjung Isuy & Mancong, as Dayak Benuaq villages with Longhouses, settled along the Jempang Lake, surrounded with lowland rainforest and wild life. Melak, Kersik Luwai National Park, Eheng and Ombau Asa villages, at the middle pasrt of the Mahakam River, Kersik Luwai as a national Park is famous of it's wild and Black Orchid, Eheng is a Tunjung Dayak village with a Traditional Longhouse, Ombau Asa has a waterfall as nature beauty,Melak is a jump off point for further routes into the Kalimantan hinterland.Data Bilang and Rukun Damai, are Dayak Bahau and Dayak Kenyah villages with traditional Culture and Longhouses, surrounded by tropical rainforest and jungle.Long Bagun is the last village which can reached with public river transport, and is a transit place for further inland transportation facilities, from here Longboats here to be chartered, crossing the dangerous rapids, to move on to the upper Mahakam River area or trekking cross Borneo to west Kalimantan either to the Apokayan area.Long Apari as the last village at the Mahakam River with traditional Dayak Culture and virgin Rainforest, traditional blow pipe hunting and forest trekking can be done here.Recommended visit time for the Mahakam River is 3 till 15 days.
Culture : Dayak Benuaq, Dayak Tunjung, Dayak Modang, Dayak Kenyah, Dayak Bahau, Dayak Kayan, Dayak Punan, Kutai
Flora & Fauna : Tropical Rainforest and Wild lifeTour Starting Point : Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
Tour Transport Possibilities : by public bus or chartered car from Balikpapan to Samarinda and by public ferry or chartered motor canoe cruising up the Mahakam River
Tour Ending Point : Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
Travel Distance to enry point : 1400 Km till Long Apari from Balikpapan Airport
Tour Duration : Short Get Through Visit 3 to 8 Days
Accommodation & Hotels : Simple Hotels, Local Houses or Jungle Camp
Tour Grade : Usual till Challenging
Samarinda Balikpapan Long Apari Tiong Ohang Long Pahangai Long Iram Barong Tongkok Melak Tanjung Isuy Kersik Luway National Park Muara Muntai Tenggarong Dolphins Tanjung Redep Kuati National Park Derawan Kayan River
Join us for a once-in-a-lifetime exploration Tour of the Kalimantan Island!
Kalimantan Tours
The Passion for Adventure Travelers
Borneo Island is the land of Dayak tribes and lush rainforests containing some of the richest flora and fauna in the world. The Indonesian part of Borneo is called “Kalimantan” and covers the lower two-thirds of the island with a total of 540,000 sq kms. The northern part of Borneo Island consists of Malaysian Sabah & Sarawak and the tiny oil-rich sultanate, Brunei.
The heart of Kalimantan is made up of mountain ranges rising up to 2,000 meters above sea level. Great rivers cascade down from the highlands and are crucial infrastructure channels between the coast and the deep interior. Boats of all sizes and shapes ply the river “highways”.
The jungle regions of the hinterland are home to 200 Dayak tribes who still live in communal dwellings. While their headhunting activities were left behind during the Dutch colonial period at the beginning of the 20th century, they have kept their original culture influenced by an animistic religion. Hunting in the forest with blowpipes, medicine men and living in harmony with nature are still very much alive.Kalimantan is a world where original culture and nature collide. The Dayak arts are extraordinary. Vibrant designs, the characteristic flowing geometric patterns used in portraying scenes of jungle life, reflect Chinese and Vietnamese Dong Son influences.
The flora and fauna of Kalimantan are nothing short of amazing, with rare forest denizens such as orangutans, proboscis monkeys, sun bears and pangolins. Over 600 species of birds fill the forest canopies, freshwater dolphins found nowhere else on earth ply the mighty Mahakam River, and rare black orchids flourish.
Tourism Development
While tourism development is still poor in the hinterland, De’Gigant Tours is committed to changing this by funding local communities in knowledge, and by sponsoring projects such as orangutan rehabilitation and the Freshwater Dolphin Research Station in Muara Pahu.
Expeditions
Kalimantan’s dense jungles and wide expanse of wetlands have traditionally kept the region isolated from all but the most adventurous travelers, and along the upper reaches of the rivers the rich Dayak cultures await discovery.
With 15 years combined tourism industry experience and fluent in several local languages and dialects, De’Gigant Tours showed us an incredible culture, where village elders mark their status with intricate body tattoos and incredibly heavy ear adornments. As warmly welcomed guests in traditional longhouses, we experienced the grand diversity of exotic flora and wildlife on captivating jungle explorations and unforgettable encounters in our village visits.
De’Gigant Tours™ is dedicated to providing travelers the tour of their dreams into the deep interior of mystic Kalimantan. They can arrange itineraries to suit every type of traveler, whether you’re a backpacker or prefer more comfortable “citified” accommodations and transportation. Jungle trekking off the beaten path in search of endangered flora and fauna, including black orchids, orangutans and freshwater dolphins; visits to remote Dayak tribes; river cruises and cross-country hiking. These are only some of the adventures that De’Gigant Tours™ offers you. The expeditions are a collection of explorations that reflect the particular passions of favorite places. They have been designed for those in search of unforgettable experiences and for those who are adventurous in body and spirit.
NATIONAL PARKS OF EAST KALIMANTAN
Gateway to Kutai National Park
Kutai National Park is a lowland forest area with a number of principal vegetation types, including coastal/mangrove forest, freshwater swamp forest, kerangas forest, lowland flooding forest, ulin/meranti/kapur forest, and mixed Dipterocarpaceae forest. This Park is also part of the largest relatively pristine ulin forest in Indonesia...read more
Gateway to Kayan Mentarang National Park
Kayan Mentarang National Park covers an area of 1,600,000 ha and is located in the far interior of East Kalimantan province. The park comprises the largest remaining block of rainforest in Borneo and as such forms a very important refuge for numerous species, including many species that are endemic to the Bornean mountain bioregion..read more
Kersik Luway Nature Reserve
Kersik Luway is nature reserve between Melak and Barong Tongkok, 18 kilometers to the south. The "Black Orchid" (Coelogyne pandurata) which blossoms between April and December, grow s on shrubs in this 5,000 hectare reserve. Many hundred of other orchid species also grow in this forest...read more
NATIONAL PARKS OF CENTRAL KALIMANTAN
Gateway to Tanjung Puting & Camp Leakey
Endangered and protected species of animal inhabiting the Park include the orangutan (Pongo satyrus), proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus), maroon leaf monkey (Presbytis rubicunda rubida), sun bear (Helarctos malayanus euryspilus), lesser Malay mouse deer (Tragulus javanicus klossii), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), and leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis borneoensis)...read more
Tangkiling National Park
Tangkiling National Park along the Kahayan River near Palangkaraya, has a lot of endangered spieces of animals, including the Orangutan, clouded leopard and a lot more. The Traditional Dayak Culture along the Kahayan and her side rivers as the Katingan River, and the Rungan River with it's dense jungle, make Tangiling National Park the most completed National Park for the adventures travelers...read more
NATIONAL PARKS OF WEST KALIMANTAN
Gateway to Danau Sentarum
Danau Sentarum National Park (DSNP),is located in a remote area of West Kalimantan, Indonesia, and situated close to the Malaysian border of Sarawak, approximately 700 km. inland from the provincial capital, Pontianak. DSNP is an area of interconnected seasonal lakes and seasonally flooded tropical forests with the water catchment consisting of lowland tropical forest in the hills and flooded forest in the low-lying areas...read more
Gunung Palung National Park
This 100,000 ha (241,700 acres) park is located on the southwestern coast of Borneo. It is rich in rain forest habitats and plant and animal biodiversity. It has coastal mangrove forest and fresh and brackish water swamp forest, lowland peat swamp forest, various types of lowland forest, submontane and montane forest. Until recently its wildlife populations were undisturbed...read more
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