Tips for trip to Sumatra
Hello my fellow mammalwatchers,
I am planning a mammalwatching trip to Sumatra for next year. My goal would be to see all the species of Gibbon that inhabit the Island and the nearby Mentawai Islands.
Other species that I would love to see are both species or Orang utang, binturong and of course some of the more difficult bonus species such as Sunda clouded leopard or Sumatran tiger (I do not think it is realistic to go after Sumatran rhinos).
If there are fellow mammalwatchers that are willing to join a part of the trip you can send me a message.
I have already read all of the trip reports on this website, but additional tips or destinations are always welcome.
So far my plan is to do a multiday jungle trekking from Ketambe, followed by a few days in Bukit Lawang. From there I would like to visit the area where Tapanuli orang utang can be spotted. I would continue my trip with a few days to Siberut national park, to look for the Kloss Gibbon and the other rare primate species that this island has to offer. After returning by boat from the mainland, I am thinking about visiting Kerinci Seblat national park as I heard that this might be a good place to see Agile Gibbons. I am also planning on doing some spotting along the Tapan road.
My final part of the journey is still in the making, reading all the trip reports have made me quite enthusiastic to go and visit Way Kambas but I am wondering if it is really worth the high price. Another option is to go and visit the less explored Bukit Barisan National park and maybe Tambling wildlife nature reserve. Apparently in this region it is possible to see re-introduced Sumatran tigers from boat-safaris but the information that I have gotten on this is very limited (Though there is a CNN news article that shows Sumatran tigers from a boat trip).
I was wondering if anyone has any tips or additional information for me that might be useful for my trip? I am especially curious if anyone on this website has ever visited Bukit Barisan NP? It seems to be a large national park but there seems to be very little information available about the ecotourism possibilities. Other good places that I have missed are welcome as well, as I am still very flexible in my planning.
I am also really looking for a good location or region on Sumatra to see agile gibbons, as most people that I contacted did not see them, or only heard them in the distance.
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