Seeing wild orangutans, gibbons and fireflies in Sumatra's Bukit Lawang
- Keira Proust
- Mar 9
- 6 min read
The highlight of our trip so far happened on the banks of a stunning river in Gunung Leuser National Park. Bukit Lawang sits tucked up in the northern Sumatran hills. It's a peaceful riverside town with lots of infrastructure set up for visitors, albeit jungle-style. We spent five nights, including one deep in the jungle, soaking up nature and watching the incredible wildlife (orangutans, gibbons, hornbills etc) pass us by.
Getting to Bukit Lawang
After spending a night in Sumatra's capital, we caught a public bus from Medan to Bukit Lawang. We took a Grab to the Terminal Pinang Baris Medan to catch a public bus to the jungle town. The Grab dropped us off and we were piled into the first bus on the strip. It cost 50,000 rupiah ($5pp) for the trip, although we've heard some travellers have haggled for a cheaper price. The bus ride provided us with our first experience of authentic Indonesian travel as the driver blindly overtook trucks, crashed over potholes and had several near misses on the windy, narrow roads. The three-hour trip was filled with devastating views of palm oil plantations. Like much of Malaysia, Sumatra has a major deforestation problem in the name of palm oil. Luckily, the formation of the Gunung Leuser National Park in 1980 has protected around 800,000 hectares of rainforest and the species within. Poachers and illegal plantations/clearing still put the ecosystem at risk but the national park remains one of the best places to see many primates in the wild. We miraculously arrived at Gotong Royong alive and found that the owner of our accommodation had organised two locals to pick us up by motorbike and take us into Bukit Lawang. Once we arrived in the town we were surrounded by the jungle, monkeys and a beautiful flowing river.
Watch our two-day trek experience:
Exploring Bukit Lawang
We spent our first day relaxing by the river, having lunch while watching monitor lizards and cheeky macaques in the distant trees and saying hello to the local children. The accommodation in Bukit Lawang is mostly set along both sides of the Bohorok River. We had to cross a rickety wooden bridge to reach our accommodation, Thomas' Retreat.
We stayed in a cute little cabin and Thomas, the owner, helped organise our overnight jungle trek. It was a beautiful location and the staff were wonderful. Most of the restaurants and bars were on the other side of the river so we enjoyed a leisurely stroll most evenings for dinner and drinks. You could hear the river everywhere you went. Men carrying black tyres covered in rope often walked along the pathways in the hope that a tourist would rent one for the day to raft down the rapidly flowing river.
An overnight trek through the jungle
The third day in Bukit Lawang was the start of our jungle adventure. Our guides met us and Malina, another traveller, at 9am for the trek. We started at our accommodation and it wasn't long before we had made it to the start of the Gungung Leuser National Park. We spotted half a dozen adorable Thomas leaf monkeys, an endemic species to Sumatra, before we reached the park entrance. We also passed old rubber plantations, huge rock formations and a few leeches along the way. As we made our way deeper into the forest we began to spot even more amazing animals! Our guides, Dino and Randy, had the most incredible eyesight and hearing. They pointed out insects and lizards and identified many of the sounds coming from further within the jungle. Within the first two hours, we saw a spiny Sumatran lizard, dozens of monkeys and our first orangutan!!
We saw a total of 7 orangutans on the first day of trekking, including 4 adults and 3 babies. They were absolutely gorgeous. I'd never seen orangutans up so close in the wild before. A rehabilitation centre had opened in the area in the 1970s and many of the orangutans were raised there. The centre closed in the early 2000s and the orangutans were released back into the wild, but many are still used to humans and seem not to shy away from visitors. I reckon some were even posing for us. But it was still an insanely wonderful experience. I couldn't believe how lucky we were to spot so many amazing creatures in the wild! We also saw a little group of hornbills before we wound our way down to the campsite! I hadn't seen them since I was a child in Borneo so that was very cool.
We trekked up and down very steep, muddy slopes for eight hours before we made it to our resting place. So, we dove straight into the water when we arrived at the campsite. The huts were positioned on a beautiful stream and blue swimming hole. Our feet desperately needed the soothing soak. Our guides prepared us some lovely tea and coffee before night fell. We played some jungle games with Dino and were then treated to an incredible Indonesian feast by the stream. We had sambal with fish and chicken, tofu and tempeh, rice in banana leaf, crispy treats and curried vegetables. The best part was that fireflies danced around us as we enjoyed the food and company. It was a magical evening.
Sadly, I became quite sick shortly after dinner. I think I must be intolerant to something in one of the common sauces used in Indonesian cooking as my stomach has struggled with nausea and other symptoms on several occasions during the trip. I was incredibly stressed that I might have had food poisoning and didn't want to spend the night outside in the middle of the jungle, covered in insects. Luckily it wasn't and I was able to sleep inside. I woke up feeling well enough for another day of hiking and no one else got sick, so it was just me and my weak stomach!
After breakfast by the stream, we set off for another day of trekking at 10am. It was a hotter day than the one previously, so we were dripping in sweat within minutes. We saw another couple of orangutans, macaques, Thomas leaf monkeys and some cool insects on the second day. However, the coolest find of all was the white-handed gibbons! They swung effortlessly from tree to tree and had a groovy vibe. We made it back to the Bohorok River, after the steepest descent of the walk, at roughly 2pm. We dove into the turquoise stream and enjoyed some noodles for lunch before jumping into some tyres to raft back downstream to our accommodation. We got thoroughly soaked and enjoyed every minute!
The trek was truly the best experience of our trip, so far! I couldn't believe how much wildlife we spotted. Our guides were absolutely incredible. I will be coming back to Bukit Lawang again in the future. It's simply too good not to return!!! After a relaxing six days we made out way to Berastagi and Lake Toba, which became another trip highlight for us both.
Tips and tricks for visiting Bukit Lawang:
Getting there: The most common way people get to Bukit Lawang is from Medan. You can catch a public bus, tourist bus or private car from the capital city to the riverside town. If you are coming from the west or south of Sumatra you can organise a private car or tourist bus from Lake Toba and Berastagi. We were unable to find a convenient route via public transport.
Organising a jungle trek: Most accommodation in Bukit Lawang can organise this for you and many only let you stay at the accommodation if you do a trek with them. However, there are private trekking companies you can also use. We stayed at Thomas' Retreat and the 2D 1N trek they organised was perfect. You will see animals on the first day so even if you don't want to do an overnight trek you will be treated to wonderful wildlife. We heard that longer treks are better for people who are mostly interested in the old virgin forests as it becomes harder to spot wildlife in the dense jungle.
Recommended time: We spent 5 nights in Bukit Lawang. I think this is an excellent amount of time as you can relax, explore and make time for a jungle trek. However, you could do it in less time if all you wanted to do was the jungle trek.
Getting around: Bukit Lawang is set on the banks of a river so you can only travel by foot to most places. Motorbikes can travel down many of the small roads and your accommodation will likely be able to organise transport from the main hub/bus stop into the town.
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