YA LEUM.29 — Among the Rangers of North Sumatra
The aim of North Sumatra was to discover wild nature. This island is not yet too explored, there is raw nature everywhere and to find tourists you must to do the effort. Bali, Lombok and Java are popular destinations, but North Sumatra is still intact.
From Medan, we left to Bukit Lawang. A small village in the North perfect to immerse in the wild green jungle and so known to see the orangutans. The rainforest around Bukit Lawang is part of the Gunung Leuser National Park, one of the most diverse forest ecosystems on the planet, with leopards, baboons, macaque, etc…
The adventure started before arriving. From Medan, we took such a small bus I could not even sit straight. The more time passed, the more people would get in. I sat at the entrance, so each person would come in, would give me the sign to squeeze. Squeeze where? I was already sitting with half of my body on top of Mathieu. Four hours of trying to find a position that would work. At some point, Mathieu and I burst out laughing of such incredible situation.
We arrived in the evening at the last destination which was still far from Bukit Lawang. I do not remember how, but I had the phone number of someone who could pick us up and take us to the last destination. It was raining cats and dogs. We left the bus, as usual, nothing much going on, besides other motorbikes picking up people. We waited, and finally indeed someone showed up, after everyone left. Yes, we did wonder if this person would show up…. You never know if people understand well what you say on the phone…
We arrived in Bukit Lawang, and on contrary of what I was expecting, it felt a ghost town. Besides being in low season, it is common such small villages are still western-free.
Although villages become popular for their sightseeing, they still offer the basic commodities so tourists can have access to the experiences in the nature. In fact, that is all we need, and it feels great to have still the local feeling.
We looked for an accommodation and information about the jungle trek. For our biggest amazement, it was so expensive and way out of our backpacker budget. We still walked around to see other options, but there were in total three options to do the trek. We could not believe…it was such a hassle to get to the famous town of Bukit Lawang and now, we could not exactly afford such an expensive trek. We heard there were other places where you could see the orangutans…but we were not sure about the location. We were so demotivated that night, we even decided just to pitch the tent and leave in the morning to another town.
We pitched the tent slightly outside the town, had dinner and went to sleep.
Next day in the morning, we cooked oats in our small stove, got a coffee in town, walked around, and already with the backpacks on, stopped shortly at the Gunung Leuser National Park Rehabilitation and Protection Center to see a small exhibition about the natural reserve, just before leaving the town.
What happened next, it was a true lesson on how your life can turn into new directions so quickly.
We are about to leave the center, when a local nicely chatted to us and asked “so, did you enjoy the natural reserve? Was it nice to see the animals? “
“Well….!!”- we said, ashamed to say we were leaving because we found everything too expensive.
“I agree, it is so expensive here. And it is even so difficult to find the orangutans in this period. But I have an idea that maybe can interest you…” — said the nice guy while smoking a cigarette
An idea coming from a local with no touristic offers? Yes! I think we already said yes, even before listening.
However, that was not what my parents taught me.
“So, I could show you the forest and maybe we could find some wild animals, and I just would like to ask you if you could teach English to our kids. The place is not here, it is in a remote area, with not even phone connection. The place is called Pamah Semelir. I go there twice a week when I am out of patrol to teach them English. They have not seen a white person before. Do you want it ?” — he asked us
Do we want? That is all we want! That and nothing else!
“But how do we go there?” — I asked a bit curious
“How many backpacks do you have? Well…that looks a bit too much. It is ok! You will come with us by motorbike. You in one motorbike, and your boyfriend in another motorbike.
Do you both still have something to do? We must leave soon, because it will rain heavily in the afternoon and to get there takes four hours by motorbike. Let’s avoid to arrive in the evening. ”
There was a huge concern in his face about the rain…. Little I know what was about to come.
First, let me point something.
We were talking to a Ranger.
The Rangers are the people, usually men, who patrol the forest and the wildlife, combat illegal hunting, deactivate traps and snares, and engage with local communities.
Patrolling is one of the most relevant parts of a Ranger’s job. They go inside the forest for up to 12 days to patrol the area, collect information about the wildlife, search for illegal activities, and so on…
They take large backpacks and tents, food and water supplies, patrol all day and sleep in the forest at night. One Ranger must always be awake at night to watch over the area, while the rest sleeps. They alternate. The forests are dense so there is no station where they can rest. The deep forest is a world where we do not belong.
Rangers know everything about the forest, they listen and observe nature like no other. They record everything in cameras, mobile phones and booklets.
They rest in the trees, walk with the orangutans, and mingle with the birds.
Indra, our new friend, introduced us to the other rangers and the boss of all of them.
“Let us have lunch first! We always eat there. We must eat before we start the journey. The lady makes a delicious fried rice” — Indra said enthusiastically, I guess because of his new friends too.
At the local restaurant, some Rangers and other people from the nature reserve were already eating. They all hosted us with the biggest smile, curious to know about these two white people and thanking us to go to Pamah Semelir.
“There, It is the real nature. No one goes there besides us. You will love it and the boys will show you around. You stay as long as you want”.
I was blown away, in a fraction of second our life changed. Fifteen minutes ago, we were two backpackers about to take a bus to return to the main city to visit a touristic destination.
Now, we were in the middle of the people who patrol and maintain the wildlife from the inside willing to take us in. The only thing they asked was if we could spend time with the kids. That is, it? For real? That is not even a point, we love that!
The time was passing, sometimes they would mention the rain, but apparently, they were still organizing the motorbikes. Finally, after some time, they packed us in the motorbike but that was a challenge.
You need to picture the following
Mathieu’s backpack weighted 18 kilos, on each side there were two mattresses hanging, in the front part he had the driver’s backpack on top of its own small backpack.
On my side, my backpack weighted 11 kilos. In front, I had my other backpack with laptop and camera material, I carried one more bag on my hand and Indra carried his own backpack in front.
We were heavy and uncomfortable.
On a motorbike ride, we must be as light as possible, because there is no place to rest. Besides that, we had to carry the weight of the bags since they were not exactly hanging anywhere besides our hands.
I drove in Indra’s motorbike, he is really such a good and safe driver. Although a bit uncomfortable, I was in heaven.
The moment I finally managed to be with myself, I surrendered myself to the luck and love the world was always so prompt to give to me.
I felt lucky, free, and really traveling the world.
After one hour and half of pure joy on the back of the motorbike, the promised rain started.
For 30 minutes the rain was still weak, annoying, but weak. We stopped for a break; we were already partially soaked. We were just crossing fingers it would not get worse than this. We would arrive wet, but it would be still doable for three hours longer of motorbike ride.
It didn’t just get worse but got to a level the rangers said they haven’t been on the road with such rain for so long.
It started raining so heavily we could barely hear what the person in front was saying. The day started becoming more and more grey, so visibility worsened. We were still in the middle of the day.
We could not make more stops because we needed to arrive as soon as possible, but still with moderate speed.
I saw Indra so incredibly focused on the road, it even touched me.
Eventually it darkened, we still had one more hour and half to go.
That was when the big challenge started.
The roads were getting flooded, Indra couldn’t see one-meter away, the roads were poorly illuminated as we are getting into the countryside, my arms were shaking of holding the weight of the bags and I had rain until my throat.
Mathieu was even worse because he struggles a lot with cold and he was even carrying double the weight as me.
I did not panic at all, I felt Indra and I were a team. So, I had to be attentive on the road too and assure he was comfortable. He constantly asked me if I was doing fine and I felt how careful he was driving specially because of me.
When looking on the side, Mathieu and the other Ranger were as struggling as us. Since Indra was more experienced, so he was more under control.
The rain did not get any better, so did not we.
We arrived at Pamah Semelir in the night. We entered in a tiny village and went directly to the house, which is the Rangers’ station.
Indra and I were the first ones arriving to open the door and clean the entrance.
I arrived completely soaked and cold and Indra was not better either. He was also shaking from the cold and literally everything was wet.
Ten minutes later, Mathieu and the other Ranger arrived and parked at the front door.
Mathieu was static, shaking of so much cold, soaked from bottom to toe, and he could not move from the motorbike of so much pressure he did to hold all the bags.
Mathieu always smile, but in that moment, he was shaking so hard and with the body so stiff, he could not move, not even blink his eyes.
It took me a few seconds to realize how he was, but I immediately ran to him to remove all the bags we were carrying. Of course, also to help the other Ranger.
The stress of the journey was so intense, we were as laughing as incredulous of what we just passed to.
We took one hour to dry all the water we left behind and finally met with the other Rangers and cook some warm ramen.
We all sat on the couch, wrapped in blankets, eating delicious ramen!
That evening, although so tired, we talked about so many things!
It was our first time inside living in the same home with the Rangers who patrol the forest of North Sumatra.
I was fascinated. Not by the place, but by being around so strong, courageous, and sensitive men.
Men who decided to be in the front line to protect the nature we all need. Men who dare to be in harsh and dangerous conditions, with poor salaries, and many times far away from their families so we can have better oxygen, less global warming, less desertification, balanced ecosystems, better health, and quality agriculture. For us and for our grandchildren. We cannot be healthy if our environment is unhealthy.
They offered us the best room, we placed the only dry sleeping bag on top of the thin mattress and we looked at each other, once again, “Is this real?”.
We kissed and slept in less than a minute.
Setembro 2017,
Patricia Assis
There are loads of initiatives on how we can support the Rangers.
Some examples, feel free to make your own research.
