We moved here just in time for Ally to participate in the middle school field trip to Borneo. Borneo is the largest island in Asia and the third-largest island in the world. It is shared by three different countries; Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei, and is home to the oldest rainforest in the world. Borneo’s rainforest, which is 130 million-years-old (70 million years older than the Amazon rainforest), is unrivaled in history and biodiversity.

Ally and the rest of the middle school group are flying to Jakarta today. After spending the night in a hotel, they will board another plane and fly into Pangkalan Bun (southwest Borneo) tomorrow morning. There, they will be picked up by a team of guides and taken to Kumai. Kumai maintains the largest area of protected swamp forest in South-East Asia, and it is home to Tanjung Puting National Park (established as a wildlife preserve in 1939). Today, its primary purpose is to protect Bornean orangutan from deforestation.

Once in Kumai, the students will spend five days and four nights on a klotok, a traditional wooden river boat. During the trip, they will explore the river, visit a rehabilitation center for orphaned orangutans, and trek into the rainforest to observe its natural flora and fauna. They will also have opportunities to participate in humanitarian projects at a village school, help restore a site that needs reforestation of trees, and visit the Gereen Turtle Preservation Project (where they can buy a turtle and release it back into the wild).

This is going to be an incredible learning experience for Ally in a myriad of ways. As soon as she returns, she will post pictures of the trip and write about her experiences.

Perjalanan aman, Ally!

Tembagapura’s middle school students and their teachers, Ms. Karen and Mr. James.

Ally and her friends, waiting for the armored bus that took them to the airport in the lowlands.

The students walking out of Family Shopping to board the bus.