Five Gentlemen in the Jungles of Java

Given the whole “circle of life” theme that I included without too much subtlety in my last posting on Bromo, it seems rather appropriate that my next destination owes its present verdant state to a massive volcanic cataclysm which took place some time ago.

In 1883, Krakatoa erupted for the first time in over 200 years. Well, not so much erupting as exploding with a force so great as to wipe itself out pretty much entirely. The current volcano is in fact Anak Krakatoa "Child of Krakatoa" a new volcano which started emerging in 1928. The explosion was apparently the loudest noise ever recorded by humanity and the eruption resulted in a tidal wave which wiped out much of the surrounding region. Situated in the channel that separates Java and Sumatra, it was the coasts of these two islands that bore the brunt of the tsunami. One region badly impacted was Ujung Kulon- the small peninsula that marks the westernmost point of Java. A moderately populated agricultural region was simply wiped out- not only the human population, but more or less all flora and fauna.

There was no real attempt to repopulate Ujung Kulon. The area was left largely untouched- a move that has led to the creation of the unspoiled national park we now have.

Not so many people visit- stuck on the western tip of Java it isn’t on the way to anywhere. However, if you can bear the five hour drive out of Jakarta and are willing to tolerate less than five star accommodation, you are treated to an almost prehistoric wilderness, clear waters and a profusion of wildlife.

Unlike the other destinations visited this year, this was a trip made by only one Chubb. I wasn’t alone, mind you- this was a four day boys’ trip organized by Kenneth, a Belgian friend of ours. The intrepid and multinational band of five consisted of the two of us, another Belgian- JF, Howard from South Africa and Christian, a German chap working for an Italian lollypop company. We all knew each other vaguely, but I was a little nervous- four days at such close quarters would surely result in the establishment of either lifelong friendships or murder charges!

We started out bright and early Saturday morning. I arrived at Kenneth’s house shortly before 6am and, once the others had arrived we were on the road by about 6.30. Now, the first impressions weren’t that great. For one thing the “air conditioned minibus” mentioned in the itinerary was certainly air conditioned but sadly it was a Kijang. The six hour stretch out and snooze wasn’t going to happen. Five guys fitted in ok, but the baggage and the all important cool box full of beer resulted in things being a bit tight. Soon enough though, all was packed and the first beers had been cracked open before we’d reached the main road. 

Kenneth and Howard in the "Minibus"

It was on the toll road however, that the second minor problem began to manifest. Christian noticed from the back of the car that our driver seemed to be blinking quite often and that his eyes seemed to spend more time in the closed, “mid blink” position than in the open “after blink” position. In fact, he wasn’t blinking so much as nodding off. The problem was promptly resolved by pulling over at a service station, banishing the driver to the passenger seat and letting Kenneth take over at the wheel. Problem solved and after several hours of engaging in the typical Indonesian relaxation technique of constantly texting his mates, our driver was eventually fit enough to drive once more.

Shortly before midday, we arrived at  Sumur- not so much a town as a ramshackle mishmash of small buildings and winding narrow roads. Within half an hour we’d met up with Iman our guide and transplanted ourselves from car to beach, to small boat to the slightly larger boat that would be ours for the next few days. The holiday had undoubtedly begun a few hours earlier with the first can of beer, but it was only upon hitting the high sea that the adventure had properly got started.

Local raft built for night fishing

The clear waters of Ujung Kulon

After an hour or so on the boat was a stop over at an island so small it wasn’t even marked- our first snorkeling of the trip. In line with the rest of the aquatic part of the holiday, the water was warm and ridiculously clear. An hour later we were back on the boat heading to Pulau Handaleum, another small island that was to be our stopping place for the night.

All was peaceful that evening as we sat on the veranda of the eco lodge on Handaleum. Sun was setting over the water and we were supping a final sundowner ahead of dinner- peace reigned. Iman  then nonchalantly let us know that we were shortly to be joined by another party- 25 students from Jakarta. Aha- so not quite so peaceful after all. They arrived around 9pm as were digesting some excellent freshly caught fish- a never ending parade of young ladies with the occasional lad as chaperone. Kenneth immediately decided to break the ice by approaching them with a broomstick and pretending he was the cleaner. He was greeted by giggles- sadly not the giggles of girls enjoying the exotic wit of a cool older man but the confused, nervous giggle that an Indonesian might give when approached by a clearly senile middle aged foreigner. Kenneth promptly gave up the ghost and rejoined us.

Our lodge on Pulau Handaleum

The middle aged man theme re established itself around midnight. We’d been in bed a couple of hours by then struggling to sleep amid the heat, mosquitoes, the heat caused by having to use a mosquito net and 25 very noisy students. I lay in bed grumbling to myself in true British style, when to the rescue came our grumpy old man in chief, JF. All of a sudden, the noisy chatter was broken by an enraged middle aged Belgian giving a long and angry lecture on respect. I’m not sure they understood entirely, but the perfect silence that ensued for the night indicated that now both our Belgians had established a reputation as slightly odd and to be treated with fear!

Sunday began early as we left Handaleum at 7am. We had breakfast on the boat and made the short journey to the mainland where we were due our first exercise of the day- a two hour kayaking expedition up one of the many inland rivers. We soon got the hang of paddling and navigating and, slowly but steadily heading into the jungle interior, we felt like true explorers. The illusion held for the most part- perhaps broken only the one time when we rowed over a shallowly submerged log only to find the bloke at the back was a little heavy when the kayak ran aground. With a quiet grumble and I suspect a few local curses our guide climbed out of the boat, stood up in the river and pushed. Rowing up the river was a great experience. The canopy kept us very cool and we were able to truly view the jungle from the inside- though with the exception of one small sleeping python we didn’t see much fauna- the local rhinos were presumably hiding behind the trees.

View from the front of the kayak!

Getting back to the boat we chugged along to the far side of the mainland and arrived at the larger island of Pulau Peucang, our home for the remainder of our visit. The lodge here was far larger- several buildings looking onto a central field at which wild pigs, deer, monkeys and even the occasional monitor lizard were often to be found. However, the lodge wasn’t the point. We ditched our bags, got changed and headed straight to the beach, picking up a snorkel and mask on the way. It’s difficult to describe how good the snorkeling was here, other than to say those of us who had scuba dived before were clear that we were seeing stuff here you normally would be lucky to see on a far bigger dive- a real privilege. 

Barely 20 metres off the perfect white sandy beach and we were immersed in a world of colourful clownfish, large bright blue starfish, giant clams, the occasional octopus and, on one occasion even a turtle. We could have stayed for hours but sadly had to pack up and prepare for our first jungle walk. This first walk was muddy more than tiring, with a nice wide path and very flat terrain. Over two hours we walked the length of Peucang, finally emerging from the jungle onto a rocky beach. To be honest though, as we tramped back to the lodge I was looking forward to a relaxing evening- a day of kayaking, snorkeling and walking had done its work!

Evening began well enough. The veranda had become an amusing battleground where competing bands of humans and monkeys competed for dominance. You couldn’t turn your gaze for more than a minute without a monkey trying to sneak up and steal something. Over time our gaze was turned but boy was it worth it. Up onto the veranda came not a small monkey but a large and aggressive wild pig which immediately set about menacing Howard. Howard disappeared over the side of the veranda while his loyal band of mates either doubled up laughing or took photos. Karma came to bite us though as, while we’d been distracted, a monkey dashed up and stole a can of beer- gone in the flash of an eye. That event more or less marked the end of Sunday. After an amazing fish supper, nobody had the energy to stay awake- the poor sleep of the previous night, combined with the busy day had taken their toll. All of us were out like a light!

Howard being menaced by a pig

Our final full day at Ujung Kulon again began early, with a morning trip to the mainland for another jungle trek. This time the walking was a little harder, with the jungle so thick our guide needed to hack away with his machete to get us through. Again after an hour or so of walking we reached our destination- the tip of the mainland and the westernmost point of Java. Shortly before the jungle broke we came across a couple of ruined buildings. The first, according to Iman was a Dutch prison used to house Indonesian dissenters well away from pretty much anyone. The second, reached by a pretty steep climb, was a lookout point used both by the Dutch and then upgraded by the Japanese through the war. According to Iman though, even this high point wasn’t spared back in 1883- the tidal wave was high enough even to wipe out this facility. Only a few metres on, the jungle broke and we came out onto a very quiet and almost secret spot, that reminded me of something from Jurassic Park- a small clearing looking out onto the ocean.

Lost world on the tip of Java

That afternoon, we went our separate ways. Conscious of the fact that I burn just by looking at the sun, I sat out the final snorkeling session and read a book on the veranda. We had one more, short evening stroll before dinner and then marked our last night away in proper manly style by lighting a beach bonfire. The fire took a while to light but we got there in the end. 

Campfire on the beach

After days of swimming, walking and kayaking, with the added joys of fighting with pigs and scaring students, the time would soon come for us to leave this unspoilt piece of heaven and make the long journey home. Thanks to a maniac driver, the journey home was considerably shorter than we’d feared, but that’s another story.

L- R:  Kenneth, Howard, Me, Christian, JF

In the end, we’d done all we’d hoped to do. We’d visited a part of Indonesia very few get round to seeing. We’d visited a good part of it by various means of locomotion and had a lot of fun doing so. Most importantly, we’d managed to spend four days in close proximity without killing each other- a good result all round.