I leave for Borneo in less than 48 hours.
To be honest, I’m trying to be excited… right now, I’m just exhausted. My kids are, of course, punishing me in the subtlest of ways in anticipation of the coming separation. (Screaming at me, whinging at me, the eldest hitting the youngest and then screaming at me… generally showing me that they love me).
Obviously, I won’t be blogging directly from the Borneo, due to a total lack of internet access. I’ve got a guest poster for later this week. And I’ll be back just as soon as I have a (blessed) Wifi connection.
In the meantime, I’m sharing with my itinerary with you, so you can see where I’m going and follow along with the journey.
You can check out the Google Map and have a click around to see what I’m doing each day…
View #BloggersToBorneo #LoriGoneWild in a larger map
And, for those who are on smartphones or just plain lazy, here’s a brief wrap-up.
Day One (May 20th): Fly out of Sydney and arrive in Bali at 4ish in the afternoon. Spend the night in Kuta.
Day Two (21st): Flying into Pangkalan Bun. A river cruise in the afternoon, spending the night at the Swiss-Belinn Hotel
Day Three (22nd): Up early to travel in a klotok boat up the Sekonyer River to Camp Leakey, the oldest camp set up for the orphaned orangutans. We’ll take a tour of the camp and the surrounding areas to watch the afternoon orangutan feeding. We moor in the klotok overnight at a place named Crocodile Lake (awesome).
Day Four (23rd): Today we get to see both the morning and afternoon orangutan feedings, and we spend the night in the Rimba Eco-Lodge (which sounds pretty amazing).
Day Five (24th):Back up the river, and we’re planting trees to assist the Pesalat Reforestation program- I’ll let you know the exact GPS co-ordinates of the tree I plant when I arrive home. In the afternoon, we take a tour of the local area and hopefully see more orangutans at an afternoon feeding. Tonight we take another trip downriver to witness what promises to be a spectacular sight- millions of fireflies floating above the water.
Day Six (25th): Today we return to Pangkalan Bun and visit the Orangutan Orphanage to see the amazing work they do there.
Day Seven (26th): The local coastal area is the revised destination for Day Seven (replacing the 20km jungle trek previously planned… I wasn’t going to bail. But I’m shamefully glad the plans have been changed…). We’re touring Keluang and Bogam Bay, and visiting the local turtle conservation program.
Day Eight (27th): It’s almost all over- we begin the journey back to Bali via a town called Surubaya. Tonight we stay in Bali- theoretically- I actually hop on a plane at 11pm…
Day Nine (28th):… and land in Sydney at 6am this morning.
I’ll have a stack of photos, videos and stories to blog when I get back. I’ll miss you guys. Behave yourselves.
I’ll see you soon.
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Please, remember to donate to OrangUtan Odysseys. A huge thanks to them for having me, and a huge thanks to Digital Parents Collective- especially Mel- for organising this trip.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
What an adventure! Have an awesome time Lori. Can’t wait to hear all about your travels and see the pics
And your babies will be fine
I went overseas for 10 days when my kids were 18 months and 3 years old (and got criticised for it too – of course!). I’m an anxious person, so I was really worried about being on the other side of the world but I had such a great time (and so did the kids with their Grandma – I don’t think they really missed me that much!)
Have a wonderful time xo
Have an amazing time Lori! I am so looking forward to reading about your adventures. Have yourself a magical time xxx
Wow can’t believe it’s here already, Lori!! how exciting! Have the BEST time! can’t wait to see the piccies and videos! Slightly jealous you’re going to be feeding orangutans! xox
Can’t wait to see the pics!
Oh it sounds AMAZING. Have the best time!!
Have an amazing time, gorgeous