Purobi2022年12月

Martin is a kind host. However he is not yet ready to accept foreign guests.

Matthew2019年9月

Wow! A life changing experience with Martin for sure! I expected a sleepy stay in the jungle taking tours and the like. What I got was a passport to the culture of the Wehea Dayak tribe. The trip included homestays in his village, and the famous Merabu village. We also stayed in the Wehea rainforest where I saw 4 Rhinoceros Hornbills, various other jungle birds, 2 types of monkeys, wild boars etc. While I was sleeping a panther wondered the camp. Wish I had stayed up! The hospitality was beyond amazing! I was treated like family in both villages. I will never forget this experience. I will never forget having a wild boar cooking competition with Robi (a chief forest ranger and excellent cook). I will never forget having an excellent dinner in Ecco's house with his family. I will never forget the cave paintings from 2000 BC i saw. The Wehea tribe were headhunters. Now they are the sole protectors of the Wehea forest. This is one of the most biodiverse forests in the world, and it is constantly under attack from palm oil plantations, coal mining and logging. Martin showed me the devastation first hand. I witnessed rivers turned opaque from deforestation and logging, an unquenchable coal fire that enveloped an entire hillside secretly smoldering beneath the surface, countless acres of palm oil plantations causing increased temperatures and sucking up all the water in the area, massive trucks destroying roads and running other cars off the road. This trip is an education in the beauty and majesty of the Wehea jungle of Indonesian Borneo, as well the environmental atrocities being committed 24 hours a day. Here's what my stay entailed: Martin helped me make arrangements to get to Borneo. I flew from Jakarta to Samarinda where he picked me up. He brought 2 friends to assure safety and as backup drivers for the long journey. We drove 10 hours to his village stopping several times to eat and rest. There is an airport only 4 hours from his village, but I forget the name. Martin can give you that info. We arrived to sleep/relax at his house in the Wehea Village. Later he took me on a tour of the village introducing me to everyone. For dinner we ate at Ecco's house with his family having traditional Wehea food which was delicious! That night we stayed at Robi's house along with the other tribesman that were going on the trek to the jungle with us. This was a homestay. In the morning we gathered supplies, had another homecooked delicious meal, and set out for the jungle! The ride to the jungle took a little over an hour and was well worth it! Their outpost has western toilets, multiple bedrooms, a gazebo, books to read etc. We spent the night here where we all cooked dinner together sharing stories and drinking a bit of homemade palm wine. The next morning Martin took me into the jungle where I saw tons of wildlife and bountiful flora. After that we went for a refreshing swim in the river. Then we left for a drive to an abandoned NGO research facility. Several years ago this location was used for Orangutan research. Now The Nature Conservancy has abandoned it, and any funding for Wehea. Here we found a bounty of jungle durian, pomelos and various other jungle fruits which we ate on the spot. Delicious! After the facility we went on to Merabu village. I was greeted with open arms by everyone. We went to the Chief's house and he disappeared for 15 minutes. He returned with a wild boar leg. Robi and Mario(another ranger and talented tribal artist) challenged me to a cooking contest. Robi and Mario won... I slept with Martin's family in the main house, but had the option of my own room. Merabu is very used to visitors. The next morning we trekked through the forest to climb a small mountain to see Dayak cave paintings that date back to 2000 BC. Amazing!!! The caves are beautiful and bats are everywhere. After that we returned to Wehea village to pick up Martin's father who is the chief of all Wehea peoples. Martin's father showed me a small museum's worth of Dayak artifacts and I met his mother who is 115 years old! We trekked to a series of waterfalls. Each one more amazing than the last. I found a beautiful orchid perched on a rock cliff. Gorgeous and rare. That night we returned to Robi's for the night. My final day we visited Martin's grandfather who lives at the edge of the Wehea forest protecting it from encroaching palm oil plantations. At the age of 100, he is an inspiration. We had one more meal with Ecco, Robi, Martin and his very polite children. Then we headed on our journey back to Samarinda. The drive home is significantly shorter (7 hours), but the roads are not good due to the heavy trucks running back and forth all hours of the day. We arrived at Samarinda with plenty of time to spare. This is NOT your typical stay at an airbnb! If you are interested in ecotourism that actually puts money directly in the hands of the people that need it, not an NGO that is fickle and pockets over half the money than this is for you. If you want to know the reality of climate change than this is for you. If you want to learn about the rich, and hospitable culture of the Wehea Dayak than this is for you. If you want to see the beauty and majesty of the Wehea forest, and have the chance to spot Orangutan, monkeys and the beloved Rhinoceros Hornbill than this is for you. If you are strong enough to endure a long/bumpy car ride, and come with an open mind, this experience will change your life like it did mine. Hit me up on airbnb for my suggested packing...