Review Activities

We booked a 7 day trek with this company, having been impressed by some of the other reviews, the pictures and the quick and helpful responses from Andrya, the manager.

We were met at the airport and driven down to Burkit Lawang in a private vehicle. It can be a long drive between 3-5 hours depending on the time of day and traffic, and thanks to the condition of the road it can be bumpy, but our driver was pretty skilled and it was a fairly comfortable journey.

We arrived quite late in the night, but were still greeted by Omano, our guide, who gave us a brief of what we should expect on the first day. Accomodation was provided, and is basic but very welcoming. Besides if you are undertaking a trek in the jungle, you won’t be overly fussy when there is a bed in sight.

You need a certain attitude to go trekking in the jungle – it is hard going and some of the trek can feel a little impossible but just keep putting one foot in front of the other– we trekked for around four hours a day, but the scenery and the abundance of wildlife you see is so worthwhile. Every person will have their own experience so we won’t bore you with the wonders of all that we saw, but Omano was both knowledgeable and experienced in finding and pointing out these wonders.

Alongside Omano, was a team of three guys, Ram, Imran and Buoy – who were tasked with setting up our camp every night and providing food and water. Without a doubt these guys, in particular Ram and Buoy made the trek simply fabulous. With tireless energy and smiles that never quit, these guys were incredibly resourceful and whipped up a magnificent feast at every meal time. Ensuring we were greeted with tea/coffee and a variety of sweet biscuits at every meal time, breakfasts were triple decker club sandwiches or pancakes, and lunches and dinners were always inventive, different every night and filling as they could be. Portions were huge and despite leaving no trace of food on my plate night, I think I offended this lovely lot by not having thirds.

Ram kept us entertained nightly with brain teasers, card tricks and games – and the three of them had no problems looking after our every need. Buoy is a masterchef genius who just kept impressing us with is skills and resourcefulness! Fruit is abundant as well and I guarantee you will not have tasted pineapples as sweet as those you have for dessert.These guys truly made us feel like royalty as they do all they can to carry some much equipment and ease any strain you may have with the trek and jungle conditions.

Top tips and hints – sleeping at night, despite having a tent and an air mattress provided, it can be pretty hard going on your bones. If you can take another mattress for padding then that’s advisable.

Spray your tents with insect repellent and you should avoid getting bitten.

Water is provided, but it’s boiled so will have a smoky taste to it – this can be disguised easily with the concentrated juice capsules/bottles now available in most shops. Alternatively – cold tea is very refreshing.

Drying your clothes is impossible – so washing them isn’t recommended. As long as you have two sets of clothing, one for the jungle and one for the camp – you will be fine. You get to bathe in the river every night, I wore a bikini under a t-shirt as there really isn’t much privacy.

For footwear, the terrain of this jungle trek I would advise light weight trekking shoes, possibly trainers with good grip as most of the ground tends to be firm but smooth unlike mountain treks.

In regards toiletries, a basic all in one hair+ body wash should suffice with cleansing wipes for when nature calls and a discreet outdoor bathroom trip arises.

You don’t need water purification tablets, just insect repellent.

Although food is ample, snacks such as fruit bars and nuts are handy and the guides are always grateful to share them with you as it will often be things they don’t have available.

A head torch and a back-up power back for your devices really are essential.

Integrity and experience

Omano is a an experienced guide with integrity and passion for the place. He is knowledgeable about both the plants and resident animals. His English is good. He was very responsive to our internet inquiries (unlike two other places) and tailored a trip to meet our interests. Though there was a last minute glitch in the accommodations (Sam’s “lost” the reservation that had been made weeks in advance), Omano found us another place on the riverside (Mboy Guesthouse–good; see review) and made it right. His associates (Ian, Imran–driver,and Tona–assistant guide) were professional, courteous and helpful. Tono (?) went ahead of us on the trek to look for siamang and was very, very helpful in the long, steep, slippery descent down to the river (and guesthouse) at the end.

Our Team -4 Biologists from Germany- had booked a 5Day Trekking in the Gunung Leuser. Although it was in the Ramadan, Omano organized a Team for us and offered us a trek deep into the jungle, including the chance to see the “big ones”. We have been picked up in Medan, taken to Bukit Lawang in order to sleep in a nice clean and luxurious room just next to Borok river. Omano was giving us a breefing for the next day when we startet our trekking. For us 4 there were the Guides Omano and Anto and 4 porters carrying all the stuff including the perfect equipment to have relaxing nights in the jungle: an inner-tent and air filled matresses.

We knew the requirements of fitness and the challenges of high humidity, steep trekking and insects in the wild. We are all in the 30´s and quite fit.

But we didn´t know how this all is including an additional Salmonella infection brought from Malaysia. So two of us had a unbelievable extra fun – coming from pain, fever and convulsions all day long. But I just mention that in order to point out how professional and caring the team was. We got extra food, they really cared for us and build the the trekking around our needs.

At the first day we saw many monkeys and especially Orangs, Omano explained much about plants and wilfdlife around. He explained about their efforts to register the names of the plants needed by orangs in order to get more knowledge about monkey protection.

He knew all the families of plants, showing us wild rambutan, mango, cinnamon, chinine and many more.

The second guide Anto is a real pick for every trekking and we highly recommend asking for him. He is such a smart and funny completion of the team caring for ALL your needs on the trek. Next to his function as a guide he´s joking when you need it, telling stories and giving professional informations.

He is also accompanying the dinner times. The food was better than the 4 weeks before on our roundtrip through indonesia, although we have been in the total wilderness.

You will love it!

Looking back the time in the deep jungle was such a lifechanging experience, giving you a glimpse of how fantastic and overwhelming nature is.

We haven´t seen big animals like bears or stuff, but we trekked through fresh elefant prints even smelling them! The small animals like bees, bugs and lizards and spiders are also a reason to come here. They keep the system running. It is stunning to see them “working”.

Thanks so much to Omano and Anto and all the team again, you have been perfect!

Rike, Silke, Timo and Daniel from Germany

From the second day on we got more and more deep into the jungle, reaching primary rainforest at the 3rd night.