The following blog was written by volunteer Leela Klein, who volunteered with us in September:
I’ve wanted to volunteer at an orangutan sanctuary for years, and since turning 50, I decided to finally make it happen this year. If not now, when?
I started looking at different sanctuaries, and the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Sanctuary really stood out to me with its range of activities and the chance to observe the young orangutans in the playground.
I’ve never volunteered at an animal sanctuary before, and was wondering if my being there would make any impact at all. Now that I have just returned from Nyaru Menteng, I can say that it makes a huge difference! If there are no volunteers, then no hammocks are made for the orangutans, fewer trees are planted, fewer enrichments are made and handed out, and the climbing towers on the islands wouldn’t be built. There is so much to do, and every bit helps!
We prepared all kinds of enrichments for the orangutans; ice lollies made from fruit tea and fruits, chopping down bamboo, sawing them into parts and filling the inside with a pumpkin, oat and nut mix, plaiting nuts into leaves, filling coconut husks with nuts and pumpkin puree, and chopping down leaves with machetes. Using machetes was great fun! While I felt a bit intimidated at the start by all the power tools we used, by the end, I absolutely loved it. And it was so rewarding seeing the hammocks go up into the orangutan enclosures.
We also got to explore the surroundings, climbing a little hill with a great view of the rainforests and river, going to a night market and sampling local sweets, going shopping for supplies in Palangkaraya, and having the best ever brownies at the local ‘Coconut Café’.
We had the most wonderful little team and project coordinators (thank you, Matt, Niamh, and Melda!!!). Getting to know each other and making new friends was definitely a highlight. Some of my favourite moments were seeing the little ones come back from jungle school, seeing some of the orangutans delight in the water enrichment (especially Keke!), seeing them swinging from the trees on the pre-release islands, and being able to hand the enrichments to the orangutans at the end…. There were honestly soooo many highlights!
Seeing the orangutans so close up, hearing some of their devastating life stories, getting to know their characters, gazing into their eyes, watching their strength, their ability to use tools, make nests, and walking awkwardly off into the distance with a bundle of fruits in their arms and feet. How can you not fall in love with them?
I can’t recommend volunteering at the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Sanctuary enough. I am already planning on returning at some point! What I would recommend is to bring plenty of mosquito spray (they really loved me), and bring plenty of loose, comfortable clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty. I changed about three times a day due to the heat, sweat, and hard work we did.
