For tourists who would like to find a real nature, visiting Kalimantan Island might be one of their choice. As the nature in this island can be said mostly still original, Kalimantan Island consists of many biodiversities, especially endemic flora and fauna.
To keep preserving the natural biodiversities, there are some national park built in Kalimantan Island. Here are 5 amazing national parks you can find and also things to do in Kalimantan Island.
- Tanjung Puting National Park
If you visit Pangkalan Bun and think about things to do in Pangkalan Bun, you must try to visit Tanjung Puting National Park. It is located in Central Kalimantan peninsula. You just go 8 kilometres from Pangkalan Bun, it takes about 15 minutes.
In Tanjung Puting National Park, you could see many species of fauna, flora, and also some kinds of ecosystem. It has about 200 kinds of bird and 38 kinds of mammals. Some of the fauna are orangutan, maroon leaf monkey, and bear.
Tanjung Puting National Park is also the biggest conservation center of orangutan in the world and of course one of the best national parks in Indonesia. This national park is still natural as the habitat of orangutan.
Most of the visitors are foreign tourists. If you are planning to visit Tanjung Puting National Park, take a note that the peak season is usually around July to August.
- Kayan Mentarang National Park
Kayan Mentarang National Park is located between Indonesia and Malaysia. The area is along Malinau Regency and Nunukan Regency in East Kalimantan, and Sarawak in Malaysia. You could find many endemic floras, such as Raflesia pricei and nepenthes. There are also a lot of endemic faunas here.
Kayan Mentarang has officially become a national park since 1996. Not only the diversity of flora and fauna, you could also see the diversity of Dayak tribe here. There are about 2.700 people from Dayak tribe who are separated into 11 large indigenous territories.
If you are curious about things to do in Kayan Mentarang National Park, you could explore some waterfall tourism spots, such as Bulintungon Waterfall, Simanuk Waterfall, and Pa’romayo Waterfall.
- Betung Kerihun National Park
Move to the West Kalimantan, there is Betung Kerihun National Park in the headwaters of Kapuas River. It is about five hours journey from Putussibau by boat. Betung Kerihun National Park consists of more than 300 species of flora, one of them is black orchid.
There are also many endemic species of fauna, such as sinyulong crocodile, proboscis monkey, and honey bear. This national Park was named Betung Kerihun because it connects Mount Betung and Mount Kerihun. In Betung Kerihun National Park, you could enjoy water adventures, like rafting and whitewater trekking.
You could also explore cultural tourism about Dayak tribe. There are some Dayak tribes here, such as Dayak Punan, Dayak Iban, and Dayak Tamambaloh. Not only visiting, you are also possible to have a night in their settlements.
- Bukit Baka National Park
Between West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan, there is Bukit Baka National Park. To promote the diversity in Bukit Baka National Park, there is a tagline ‘7 Wonders’. For the fauna, there are hornbill ivory, orangutan, Kalimantan flat headed frog, Borneo gibbon, maroon leaf monkey, tarsier, and Rajah Brooke butterfly.
While the 7 Wonders of Flora are carrion flower, Pinanga schwanerensis, Rafflesia tuan-mudae, pitcher plant, Rhododendron fortunans, Kalimantan bat flower, and Ulin tree. There is also another 7 Wonders in Bukit Baka which has officially become national park since 1992, that is 7 Wonders of Non Timber Forest Product which consists of bamboo, damar, durian, jernang, honey, cane, and tengkawang.
If you would like to do any other activitied besides looking for flora and fauna, you could explore many attractive spots here, some of them are Belaban Ella rafting, Bukit Baka climb, Camping Ground, and Canopy Trail.
- Taman Nasional Kutai
Last but not least, if you visit Bontang City and think about things to do in Bontang, you can visit Kutai National Park. It is located in East Kutai Regency and Bontang City, East Kalimantan.
As most of the national park in Kalimantan Island, Kutai National Park also preserve orangutan as one of the endemic fauna all over the world. Not only orangutan, you could also find proboscis monkey, also any kinds of bird, reptile, and insects.
For the flora, some kinds which you could find here are Ulin tree, orchid, and longjack plant. In Kutai National Park, wild orangutan can be said as the main magnet that attracts people to visit. Not only preservation and conservation area for any endemic species, there are also some tourism objects inside Kutai National Park area.
You could explore Prevab, Sangkima Jungle Park, caves in Kandolo, and Mangrove Park in Bontang. If you would like to explore the water tourism, you are able to visit Kaba Bay, Lombok Bay, Sangkimah estuary, or Sangata River estuary.
Do not forget to plan the right time for visiting Kutai National Park. People say that the best time to visit Kutai National Park is around April to October. Not only flora, fauna, and some tourism spots, there is also cultural attraction you could see.
It is not inside the area of Kutai National Park, but it is not too far from the National Park. There is Erau Festival located in Tenggarong. Those are 5 amazing national parks in Kalimantan Island. All of them consist of a lot biodiversities to enjoy and explore.
If you are seeking for a natural park with real habitat of flora and fauna, it is very recommended to visit national parks in Kalimantan Island!