It was a hot afternoon in Tarakan, the capital of North Kalimantan — Indonesia’s 34th province which was just inaugurated in 2012. After eating walnut crabs and almost missed Friday prayers, we rushed to Tarakan Harbor where the speedboat we rented to Derawan was waiting.
Derawan has two entrances. Via Tarakan in North Kalimantan and via Berau in West Kalimantan. To complete the mission of setting foot in all provinces in Indonesia, I also bought a plane ticket to go via Tarakan and return via Berau.
When they almost reached the port, the driver of the car asked, “Do you want to see the Dutch monkeys first?”
I thought this monkey was originally from the Netherlands. Apparently, the monkey named Proboscis monkey is indeed endemic to the island of Borneo! If you’ve seen the Dufan mascot, have you ever seen it? The sharp-nosed monkey that always looks happy is this Proboscis monkey.
Our car stopped at a gate that said ‘Magrove and Proboscis Monkey Conservation Area of Tarakan City’. This area is indeed a mangrove forest, because it is very close to the sea. This long nose monkey with reddish brown hair apparently likes the tops of mangrove leaves that thrive on the coast of Tarakan. No wonder they live and breed here.
Proboscis monkeys, in my opinion, are the most handsome monkeys among other monkeys. Pointed nose. Even sometimes too sharp to look dangling when he moves. But unfortunately, his distended stomach did not want to lose his sharp nose.
Proboscis monkeys are not a monkey family (chimpanzees) but from the monkey family (ape). He is often called a Dutch monkey by people because of his sharp nose like the people in the Netherlands there.
This area is very nice for a leisurely walk on the wooden path that divides this mangrove forest. But indeed in this area there are many mosquitoes. Every now and then we saw small snakes perched on trees.
In one corner of this forest there is a house on stilts which is usually used to feed the proboscis monkeys. When we got to the stage, they weren’t there. The officer told us that when we were there it was not the time to feed them, around 9 am and 4 pm.
But as we were about to leave, we heard strange noises in the distance. It turned out that there were several proboscis monkeys perched on a tree! Seeing his voice and movement, it seems that he is attracting the attention of a female.
I have only been able to shoot from below with a lens that is not too telephoto. The result is like in the first photo above, even though it’s been cropped too, hehe.
After a few snaps, the shy ape stayed still. He is indeed shy and not ‘stubborn’ like other long-tailed monkeys. But when photographed, he always shows his best pose. We continued our long sea journey to Derawan Island.
Until we meet again, handsome monkey! Say goodbye to Derawan first!
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