14 Sep 2025
My partner and I travel a lot and despite the many amazing trips this had to compete with, this was hands down our favorite travel experience we've ever had and definitely the highlight of our monthlong trip to Indonesia. We saw too many Orangutans to count plus so many other types of wildlife. Aside from the wildlife, our crew was spectacular! My partner and I are still raving about some of the dishes Julia, our chef, prepared for us. We thought the food on the boat was amongst the best meals we had during our entire month long trip to Indonesia and we appreciated how accommodating the team was to our particular dietary restrictions. Augoos and JD, the deckhand and ship captain, guided the boat expertly, whenever we spotted wild orangutans on the river they'd skillfully rush to position the boat with the best possible viewpoint of the orangutans. Arif and Dessy, our trip organizers and the owners of Orangutan Applause, were so friendly and prepared and paid very close attention to our return travel logistics to ensure we made our return flights. Arif even met us at our boat launch to help us get oriented and was waiting for us when our boat returned, welcoming us back with a bag of treats. Best of all was our guide, Jeff, who we'd strongly suggest you request for your trip. Jeff is from a nearby village of just 200 people so he's intimately familiar with and deeply knowledgable about the nature you're exploring. He gives the perfect balance of providing information and context and letting you have a bit of time on your own to relax and take in the scenery. The boat itself was super comfortable, having seen a few other riverboat companies operating on the river, I definitely thought the boats from Orangutan Applause were the comfiest and best designed, especially because the boat we rode on had a roof deck with outstanding views and it seemed like most of the other companies' boats did not. All in all, I can't recommend this experience enough! If you're going to come all the way to Borneo to go on a river boat, Orangutan Applause is definitely the best tour company to go with!