Positive Impact
Adventure

Day One:

Pick up from Medan at 9am (or whenever your flight arrives) and transfer to Simolap where you will be greeted by the team. Spend some time organising your things and having some freshly cooked lunch, then head down to the river for a guided river walk and a swim to cool off.

In the evening we will share a meal together and do a short briefing before we head off into the jungle the next day.

Stay at Simolap guesthouse tonight.

Day Two:
After a freshly cooked breakfast we will head out on our jungle adventure, following a stream until we reach our riverside rehabilitation area where we can partake in some tree-planting as part of local restoration work. We will then continue our trek until we reach a beautiful waterfall staircase where we can relax and refresh.

From there we will really start to get deeper into the jungle, headed towards specific areas known for wildlife activity. We will be looking for signs of some of the eight primates that live in Gunung Leuser including Sumatran Orangutans, Thomas Leaf Monkeys, Long-tailed Macaques and Gibbons. We will also be searching for wild birds, reptiles, insects, and evidence of other mammals such as Jungle Pigs and Sun Bears. We will find a spot in this area to have lunch.

After lunch, we will continue to Teroh-Teroh waterfall where we can cool off in the pristine water (we almost always have this waterfall all to ourselves) before continuing our trek to Goa Terang (‘Bright Cave’), our camping spot for the night. Goa Terang is a great spot to do smaller nature walks in the afternoon or to learn about traditional Indonesian cooking.

Fall asleep enjoying the incredible experience of camping in a candle-lit cave looking out over the jungle.

Day Three:
Wake up to the sounds of the jungle, and enjoy a freshly cooked breakfast and a warm cup of tea or coffee. Today we will continue our jungle trek, heading to another incredible cave formation called Goa Gelap '(‘Dark Cave’) and Elephant Rock. This is a favourite hangout spot for many animals and reptiles.

Trekking deeper into the jungle today is a great opportunity to increase your chances of seeing some of the wild animals in Gunung Leuser National Park that cannot be found anywhere else in the world (such as Thomas Leaf Monkeys and Sumatran Orangutans). We will also share many of the traditional uses for plants in this area.

Today we will also visit a jungle lookout point that boasts incredible panoramic views of the Sumatran jungle canopy and is a favourite spot for Hornbills to fly over. Here we will stop to enjoy lunch and some fresh tropical fruits before we begin our trek through the jungle, along the river and back to the hot springs.

We will aim to return by late afternoon so we can share stories of our adventure, and have a soak in the hot springs while we watch the sun set over the jungle.

After soaking in the hot springs we will return to the guesthouse for dinner.

Tonight you will stay in the guesthouse in Simolap.

Day Four:

Wake up to the sounds of the jungle from your room and enjoy a freshly cooked breakfast.

This morning we will do a traditional medicine workshop with some community members who specialise in local medicines. This is a way that we support the local economy and make sure that we continue to support those keeping the traditional knowledge alive.

In the afternoon, we will do some volunteering activities (this will depend on the programs that KPL are running at the time, but could include nature class, tree planting, animal monitoring, trash pick up, community projects such as road building and other community engagement efforts).

Day Five:

Spend today volunteering with the local KPL conservation organisation and learning about the efforts in the jungle to balance the needs of the community and the natural environment.

In the afternoon you will go for a walk down the river and swim in the natural waterfall nearby to cool down while enjoying a fruit platter.

Day Six:

In the morning partake in a cooking class and enjoy local karonese cuisine while learning how to take a little bit of our culture home with you (by learning a recipe that you can cook at home).

Spend the afternoon partaking in jungle restoration activities by planting trees in one of our restoration areas.

Day Seven:

Spend the morning joining in some of the cultural farming practices here in Sumatra. We are committed to leading by example to show the community other forms of farming that don’t rely on palm oil. For this reason we have bought a plot of land and taken out the palm oil to replace it with a permaculture garden.

Join us to harvest local fruits and vegetables and learn about our organic farming practices that we are hoping to teach others in our community so that we can protect our ecosystem here.

Enjoy lunch and then head back to Medan in the afternoon so that you are back in the city by early evening.

🏠 Simolap: In Simolap you will stay in the guesthouse next to the jungle. This accommodation includes all your food, drink (other than alcohol and specialty drinks), snacks and water.

🌿 In the jungle: You will stay in a combination of tents and natural frames covered in thick plastic.

🏠 Bukit Lawang: Stay in the guesthouse of our trekking partner. This accommodation does not include food or drinks, but we can recommend some of our favourite places to eat in Bukit Lawang.

✅ Accommodation

✅ Activities as described in the itinerary (including cooking class and traditional medicine workshop with local community members)

✅ National Park permits

✅ Guide, assistant guide, porters and cook

✅ Meals at Simolap, snacks, tea, coffee and water

✅ Camping equipment (including blanket and mattress)

✅ Entry and use of the hot springs

✅ Opportunity to pick fruits in our hot sweet garden and our medicinal garden (season dependent)

✅ Seedling and tree planting activity (optional)

✅ Contribution to KPL’s conservation projects

Exclusions

⛔ Food and drinks from restaurants on the way to and from Simolap

⛔ Food and drinks in Bukit Lawang (there will be food provided on your trek)

⛔ Travel insurance

⛔ Alcohol or specialty fruit drinks/juice

⛔ Souvenirs

Do I need to bring sleeping gear for trekking?

Nope - we will provide you with a yoga mat and a blanket for sleeping in the jungle. You will either sleep in a tent or in a structure made from natural materials and think plastic with a mosquito net.

Can I get handle or feed wildlife?

It is against the law in Indonesia to feed wildlife or get close to wildlife that are wild. We take animal welfare seriously and follow the law and best practice guidelines so that we do not disturb the natural habitat. Simolap is not an animal rehabilitation centre and we do not care for wildlife directly, instead we hope to keep wildlife wild by protecting their habitat and natural environment.

What kind of volunteering activities will I be involved in?

There are a number of things that you can get involved with (depending on the day and the community’s needs).

We have a nature class run by our conservation organisation KPL for local community members who would like to learn more about the environment, we do regular trash pick ups and workshops to find better ways to deal with waste in our remote area. We also have a number of wildlife monitoring activities (such as setting camera traps) and jungle restoration activities in the national park that are supported by the national park service.

If you have a special skill or have worked in an area that could be helpful here, please let us know and we can put together activities so that we can learn from each other.