Rainforest!!!

So most people do come here to see the forest - and rightfully so. What is left is amazing, if increasingly difficult to get to. As we're not on the beaten track, it can be somewhat frustrating for visitors to try and find where to go to see wildlife and forest, but the nice thing is that where ever you go you're sure to get that 'exclusive' feeling of not being in some regular tourist hotspot.

Gunung Palung National Park has some of the best locations in the area that are realistic to get to for visitors, but unfortunately a monopoly has been given to a fairly shady outfit so that prices are outrageous for poor service, at least by local standards - it's the closest to a 'tourist trap' you're going to find in Ketapang. Still, for diehard forest purists it's probably worth being overcharged to experience real virgin rainforest.

In town, there's the Ketapang City Forest, which is a small patch (90 hectares) of largely degraded mangrove forest along the Pawan river. If you're on Jl. Jen. Parman heading towards Sukadana, turn East (right) at the big traffic light (police headquarters), then head North (left) at the end of the road, the entrance is an even smaller road on your left a few hundred meters down (this backwoods area of Ketapang also has the Hindu temple - not open to visitors - and the ridiculous Keraton-on-steroids known as Rumah Melayu). Over the years minor improvements are slowly made to the City Forest - there is now a boardwalk that is about a kilometer long in the main stretch, which a side path to a bird-watching area. There's also a bathroom that always seems to be locked. Local kids come here for a little romance, and others for fishing, but you've got good chances of seeing birds (including hornbills), fruit bats, monitor lizards, butterflies, long-tailed macaques and proboscis monkeys. You should bring water, plenty of insect repellent, sunscreen and comfortable shoes, but around here it's the easiest place to go to see some wildlife.

Just half an hour south of town is the Melayu village of Pematang Gadung, which has a village forest teeming with all sorts of wildlife - probably because all the animals have taken refuge here as most of the forests in this area have been cleared for palm oil and mining. Best way to explore is by boat as the wildlife is easily spotted. The village forest itself is degraded, although the community seems committed to protecting what's left and rehabilitating the rest. The secondary forest makes it easier to spot the animals, and Pematang Gadung's a popular spot for local nature photographers, see some of their photos at: http://biodiversityofpematanggadung.blogspot.com/