The Tebo and Tabir river valleys form a natural corridor from
Danau Gunung Tujuh to Danau Kerinci and beyond.
This rugged stretch of primary rainforest would be an ideal “Jungle
Highway” for a bipedal primate to easily move between
these two lakes. This was my main reason for deciding to tackle the Tabir river, plus I was starting to feel that the Lake of Seven Peaks was becoming a
bit too easy and "commercial”.
After arriving and buying supplies In Padang, I headed down to Bangko to meet up with my guide and two of his unemployed buddies,who would act as porters. Two days later we set off for Dusun Genting, the last village on the Tabir river. After a 4-hour drive,2-hour boat ride and 2- hour hike we finally arrived at our starting point. It was a long day and we encountered some problems at the start of the river trip. Local officials suspected I was from the WWF and wanted me to produce some special permits and pay additional fees. The lower reaches of the Tabir river contain gold and as a result there are numerous illegal mining operations being conducted by various shady government and corporate entities. Non-locals are treated with suspicion but luckily our driver was able to sort things out and we left on our merry way.
Due to the extended rainy season the water levels were
abnormally high so we would have to take the highland route, which they had
previously done only in sections. I therefore decided to hire both men ,just to be sure we wouldn't have to turn back.It was starting to look like this would be a muddy and leechy affair.
To be continued…
After arriving and buying supplies In Padang, I headed down to Bangko to meet up with my guide and two of his unemployed buddies,who would act as porters. Two days later we set off for Dusun Genting, the last village on the Tabir river. After a 4-hour drive,2-hour boat ride and 2- hour hike we finally arrived at our starting point. It was a long day and we encountered some problems at the start of the river trip. Local officials suspected I was from the WWF and wanted me to produce some special permits and pay additional fees. The lower reaches of the Tabir river contain gold and as a result there are numerous illegal mining operations being conducted by various shady government and corporate entities. Non-locals are treated with suspicion but luckily our driver was able to sort things out and we left on our merry way.
Our first mission at the village of Genting was to find an experienced
local guide. Usually these individuals are farmers who regularly hunt and fish in remote areas. After much consultation and wandering
around various settlements we found not one but
two such individuals.
