Indonesia: Bintan Island

 Friday, May 19, 2023, Bintan Island, Indonesia

The ship arrived at 7 am to Bintan Island. This is a pretty remote place and I don’t think it’s on too many cruise ship itineraries. We had to anchor in the harbor and tender in. There were musicians to greet us on the pier, along with tables of information for tourists. None of the ship tours had appealed to us, so Charlie found an animal rescue place called Lagoi Safari. There was no ship information about it (and we were the only people from the ship there it turned out). We still had to find a way to get there and back and on time.

Trying to talk to the visitor center people over the musicians was challenging, and it took me a while to realize I was talking to a condo salesman (signage on the tables was not great). My first clue was he didn’t have a map to give me. The table next to his had maps, so I switched tables. 

Our greeters. Indonesians are typically beautiful inside & out

They correct visitor info center. Musicians in the back

Map in hand, we realized the animal rescue wasn’t too far from the pier and found a taxi driver to take us there. The animal rescue was a lot like a zoo. It covered a large area so we were driven around in a covered golf cart while our taxi driver waited. They gave us coolie-like hats to wear—I’m not sure why—and I dutifully wore it in case they knew something about insects or snakes that I didn’t. Charlie’s hat didn’t quite fit so he passed.

Me in the golf cart with provided hat

Some animals had it better than others. Among those who had it pretty good were a mated pair of Sumatran tigers. They had a huge enclosure but nevertheless sauntered over to check us out. It was ungodly hot and they were pretty laid back (as were we). There were moats around the monkeys and orangutans—apparently they can’t swim—and they had trees to swing to and from. Their energy and dexterity were amazing. We hadn’t opted for the food package, and one orangutan was irate about that. He was obviously expecting to be fed. We did toss over our only snack banana, but he impassively sat with his hand open from across the moat.

Monkey swinging high in the trees 

Sumatran tiger

Not happy we didn’t buy the food package

We saw a Komono dragon for the first time. It had a pretty big area but like a lot of lizards could sit still forever. They had two otters—both males that they separated to keep them from fighting. Their repetitive movements were disturbing, but we had read a review criticizing their captivity and were prepared for it. Otters are social animals and were not doing well. They had some birds too, but we wanted to get going by then.

Our taxi driver suggested a mangrove tour for our next stop. We didn’t want to do that so asked to see a local village. I was dumbfounded when we arrived at the mangrove place instead. It was completely dead—no customers at all. They had a small shop and we bought a coconut drink and some gum. The  Bintan small business administration (if they have one) needs to do some outreach. I’m sure some ship passengers would have done a mangrove tour. We didn’t go because on a previous mangrove tour we saw virtually no wildlife, maybe a couple of birds. 

Our next experience was a souvenir shop, right next to a Mosque. There was a call to prayer about then which went on loudly for most of the time we were there. Charlie got a shirt, I got fabric, another shirt, and some snacks. We enjoyed the women who owned the shop, and they were happy to talk to some tourists. We used Google Translate and one of the women knew a bit of English. That’s always really helpful.

Our shopping experience on Bintan Island

We stopped at an eco farm, a business connected to Lagoi Safari. They grow vegetables for some of the animals at the safari. They had an interesting set up, including bins of maggots who break down vegetable matter into soil, and stingless bees. The stingless bees did bite, as I discovered when I got too close while the staff person was demonstrating honey extraction.

Our hostess with the most-ess at the eco farm

The eco farm’s giant maggot trays—they make excellent soil

We nervously caught the 1:10 pm tender just before it left. We were the only civilians on board and worried that we had held up the ship, a big no-no! We realized this run was for equipment and the staff who had manned the welcome table on the dock. About 20 minutes later from our little veranda we watched in relief as the last tender unloaded a full deck of passengers. We were in the clear!

Our lonely tender ride back to the ship.