Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia

4Brittney L 5:00 PM May 12, 2016

Way kambas: hard to get to, hard to skip
This is more of a "how to" than a review since we had a hard time finding accurate up to date info and wanted to share our knowledge! This is the off-the-beaten-track, jungle experience you've been looking for. The best/easiest way to get to way kambas is from bandar lampung. Try to get an early start though, you want to get all the way into the park before 4 pm. In bandar lampung, go to the rajabasa bus station and catch a bus going to way jepara around 8 or 9 if you can (28,000 rupiahs per person). Most info we found said this was a 2 hour drive, but it took more like 4 in the rain and poor road conditions. When you get into way jepara, try to get dropped off as close as possible to the junction where you'll see a sign saying "way kambas 7 km" pointing right and a large stone statue of an elephant playing soccer. From here, or wherever you do get dropped off, get a motorbike taxi to way kambas (you will probably be asked by multiple people with motorbikes where you are going right when you get off the bus- just go with it). We got quoted 200k for this and haggled down to 150. You'll reach the main gate for way kambas national park- here, try to talk to a park ranger at the gate station to get your park entrance ticket (150k per person per day) and get the motorbike taxi to keep driving you to way kanan (13 km into the park from the gate). If you just get dropped off at the gate, you'll have to pay someone else another 150k to drive you the rest of the way in to way kanan. **BEFORE you head past the gate into the park, BUY SOME FOOD AND WATER. There is nowhere to buy food once you're in the park, but there is a little kitchen with hot water and plates and such at way kanan so buy some pop mie (cup of noodles) and snacks and drinking water in way jepara when you get off the bus or at one of the little shops before the gate to the park. When you get to way kanan, you can stay at the "guesthouse" for 200k/night. There are little beds and that's about it- it's like camping! From way kanan, you can go on a guided speedboat tour or a guided jungle trek. However, this isn't like most tourist attractions- there aren't a bunch a people waiting for you to arrive to sell you package tours and the like. You'll need to just talk to whatever park rangers are there to see what's possible, and prices and English speaking levels will vary. We went with the jungle trek (200k for about 2 hours) since the boat tour cost 1 million! The trek was awesome- cover up with long pants and shirt, wear good hiking shoes and bug spray, and bring water and a camera! Hitch a ride back with one of the Rangers to the main gate early in the morning (costs another 150k) to start the journey back to bandar lampung- buses only run from way jepara to bandar lampung at 8 and 9 am. From the main gate you can also go to the elephant training center, but we wouldn't recommend it. It's cool seeing so many elephants, but not so cool that they are all chained up and that you have to pay 300k to ride them for only 30 minutes.

4D D 5:00 PM Feb 15, 2015

home stay
I was very reluctant to go to way kambas due to the very critical reports I read on this site. but then I was very lucky to meet the right people, even already in the bus station in bandar lampung. Aji and Bambang turned out to be two NGO employees trying to protect the park by trying to keep people out as much as possible by giving them alternatives. In the first place they are trying to promote biogas, but also set up some projects like homestays to give tourists some better options. it is true that the natural part of the park is still hard to visit but here are my experiences an suggestions. first, there are now a few homestay places in rajabasa very close to the gate. ask for Pak Savar, his facebook page is " hafidz rivai", phone number +6285266667129, just a few minutes walking from the main gate. These people are very much aware of the problems of visiting the park and maybe can arrange some alternatives. Mr Savar has also lots of connections to help out. Basically there are two options: go to the elephant centre （elephant riding, elephant washing， ...), which is a family type of visit, very easy to go, no paperwork needed, fun for kids,but not really a nature trek. Nature trekking (and wild elephant watching) is really difficult at the moment, but the homestaygroup (I had long talks with them) will try to figure out things. the people around the park are not happy with the way the park and especially way kanan is run. So, the second option is to go to Way Kanan, in the middle of the park. Hard! i was lucky to be taken in with the NGO people, as they wanted to see how things are done there. They arranged my permit (which i guess you can also arrange by yourself, with some perseverance). the drive is nice if you have someone (ojek) who can stop all the time. Way Kanan itself is really a prison, you cant get out unless you pay 300000 for any type of walk(even 15 minutes), the boat being even more expensive. The NGO people were equally shocked about it. According to them the park headquarters in rajabasa doesnt know about this. I was allowed to walk along the entrance trail for some kilometres with the guide brought along with our group. and we did sneak out in the evening for night birds. but as I m interested in birds I wanted to visit the marshes. so I paid one full-price hike to go there, accompanied by one of the NGO people and our guide. I showed the birds from my book to the "ranger" and he said that would be easy. in the morning, it turned out I was going the be accompanied by the guy who was the cook the previous day. Of course no gun for protection (which i dont think is of any use anyway) , but worst of all, after one hour of tough jungle walking, cutting out a road, he got lost, and it was our own guide who got us out of there (without much effort anyway) . it was both hilarious and annoying. After that we went back to the gate area. In the evening we had a meeting with some local people eager to know how they could entertain tourists. apparently they know some good birdwatching places (too late for me) and I suggested them to make an elephant watchtower, which they have already, even many, but not for tourists. In fact they have a big wild elephant problem, as the park is small and the amount of elephants keeps growing, elephants keep popping up on their fields. When I got up the next morning and started walking the "border road" which leads from the gate to the elephant center (another alternative for visiting the park, no entry fee needed apparently) I saw lots of fresh elephant dung on the street, I even felt a little worried. (people kept on warning me all the time not to go out after 1600h and early in the morning) . On the other hand I was thinking I should have been on this road during the night, spending a night on one of these many towers, watching elephants would have been great! I told this to my new friends and tried to make them realise that elephants in your backyard is not only a nuisance but also a great opportunity that can provide more money than most crops. Anyway, there is an elephant proof ditch between the border road and the fields, so elephant watching from the village-side of the ditch shouldnt be dangerous. So hopefully things will change soon, as Way Kambas has great potential, having lots of big and rare animals. And there are lots of opportunities to make the wildlife more "watchable" ,without interfering too much with nature, giving more revenue for the local population who at this moment are only feeling the disadvantages of the surrounding wildlife. A last suggestion, nightbird watching around rajabasa is also good and you ll see slow lories all over the place, soo cute! D D from belgium