2, 3 and 4 Days Jungle Trek
2 Days / 1 Night Trekking Tour
A 2 days EASY GOING tour starts from Ketambe with a 30 minutes walk north along a paved road before you enter the jungle of the Leuser National Park to the east. During both days you will mostly walk the paths within the large trail labyrinth where you will look for and observe orang-utans and other animals. Sometimes the paths will be left and you need to walk in dense jungle to follow the orang-utans. The daily walking time is about 5 hours. There will be a longer break beside the river to take a swim and relax. The night you will spend at campsite C1 under a provisional tent made out of plastic foil.
If you like to go deeper into the jungle and have longer walking time you can do the MORE DEMANDING trek. On the 1st days afternoon or on the 2nd days morning you will cross the river and continue walking to the hot springs. At the hot spring area you can enjoy taking hot, warm and cold bathes, because the hot water is flowing into the river and mix up with the cold. The night you spend at the campsite C1 or at a place close to the hot spings, depending of river crossing. Not all of the way back will be the same you came, so there is a better chance to see more animals. The trek ends on the 2nd day at 5 PM in Ketambe.
3 Days / 2 Nights Trekking Tour
The 3 days EASY GOING trek is one of the most requested tours, because it's a tour to get a good impression about the rain forest and its inhabitants. This tour covers the area between Ketambe, the main orang-utan area (trail labyrinth), campsite C1 and the hotsprings HS. Depending of you, there might be time to continue behind the hot springs to the former waterfall (already collapsed), near campsite C3. There is enough time to look for and follow orang utans and observe other animals. After a lunch at C1 on the first day you will have time to relax and bath in the river. In the afternoon you will go again to the trail labyrinth and behind to look for animals. Usually the 1st night you stay at campsite C1.
The 2nd day you will have to cross the river to continue your way to the hot springs. Sometimes the water level of the river is too high and you cannot cross. In this case you will start to walk on a longer trail in the direction of C2, but go down to the hot springs. This path is more difficult than that on the other side of the river. The overnight stay for the 2nd night is planned near the hotsprings HS. During the main season July/August the few places at this campsite HS can be blocked by groups which have arrived earlier. In this case you can camp at C3, if there is still the time to go there before darkness or at C1 again. At the hot spring area you can enjoy taking hot, warm and cold bathes. The program for the 3rd day depends from where you slept the night before. The guide will try not to go back same paths you came.
The 3 days AMBITIOUS tour is a more difficult trek with more walking time per day (up to 7 hours) and less time to relax at the river and hot spring. There is still time to observe orang-utans. The way between C1 and C2 is of higher difficulty than the other parts. There are 2 possibilities to do this 3 days ambitious tour. The 1st is via C1, C2 to HS or C3 (overnight C2 and HS or C3). The 2nd is via C1, HS, C3 to C5 (overnight HS and C5). Please check the map to see the campsite positions. Other activities, like swim in the river, bath beside the hot spring and watching animals are still included. If you sleep the last night at C5 you will have to return to Ketambe by walking most of the day. These treks are possible for people with good condition only.
4 Days / 3 Nights Trekking Tour
The 4 days EASY GOING trek also starts with a walk through the trails labyrinth, where usually orang-utans can be spotted. The camp for the 1st night will be at C1, where you can relax and bath at the river. During the 2nd day you will hike on a trail up and down with some parts at rocky area more deep into the jungle to C2. This campsite isn't situated beside a large river. Water will be taken from a small stream. On the 3rd day you will continue first uphill and later down to the hot springs beside the river, where you will have few hours to relax. If you like, you can spend the night over there or continue to C3. On the last day you will walk back via HS and C1 with time to watch animals. During this 4 days you will cross rivers 4 times.
The 4 days AMBITIOUS trek starts - as other treks - with a walk through the trail labyrinth between Ketambe and the campsite C1 to observe orang-utans and other animals. You can stay the first night at C1 or continue to C2. On the 2nd day its a long and difficult walk. It includes river crossing twice and there is a short stop at the hot springs. The 2nd night you spend at the far campsite C5. On the 3rd day you need to pass the river again and continue steep paths, up and down to C6. Not many people go there, thats why paths can be overgrown. Here you can find orang-utans, Thomas Leaf monkeys, siamangs, wild pigs, big squirrels and hornbills. This trek is only possible for people with good physical condition.