Pandaw River Expeditions has introduced a new
itinerary on the Kapuas River System in western Kalimantan, the Indonesian part
of the island of Borneo.
The seven-day Into the True Heart of Borneo
river expedition will take place on the company’s 32-passenger Katha Pandaw. It
will sail more than 300 miles along the upper part of the Kapuas, and will also
traverse the Danau Sentarum system of lakes, a national park that connects to
the river.
“This will be a truly pioneering expedition
into a rarely visited area where the main attraction will be the scenery, wildlife
and tribal village life,” said Pandaw’s founder Paul Strachan. The Borneo rain forest
is home to around 15,000 species of flowering plants and hundreds of species of
mammals and birds. It is one of the few remaining natural habitats for the
endangered Bornean orangutan and is a refuge for the Borneo elephant, the
Eastern Sumatran rhinoceros, the Bornean clouded leopard and the Dayak fruit
bat.
The Katha Pandaw has 16 staterooms that open
up to a wraparound deck, an indoor/outdoor dining area, and a self-service bar.
Passengers will fly into Kuching in the Malaysian
part of Borneo, which has connections to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. There is
the option to fly into Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan, which has
daily flights to Jakarta.
Departures will begin in July and cruise-only
prices for the seven-day voyage start from $2,350 per person, based on double
occupancy.