DESCRIPTION:

Explore Indonesia’s dramatic biological and geological variations from Kalimantan, Borneo to Komodo Island. Observe why Orangutans, tigers, and rhinoceros are found in Indonesia’s west while just mere miles to the east we find Komodo dragons and highly endemic animals of Australian descent instead.

 

The reason: just east of Bali lies a 22-mile wide deep-water channel known as Wallace’s Line, named after the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace. In the mid-19th century Wallace discovered that different species of flora and fauna grew on either side and he independently proposed natural selection as the driving force of evolution. He wrote this theory to Charles Darwin who, unbeknownst to Wallace had spent twenty years researching, with the intent to publish, that very idea. Darwin rushed a short paper to the Linnaean Society of London jointly with Wallace’s ideas on evolution. However, Darwin, who was better known at the time, ended up being immortalized as the father of the theory of evolution through natural selection.

 

Witness the impact of continental drift and plate tectonics, and of evolution. When these islands pulled apart, the resulting mass of water separating them led to reproductive isolation. As in the Galápagos Islands, that other living laboratory of evolution, once closely related species became greatly different.

 

Begin to the west in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, and follow in Wallace’s footsteps, cruising by riverboat into interior forest to observe orangutans and other primates. Stay at Camp Leakey, home to a resident population of orangutans who are observed by scientists. Walks through the rainforest will reveal these wonderful creatures as well as other primates, birds, and a multitude of flora. Here Wallace observed orangutans and jungle insects, forming his thoughts into the most important paper on evolution prior to On the Origin of Species.

 
Cross the imaginary “Line” by plane and disembark in Flores, a highly diverse land of extremes with completely different families of species. Cruise to Komodo National Park to closely observe the gigantism of the Komodo dragons, earth’s largest lizard. At the Liang Bua Cave site, an attractive dwelling place to prehistoric man, learn about recent human fossil discoveries of Homo floresiensis, nicknamed the “Flores Hobbit”, an example of another extreme: island dwarfism. Snorkel coral reefs from isolated pink sand beaches.

 

The journey concludes in Ubud, Bali, back on the west side of the “Line” in Ubud. Enjoy  time to relax, experience exquisite Balinese culture, see breathtaking scenery, and exquisite food.

 

CONSIDER:

Activities like longer hikes, kayaking, SCUBA, etc. can be arranged.

 

OPTIONAL EXTENSIONS & ADD-ONS:

Please inquire.