Pagatan by speed

A group of friends here are talking about taking a taxi speed boat to Pegatan on the Java Sea to see proboscis monkeys. From Palangka Raya it takes about 4 hours by speedboat down the black water Sebangau River. Winding through uninteresting country initally, land that has been logged and burned, the boat reaches the mangroves, standing in the quiet, still black waters which are fed by many streams and canals draining from the peat domes in the Sebangau National Park. Leaving the dark river behind, the speedboat bursts onto the Java Sea for a 30 minute bumpy ride to pass on the sheltered side of Damar Island before reaching Pagatan. This port town sits on the tip of the sandy promontory at the mouth of the Katingan River. A town on stilts, with tidal waters creating large differences in river levels, Pagatan lives from trading and fishing. They also want to initiate a tourism enterprise on Damar Island, where they say a white ocean beach is the main attraction. I hope the proboscis monkeys are still as numerous as they were during my last visit in 2003, when the attached photo was taken from our boat. We'll let you know!