Pegatan spin

Travelling on Kalteng's rivers is an exercise in expectation - are we early enough to catch the boat, is there going to be enough space, and will the weather and the boat hold?
Making the trip to Pegatan as a farewell to Indonesia, friends working at the BCU National Plus School at Tangkiling enthusiastically squeezed into the speedboat, which had settled into the tiny harbour at Keringbangkirai, south of Palangka Raya. On board were already passengers and goods, including a motor bike all headed, like us, to Pegatan along the beautiful black water Sebangau River, bordering the Sebangau National Park.
Pegatan perches on the end of the sandy spit which is the mouth of the Katingan River. The easiest access is via the Sebangau River. Otherwise it is a risky open sea speedboat journey from Sampit (not recommended by a green-faced police officer met later in Pegatan), a 7+ hour journey from Kasongan on the Katingan River (expensive charter only), or a seasonal klotok ride by canal from Sampit (2 hours).
We travelled in June, and had strong rain showers, but still enjoyed perfect reflections and watching the vegetation change from forest, to rushes to dense palms at the mouth. Along the river we saw snakes swimming and small bronze freshwater crocodiles, as well waterbirds. Later a passenger talked about the big salt water crocs at the mouth, but we did not see any.