Basic Trekking Information
GUIDES: For their safety we are working with a regular team on a steady basis, we do not hire additional, external guides even if they could maximise our profit. Our handful of well-versed and enthuisiastic EcoTravel guides are locals from this region and will love to answer your questions about jungle life. Our guides speak English, have excellent knowledge of plants and animals and are certified by the local ITGA-HPI (Indonesia Tourist Guides Association – Himpunan Pramuwisata Indonesia).
TREKS: We offer a wide range of treks, starting from a short “Jungle View Hike” (4-hour trek) that takes just a few hours up to our 1-day trek “Welcome To The Jungle”. Our “Orangutan Trek” (2-day trek) and our “Jungle Explorer” (3-day trek) are both fantastic ways to venture deeper into the jungle. If you want to experience the big jungle trekking adventure, we can also offer long term treks that take up to five days. We run all our tours for small groups of up to 8 EcoTravel guests on fixed days of the week and in combination with one of our selected EcoTravel packages!
GROUP SIZE: All EcoTravel jungle treks start from our base in Bukit Lawang and are limited in size and number due to environmental issues. Our guests will explore the jungle in a small group of up to 7 persons (Observation I + II) and up to 8 persons (4-hours hike, 1-day trek, 2-day trek & 3-day trek).
QUALITY TREKKING: “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time.” This is the mantra of our trekking tours – intending to leave nothing non-organic behind. Usually one guide and one porter are taking care of our guests on jungle treks. They will be constantly looking out for wildlife and providing lots of information. Families with children will be supported by additional guides. For overnight treks we further provide assistants, cooks and a rafting team.
WASTE MANAGEMENT: Our dedicated campsite team will clean the sites before our guests arrive and after they have left. On top of that our guides are meticulous about collecting all the garbage left behind by others which means that after each EcoTravel trek it’s not only the campsites which are free from garbage but the complete trekking trail as well!
EQUIPMENT: We provide double tents (2-day/3-day trek) or big tents with mosquito nets (Observation I + II), mattress, pillows and sleeping bags for a comfortable overnight stay in the jungle. With an innovative water filter from Switzerland we are taking another big step to minimize the number of plastic bottles and increase our guests’ health and wellbeing. And our delicious, freshly prepared meals are memorable add ons to kick your energy for walking in the wild.
CAMPSITES: Our EcoTravel team has to use official camp sites and the usual “jungle toilets” in the National park. But we have invested in the safety and cleanliness of two priority camp sites to give our guests a better jungle experience than others will get.
OUR PRICES: We adhere to the official 2024/2025 price list for jungle trekking in Gunung Leuser National Park issued by the Indonesia Tourist Guides Association. On top, we always invest 1 Euro of each booking in our challenging initiatives “Keep The Jungle Green”, “Panting Trees For The Future” and “School Education Program”.
PERMIT: The national park office charges an entrance fee/camera tax of 150.000 IDR/ person/ weekdays & 225.000 IDR/ person/ Sundays or red days in addition to the official rates of jungle trekking. For reasons of transparency we list the national park permit separately from our trekking fees. By paying this fee, our EcoTravel team and our guests strictly follow the rules of the national park office and support the rainforest conservation system. We register each guest and provide their personal permit receipt before the actual trekking starts.
GUIDE LINES: We offer tours, we love having guests! But it is essential to keep the impact of tourism under control. Our guides will teach guests how to follow the strict official guidelines for visitors to the national park.