Our Jungle

27/12/2025

An update on the situation in Ketambe after the November 27th flash flood disaster:

It's been one month since Ketambe and most of Aceh was changed forever by the flash flood. The situation in our village is somewhat improved - we have temporary road access, electricity and phone towers are all working. People have enough food. Excavators have spent several days working to stabilise the river further from the road to avoid continued erosion.

As expected, there have been no major improvements in this time. People who lost their homes are living in their relative's homes or in temporary shelters. Some people who have the means have started building add-ons to the back of family homes. No one has money to buy new land.

With the situation now stable enough, we have decided to reopen jungle treks from the beginning of January 2026. Ecotourism is an important source of income for the families of Ketambe, and guides and camp assistants are eager to get back to work.

We (Our Jungle Ecolodge and Wildlife Treks) held off on hosting guests here for the past month until we could be more sure that travelling here would be safe. If you are wondering whether or not your presence would be a positive or negative, please rest assured that the people of Ketambe are ready and would appreciate the return of tourism in the area.

If you'd like to read more, I'll post a full update in a link in the comments.

28/11/2025

In the past few days Ketambe has been hit by a major disaster, with the village torn apart by the flooded river. We’ve lost over 60 houses and half the guesthouses in the village. For now, Ketambe is still cut off and inaccessible. We also can’t reach the jungle from here for the time being, as many of the roads have been damaged beyond repair. Even food, supplies and clean up assistance can’t reach us yet. Throughout Sumatra there are currently similar issues with flooding and landslides.

If you were planning to travel to Sumatra (and specifically Ketambe) in the remainder of 2025, we highly recommend delaying your trip if possible. It's still very uncertain how long it will take until it's possible to receive travellers here again.

We will likely be very slow in replying to enquiries for the next month, and probably wont have any answers for what's possible until close to the new year. Please bear with us during this time.

26/05/2025

Been waiting a long time for this day 🙌 Powering our ecolodge from the sun 🌞

10/03/2025

Bit of a personal story posted on our blog this week. Some thoughts on why it's so important to let wild animals remain free and untouched.

There is a great satisfaction felt when seeing animals happy in their native place. It doesn’t have to be a guilty pleasure.

05/03/2025

Watch the construction of our first ecolodge building in the Sumatran jungle. The longhouse was finished in July 2024. Set atop a hill overlooking the valley, mountains and jungle of the Gunung Leuser National Park near Ketambe village.

The first building as part of our ecolodge in the Sumatran jungle. The longhouse finished construction in July 2024. Set atop a hill overlooking the valley, ...

03/03/2025

Last year, Josh came to Sumatra for jungle trekking and caught some great footage during his time here. He's since made this amazing documentary about Sumatran orangutans.

Safar himself features in the video around 35 minutes in, but if you love orangutans it's worth watching the whole thing!

In this episode, I go in search of one of the world’s most iconic and endangered species – the Sumatran Orangutan. On this journey, I’ll explore the differen...

15/02/2025

"Conservationists around the world say the effects of that disruption are arriving fast. On the Indonesian island of Sumatra, former Goldman Prize winner Rudi Putra told Mongabay that his organization’s work monitoring the Leuser Ecosystem, a 25,000-km2 rainforest inhabited by rhinos, tigers, orangutans and elephants, has already taken a hit.

“The biggest impact is on patrols because most of our patrol teams are funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” said Putra, who heads the Leuser Conservation Forum. “This funding supports orangutans, rhinos and elephants, so with the funding cut, our patrol teams have been reduced.”"

Conservation projects across the world are reeling from the Trump administration’s abrupt decision to shut down USAID and freeze foreign aid, as groups large and small scramble to fill sudden funding gaps for nature and wildlife protection. According to more than a dozen people interviewed by Mong...

07/12/2024

Lukas travelled all the way from Bavaria to see amazing Indonesia, including a jungle trip with us here in Ketambe. Safar and Edy made the cut of his awesome video documenting their trip. If you need any more convincing to come visit, check it out!

Joins us on our trip through some of the hidden gems of Indonesia.Itinerary:- Ketambe (Sumatra)- Yogyakarta (Java)- Malang (Java)- Banyuwangi (Java)- Bunaken...

01/10/2024

Check out the colours on these birds! 🦚🌈