Selamat Bagee, Greetings from Indonesia.  Don’t be confused folks, it’s me, Chester Chatsworth your Dallas Homes Doggie Reporter on the scene.  I’m currently here in Sumatra, Indonesia seeing how they live in other parts of the world.  I know September is the month for Labor Day.  But here in Indonesia they don’t exactly celebrate Labor Day like we do at home in the states.  So instead, I’m here to tell you about Indonesia.  Hope you all enjoy this fun-filled September edition. And, terima kasih ( or thank you) for all of your patronage.

Jet Lagged and Dog Tagged

Well, I finally made it to Indonesia after a grueling 10-hour flight from New Zealand to Malaysia, and an overnight stay in a not-so-close-to-the-airport ‘airport hotel’ (an hour by bus each way) then an early start the next morning on a 50-minute flight to Sumatra, Indonesia.  Now, as I sit here eating my morning kibbles on the busy Sumatran roadway, you are all snuggling off to bed.  You see, there is about a 12-hour time difference from Texas to Sumatra, so here I am all jet lagged and dog tagged. Why dog tagged you ask?  Well, this is a foreign country and it is important to always have the appropriate documents with you at all times.  My ‘canine passport’ is my dog tags.  Never go anywhere without them.  The weather here is hot and humid, and it is the midst of the monsoon season, which means daily thunderstorms.  I shouldn’t say it’s all fun and games.  I sit here with thick exhaust fumes filling the air from buses, cars, motorcycles, and taxis that zip along busy confusing motorways.  It makes me really appreciate romping and playing in the fresh Texas air.  But, part of travel is experiencing life from different places and perspectives.  I’m off now to see some orangutans.

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Interesting Web Links

If you would like more information on my fuzzy friends of the forest (orangutans) please check out the following links.  They need everyone’s help, including you dogs out there.

 www.orangutans-sos.org This is a fantastic website for the Sumatran Orangutan Society.  They are a funding agent helping to preserve this great ‘man of the forest.’  They have a lot of photos and interesting information about the Sumatran Orangutan.

 www.orangutan.com  This site concentrates more on the orangutans from the island of Borneo, another island of Indonesia, and the only other place orangutans exist in the wild.  They also have an excellent educational page. 

www.sumatranorangutan.com  This is the site for PanEco.  They are in charge of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Project, which is building a new Rehabilitation and Release center for Sumatran orangutans.

Orang-utan

(not to be confused with Orange Tang)

Indonesia is the home to one of the world’s most amazing great apes, the orang-utan.  Orangutan is actually an Indonesian word orang=person and utan=forest; so the meaning of the word orangutan is person (or man) of the forest.  This is not to be confused with the popular breakfast drink orange tang, the powdered orange flavored drink mix developed for the astronauts in space.  Orangutans only exist in their native environment in Indonesia on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, but you can find orange tang in any of your local supermarkets.  Orangutans are rapidly becoming extinct.  There are thought to be as few as 10,000 in existence, and they are disappearing at a rate of about 1000 per year.  This means that they could be extinct within a decade.  As for orange tang…well, drink up there is plenty for everyone.