Borneo Island - Kalimantan

Borneo Island’s 2/3 part is made of the Indonesian territory of Kalimantan. It is a region notorious for its tropical vegetation, for its exotic flowers and animals, and or its rich natural resources. Kalimantan offers a unique universe of its own, unlikely to any other region in the world. The very first people in Kalimantan were the Dayak , Iban, Punan and Banuaq tribes, many of which were made of the forceful headhunters. Why did these people hunt heads? It certainly wasn’t for pleasure, they weren’t serial killers, for them it had a spiritual significance, mostly related to bringing them good luck and good crops throughout the year. However, plenty of religions have influenced their philosophy, so they have renounced this frightening habit. Islamic teaching, Hinduism and even Christianity have reached these people.

The rivers in Kalimantan play an important role, both for communication and for the national economy. Houses are generally built on riversides. These rivers also have another function-that of offering tourists great entertainment like rafting or simply traveling across them. They are some of the most beautiful and spectacular rivers in the world, passing through jungles and traditional villages.

In the Eastern Kalimantan there is a river called Mahakam where the freshwater dolphin lives. The Eastern Kalimantan part tends to be more and more advanced in industry. It is due to its producing of oil and timber, and also by the fact that it is Indonesia's second largest province. The Dayaks, indigenes, also live here. Because of that, there are many cultural remnants of these people.

As for South Kalimantan, it is rich and fertile and divided in two zones by the mountains called Meratus. Thus, in the east there are mostly mountains and thick tropical forests, while the south has more plains and rivers. Because of the many forests in this area, it has become a great producer of wood for Indonesia. The amazing handicrafts made here are made entirely of raw material that is to be found there.

Central Kalimantan is made of thick jungles and represents the island’s largest province. The relief is made of mountains, swamps and plenty of rivers. The climate is tropical, the temperature rising to 26 C -30 C during the day, and 15 - 20 C in the nighttime. The humidity has an average of 70 - 90%.

West Kalimantan is also called 'land of the equator' because its capital Pontianak is geographically positioned exactly on the Equator line. It has many swamps, rivers and lakes.

There are many sight attractions on this island. For instance, the national parks and natural reserves. In order to protect its unique flora and fauna, Kalimantan has some nature reserves, like Kersik Luway, where we can find the extremely rare 'Black Orchid' (Colongenia Pandurata), in fact growing on the upper stream of the Mahakam river. Another reserve is Bontang. Then Tanjung Puting National Park in the central part of Kalimantan where the flora and fauna are conserved since incredibly old times. There are some interesting primates living in this reserve, such as Orangutans, Owa-owa, Bekantan and others. There also is here a centre for rehabilitating primates, called the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and supported by WWF (Would Wildlife Fund.)

These nature reserves are but a few reasons to visit this wonderful place on earth. Perhaps, apart from getting to know the culture of these people, and understand their lifestyle and choices, we could certainly find a lot of adventure in those tropical jungles and enjoy magnificent sceneries, gather some memories to bring back to our homelands. A thing that I find interesting is how come people who inhabited such a heavenly island got to be headhunters? Why would such a peaceful place fail to induce its peace and natural influence on people? Of course, the answer might be we are all humans, and are bound to make things that are against nature. We want to exceed nature at any cost, surpass it, control it and change it to our very own pleasure.

Otherwise, how could we explain the fact that people don’t kill for food, unlike animals. And animals also very rarely, if ever, eat their very own species. So, did man invent murder just to come up with something new, that other God’s creatures didn’t bother to think about?