Basic Trekking Information

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).

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).

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!

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.

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 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.

PERMIT: The national park office charges an entrance fee/camera tax of 150.000 IDR/ person/ weekdays & 225.000 IDR/ person/ Sundays in addition to the official rates of jungle trekking. 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.

OUR PRICES: We adhere to the official 2024 price list for jungle trekking in Gunung Leuser National Park issued by the Indonesia Tourist Guides Association. However, as we do not offer private tours but only group tours for up to 8 participants, our prices tend to be slightly lower: for our most popular tour – Orangutan Trek (2-day trek) – we offer a discount of 15 euros/person for EcoTravel guests; Welcome To The Jungle (1-day trek) and Jungle View Hike (4-hour trek) are discounted by 5 euros; Jungle Explorer (3-day trek) is discounted by 10 euros and our Observation Treks (a minimum number of 3 participants is required!) are also 10 euros less expensive than the standard tour prices in Bukit Lawang. 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”.

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 treks on fixed days of the week. All tours can only be booked in combination with our well selected EcoTravel packages.