Supporting Local Tour Guides in Indonesia

If you ever plan to take a trip to Indonesia to see Nepenthes and other unique plants in the wild, hiring a local guide is a great way to ensure that you get to see some of the best places. When we went on our first trip to Borneo with Redfern, we were led by a team of local guides. Our dear friend Mammed planned out several days towards the end of our trip and it was amazing. We got to see so many Nepenthes, a waterfall, snorkel on a coral reef, and see hundreds of sea turtles!

(Photo from Ilham)

Hiring local guides not only provides you with an awesome experience but also helps provide incentive to protect the forest and wild spaces where plants like Nepenthes can be found, as well as the animals who live alongside them. Much of the lowland forest in Indonesia has already been lost to palm oil farming. Finding ways to encourage conservation of the remaining forests is essential for the longevity of Nepenthes in the wild, as well as all the other flora and fauna that call these forests their home.

Our friend, Ilham Saputra, runs Sumatra Overland and is a tour guide who has been greatly affected by the lack of tourists due to Covid. He provides tours that focus on Rafflesia arnoldii, Amorphophallus titanium, Nepenthes, and other endemic plant species of Sumatra.

(Ilham with a Rafflesia arnoldii)

We have commissioned Jenna Cole of Xsnakeprincess again to create another design featuring these endemic Sumatran plants. Now we can sell t-shirts to  raise money to help fund Ilham so he can continue to trek across Sumatra and look for these incredible species.

If you would like an awesome Sumatra t-shirt and to help you can order one here!

Here are a few more photos from Ilham on his adventures across Sumatra!

(Ilham with an A. titanium) 

(R. arnoldii being measured)

(A. titanium photo from Ilham)

(Ilham with locals and some tourist he guided)

If you would like to help support him directly you can do that here. 

We also have stickers available on our website here!

Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or would like more information on how to contact Ilham at Sumatra Overland please send an email to pearlriverexotics@gmail.com