Samarinda: the river gateway to Indonesian Borneo

On the Mahakam River, Samarinda remains the departure point for exploring the rainforests of Indonesian Borneo and its Dayak populations.

Riverboats remain the most common way to proceed inland.

The Mahakam river, among Borneo's longest, crosses Samarinda connecting the city to the tropical interior inhabited by Dayak peoples for centuries.

A few minutes by boat, Dayak villages along the river preserve traditions and traditional communal houses, increasingly rare due to deforestation and urbanization.

Continuing inland, one observes wild orangutans in the protected rainforests of eastern Kalimantan, a habitat increasingly threatened.

Toward evening, Samarinda's floating markets sell fresh fish and tropical products along the Mahakam riverbanks, illuminated by colored lanterns.

The Mahakam River, stretching over nine hundred kilometers, remains the primary communication route between Samarinda and the remote Dayak communities of Borneo's interior, often accessible only by boat after days of travel.

East Kalimantan, the region surrounding Samarinda, is home to some of Borneo's last wild orangutan populations, threatened by deforestation for palm oil agriculture and mining extraction.