Picnic with the Penan
Website: www.picnicwiththepenan.org
www.facebook.com/people/Penan-Picnic
E-mail: picnicwiththepenan@gmail.com
Communities
Long Kerong, Long Spigen, Long Sait, Long Lellang, Ba Lai
Who they are
Picnic with the Penan is a community based eco-tourism project that is owned and operated solely by the indigenous Penan community members from the surrounding villages. This grassroots initiative aims to provide authentic, unique and low impact trips for adventurous tourists, as well as generating income and resources for the local communities. This project offers a variety of trip itineraries which allow visitors to explore the surrounding rainforest and spend time with their local hosts — the Penan people of Sarawak.
The Penan are one of the smallest tribal groups in Borneo, many of which are still semi-nomadic. Most of the Penan still rely on the surrounding rainforest for their daily needs and they are true forest experts. Although their traditional customs and beliefs remain strong, many of their practices and rituals are still unknown to the outside world.
What they offer
The programs and activities vary depending on the time that travellers have and what their interests are. All trips are tailor-made to suit the travellers, but general activities include: Trekking, fishing, cultural experiences (living with a local Penan family, cooking, blow pipe making, folklore and storytelling), camping, swimming in rivers and waterfalls, ethno-botany and food gathering. Trips can range from 3 nights/4 days to 1 week or longer. Volunteer placements may be possible in the future.
Please note: These trips can be challenging, both physically and mentally, so intrepid, open and fit travellers are best suited.
Location
Although you can reach Long Kerong on your own, (it is 8 hours by 4WD from Miri in Sarawak, Malaysia), it is best if you contact Picnic with the Penan first so that they can help organise a guide and trip for you. This is a very remote location that can only accommodate a small number of visitors at any one time and they would like you to be sensitive to this. If you are interested in visiting this location please use the contact and website link provided.
What to bring
- Sleeping sheet
- Mosquito repellent
- Torch
- Local rubber walking shoes (kampong Adidas)
- Candles & lighter
- Dry bag
- Ear plugs
- First aid kit & medication
- Sarong / towel
- Toiletries (biodegradable)
Available for hire: Hammock, mosquito net & leech socks
Accommodation & Amenities
During village homestays you will sleep on the ground with a roll-mat. In the rainforest you sleep in hammocks (private tents are an option but this is not recommended).
Bathing in river; forest or basic squat toilet with bucket.
There is only some electricity from generators when in the villages.
Local food will be served in the homestays and on the jungle treks. This will be primarily rice, vegetables and meat. Vegetarians should let them know beforehand and bring supplementary food products (like protein bars, peanuts etc). Food can be repetitive, so it is suggested that you bring snacks to be shared with the other travellers and guides.
Prices depend on size of the group and the duration of the trip. A sample itinerary of 4 nights / 5 days is: (US) $50.00 per person per day for a group of 4 people or more, or $120.00 per day for 1 person only. The price includes everything except return flights or 4WD from Miri to Long Banga.
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We’ve just come back from our Borneo trip in september and are still fullfilled with our picnic with the penan trip. It was the most amazing and authentic experience we ever had while travelling. The overwhelming jungle and the lovely,pure Penan people really touched our hearts.
We organised a 5 day jungle trekking with overnights in the jungle and in homestays. But you can organise your trip just as you like and what fits to your fitnesslevel. Getting there takes some preparation on flights, contact with the organisation and shopping groceries/jungle shoes etc and can sometimes give you the feeling of ‘ where am I going??’ But it is all definitely worth it!
Caren
I can recommend everybody who is fit, adventurous and looking for a unique experience with a message about saving the original jungle and people of Malaysia.
Visit this place. Picnic with the Penan will put you in contact with a local guide and porter, a place to stay in the village, day treks through virgin rainforest, or even multi-day treks in the remote areas. Wake up, bathe in the river, eat some fresh smoked wild boar and durian, go fishing, see stone carvings, and witness a way of life that is profoundly different from anything you are used to.
I wholeheartedly recommend PWTP to anyone interested in an authentic experience off the beaten track, who has respect for unknown cultures, and who is capable of admiring the beauty of the unique forest their life is based on.
I have travelled with the Penan twice, and the experience was absolutely unique.
During my trips, we slept in the forest, ate food from the forest and took part in the daily life of the Penan for one and a half weeks.
It takes a lot of knowledge and skill to make use of the forest’s resources in the sustainable way the Penan do, and it is an inspiration that this style of life can be maintained even today, provided of course that the areas are not logged. Realizing how inept I would be on my own as a foreigner in this environment really gave me a deep-seated respect for the Penans’ ability to sustain their lives in this nature-based way.
Not only was it interesting from the point of view of experiencing the forest with a group of people who really have an intimate knowledge of it, but it was also an interesting cultural experience. Witnessing, for example, community-based Penan child rearing, and food sharing norms is a great opportunity to be exposed to something completely different from what you are accustomed to.
I hope that the PWTP project will succeed in bringing culturally interested, respectful and ecologically sensitive travelers to the Penan in a sustainable way. This could be a great way to foster an understanding and appreciation of both Penan culture and the value of protecting the primary rainforest as a universal human heritage.
Hello everyone,
who are visiting this page,I will travel to visit and share time with villages of communities Picnic with Penan.
I will travel to mirri 18 of january 2012 and after few days head off for Villages and asking now if there is anyone thinking to expirience the Picnic with penan that same time and would like to have some Finn man as comppany on the way to villages.
I am more than happy to have some comppany with me.
Hope to hear from some of you Travelers
Johnny