Gunung Halimun Salak National Park

Halimun Salak covers about eight hundred and seventy square kilometres between Bogor, Sukabumi and Lebak and holds what is left of Java's lowland and submontane forest in a single block, which matters on an island where almost everything below a thousand metres was cleared long ago. Halimun means mist, and the forest is wet and cloud-bound most of the time. The Javan gibbon, the Javan hawk-eagle and the Javan leopard are all present in small numbers. A canopy walkway at the Cikaniki research station gives access to the upper forest. Inside the park live Kasepuhan communities - Sundanese villages following adat, customary law, with their own governance and rice traditions, at Ciptagelar and elsewhere - whose relationship with the park boundary has been negotiated over decades.

What you actually see

• Java's largest forest block - lowland and montane forest in one piece.
• A canopy walkway - at Cikaniki, into the upper layer of the forest.
• Javan gibbon habitat - the endangered endemic, heard more than seen.
• Kasepuhan villages - adat communities living inside the park boundary.

When to go

May to September, though it rains here in any season. Two days.

Honest expectations

Roads into the park are rough and slow. It rains constantly and leeches are severe. Large mammals are not seen. Visiting Kasepuhan villages needs arrangement and respect for adat rules.

Nearby

Bogor is north; Sukabumi is east; the Banten coast is south-west.