Reflections of Eden: My Years with the Orangutans of Borneo

This book is like private time travel back to the days when few people from North America or Europe knew where Borneo was or that orangutans lived in the wild there and not in Africa with chimps and gorillas. Additionally, the author is one of the three women that studied great apes at the request of Louise Leakey; Fossey and Goodall went to Africa while Galdikas went to Kalimantan, the large section of the island -commonly referred to as Borneo- which is part of Indonesia. Something special about this book, too, is that there is the 2011 film documentary "Born To Be Wild" which shows Birute Mary Galdikas in action, and as of 2023 Galdikas is active on some social media platforms so people can get updated information.

If you are inspired by dedicated peoplewith vision and or conservation this is a must read. Professor Galdikas is an amazing woman and is part of the Leakey sisterhood ie Fossey, Goodall and Galdikas, who have made life time studies of apes.

Having spent time volunteering at Tanjung Puting, I felt this book was wonderfully written. Although The Professor (Birute) is not an open person, she willingly shared her personal feelings in this book. She tells us in a wonderful fashion about the difficulties of establishing Camp Leakey in Kalimantan. She discloses much about marriage and divorce from Rod, and raising Binti. Her account of Rod's efforts during 7 1/2 years at Tanjung Puting are wonderful in that she credited him with so much. I appreciate her assimilation into Indonesian and Dayak culture. At first glance it may be difficult for us to understand how she could marry Pak Bohap, a native Dayak who even admits to having eaten orangutans. But her writing about this relationship is so understandable. Overall, this is a wonderful book by a woman entirely devoted to the conservation of one of the world's great apes. The story of her life in Borneo is fascinating. A great read about one of Louis Leakey's proteges!

Unlike the two other primate researchers Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey I had never heard of Galdikas when I found this book a few days ago in the bookshop. Galdikas describes in this book more than 20 years of her life with the Orang Oetans in a nature reserve in Kalimantan, Indonesia. The story is an very enyoable read and tells a lot about the way Orang Oetans live. Instead of viewing all Orang Oetans as similar she describes a lot of different individuals. She's not only studying the Orang Oetans but also tries to free captivated Orang Oetans and tries to relocate them in the reserve. The story is very well written and also very well translated in Dutch. I'm looking forward to read the books by Fossey and Goodall.

I was lucky enough to be one of Galdikas' undergraduate students in her Primate Behaviour course here in Simon Fraser University, Canada. She is very inspirational and I have great admiration for her life-long commitment to the orangutans. This book reflects this commitment and love plus adds lots of interesting facts on orangutan behaviour. I enjoyed her engaging writing style and found this book to be a quick read. Definitely a book that I would recommend to not only inspiring biologists, but to the general public as well.

Louis Leaky hand-picked three women to conduct studies of primates in their natural habitats. Jane Goodall was sent to study chimps in Gombe, Dianne Fossy: Gorillas in Zaire, and finally Birute Galdikas was sent to Borneo to study orangutans. Having read the work of all three remarkable women, Reflections of Eden stands out as one of the more well-written and engrossing books. Whether or not you are interested in primates, I would recommend this book as a story of one woman's determination and personal development in the face of daunting challenges.