Karan grew up in Bukit Lawang, on the very river he now crosses to guide his treks. Always smiling and in good spirits, he spends his days searching: a movement in the leaves, a track on the ground, a call in the distance. Laura arrived one day like so many others, for three days of jungle trekking followed by a tube rafting return. She didn't leave right away.
When the trek ended, she wasn't sure whether to stay on and see the village properly. Karan told her what he often says when someone is torn: "Never try, never know." She stayed.
From that initial hesitation and the extra few days came a project, and then Akarimba. On the ground, Karan manages all the logistics: the guides, the camps, and the terrain he knows by heart. Laura handles the organisation from Switzerland: enquiries, communication, and everything that keeps the project running remotely.
Today, we are building this together, bridging Switzerland and Sumatra. In the summer of 2026, we drove across the island together to meet people, between volcanoes, rice fields, lakes and beaches. Some of them became our partners, all over the island. What matters to us remains simple: that your trip does as much good for the people here as it does for you.
