After our little delay while visiting a spot in Puncak, we were off to Taman Safari. Perhaps I should describe Taman Safari? There are quite a lot of parts to this place. Here is list of the things we did not see or do:
- Attend animal presentations: tiger, lion, dolphin, sea lion, birds of prey
- Splash around in the water park
- Jumbo Jungle adventure where you ride elephants to view a portion of the animal collection
- Ride any other animals like ponies and camels
- Have our photos taken with baby animals ( though we saw how they do it)
- The other activities not listed here but found at the park
What we did do:
- Safari Adventure: Pak Oky drove the car around the trail that winds through a large area where animals can be seen "in their natural habitat" (well, sort of) and you can interact with the many free ranging animals from the safety of your car. This includes endemic animals as well as endangered and rare animals from other parts of the world.
- Animal presentation: elephants
There is one very strange thing that goes on at this animal park. There are rules printed on the map and on signs at the entrance that you MUST NOT FEED THE ANIMALS, you MUST KEEP YOUR CAR WINDOWS CLOSED and you MUST NOT GET OUT OF THE CAR.
Ok, so let's examine these points. Starting in town as we approached Taman Safari we began to see shops and stands selling bananas and carrots. Hmmm.
And on the final leg of the road that leads into the park just the first of many roadside stands. This one is selling carrots ( next to the white sign).
As we got closer, the stands were no more than a few meters apart and all the vendors were hawking their wares: carrots and bananas. Hmmm.
Finally we are here. This is the entrance.
Pak Oky had never had the opportunity to visit this place so he was excited to escort us here.
As you drive through the habitats, you come quite close to most of the animals as you can see. Between our time in Puncak and at Taman Safari we took 372 photos between us. These are just a few we took on the Safari Adventure. I will confess that we did roll down the windows at times (well, a lot if I'm being honest) because shooting through the darkened glass would have comprised the photos. We did not buy or feed any animals, and we did not touch any of the animals though we were approached by many because they are clearly used to being fed from the cars. Hmmm.
They had both Bactrian and Dromedary camels.
Pak Oky was not a fan of the lamas. He would roll up the windows.
The critters were blocking the road until they got fed by the car in front of us.
In the big cat section section, the signs were firmer that you must stay in the car and keep windows CLOSED!
After the drive, there were a few areas we walked through. This was more like a traditional zoo experience.
Well,,, does anybody else see Jack Benny above? By the orangutans there was a more stern warning against feeding the animals. However, that did not stop folks from throwing food into the exhibit.
Ah, my favorite! Bali mynahs.
This was a nocturnal exhibit.
We did see the area where you can have your photo taken with a baby animal. Interestingly enough, the price is the same for everything except a baby orangutan.
I mentioned earlier that we did watch an elephant presentation- a little too "circusy" for my taste, but it was interesting that during the show, an audience member was asked to lay down on a blue mat and the elephant would lay down sort of around the mat so it appeared to lay down on top of the person.
There was also some interesting signage at this place. For example, there were graphics (aka pictures) to indicate what a given animal would include in it's diet as opposed to just a text list. It was more effective than just a text. And this large diagram about elephant birth.
We couldn't stay longer because we wanted to be back on the road by 1:00pm if possible. Heading back the traffic had increased substantially.
We stopped at the Cimory (a large dairy producer with a restaurant)for lunch and then headed back home. I think it took us 1 hour to drive there and 2 hours to drive back.
