Night Safari, another must-see wildlife tourin Cisarua
Night Safari, another must-see wildlife tourin Cisarua
By K. Basrie
CISARUA, West Java (JP): When did you last visit the country's
famous Safari Wildlife Park at the foot of Mount Pangrango?
On that occasion, you might not have been satisfied when
touring the wildlife zone not only because of the huge crowds but
also the failure to see the movement of wild animals, such as the
Sumatran tigers and Russian bears.
During your daytime trip, the nocturnal animals might only
have laid down in the shade of trees or hid behind their man-made
shelters, looking at the stream of passing cars and the pale
faces inside the vehicles.
Only "friendly" animals like the African ostrich would be
brave enough to approach vehicles, looking for food or just
starring at people's faces through the window.
To relieve the dissatisfaction, the park's management has
opened up a new adventure, called Night Safari, where visitors
are escorted in a specially-designed safari bus to witness the
man-made nightlife of the nocturnal wild animals.
The Jakarta Post arrived at the park one weekend to experience
the country's first night safari, which has been dubbed more
attractive and natural than a similar wildlife tour in Singapore.
It was around 8 p.m. The weather at the site, about 800 meters
above sea level, was chilly -- below 20 degrees Celcius. The dim
light from the ticket booths and the frightening skeleton of
deer's heads on top of the booths froze the atmosphere further.
Seven cars, mostly packed with children, lined up at the
ticket booths.
The vehicles were then led to a parking lot where green zebra-
motif buses were waiting. Unlike the daytime safari, visitors
were not allowed to drive their own vehicles.
There was a uniform guide on each bus. Most of the drivers and
guides were wearing thick jackets to fight the cold and wet
weather.
Special lights
The buses were equipped with special lights on the top to
illuminate animals so visitors could visibly see them moving,
hiding or looking for food in the dark.
Once the bus rolled on down the winding street, the guide
started announcing the standard safety rules, such as no window-
opening, no getting off, no animal feeding, and so on.
The bus continued to roll on, moving through the dark of the
night and the dense Pangrango forest.
After passing the entrance gate of the park's wildlife zone,
visitors on the safari bus received a lukewarm welcome from a
crowd of African zebras and Sumatran elephants.
The main lights and the additional lamps on the bus meant
nothing to the animals, the first to be captured by visitors'
eyes. They just went on about their business.
"Actually, there are Sumatran tapirs, Watusis and African
bulls around here," said guide Julius. "Probably, they are hiding
somewhere in the dark."
At the next stop, visitors could see an African hippo
submerged in his pool. And a few meters ahead, several camels
were eating their dinner. Despite the noise inside the bus and
the vehicle's engine, the animals weren't deterred from their
meals. In a large field, deer watched the lights of the bus,
their tired eyes roaming the wet grass for a space to rest.
Scenario
To add life to the night safari, a number of the park's staff,
threw fresh food onto the road to attract the animals, so
visitors could have a close look and feel that they were in the
middle of a wildlife jungle.
Immediately, a number of deer and antelopes flocked to the
road, blocking the bus. The visitors were immediately awestruck
by the activity, and cameras flashing, they tried to capture
every image of the scramble for food. But as the bus approached,
the animals moved away.
A few meters behind, another bus packed with visitors could be
seen.
At the next stop, the spotlight was thrown onto a herd of
African giraffes, African gray rhinos, Sumatran rhinos and a
group of Nilgai, the Indian blue ox.
The rhinos stopped eating their food and stared at the bus.
The bus then moved onto more dangerous territory, the tiger zone.
When we entered the area, the tigers and lions were unseen.
Apparently, they were taking a rest, sitting together on the
thick grass.
This time a jeep rushed to break up the gathering so the
animals could be visible to the curious onlookers. It worked.
Some of the lions ran onto the road and, once again, the visitors
were ready to capture the moment.
The bus then moved onto the newly-built African Zone, where
wild animals from Africa are allowed to roam free in the
"wilderness".
"Excluding certain animals like the African white rhinos and
crocodiles, they're free to move from one place to another in
this zone," said Julius.
The animals in this zone include antelopes, ostriches,
hippopotamus, zebras, gnus, impalas and kneels.
In this area, the animals were more natural than in the
previous zone. Despite the darkness and the emerging fog,
visitors could see some of the animals running around.
Naughty hippo
The most entertaining animal during the tour of the African
Zone was a hippopotamus, which continued to look for something in
the shallow water flowing down onto the street.
The bus had to wait for three minutes until the jumbo-sized
hippo moved to the side of the road.
The last area was the Asian Zone, where wild animals from Asia
were allowed to roam freely. This zone included the Benggala
tigers, Russian bears, American bears, orangutans and guanacos
from Peru.
While the orangutans were already sleeping, the bears and the
tigers were more active in this territory.
Several bears, for instance, could be seen digging the wet
soil on the side of the road in the search for worms. They also
ignored the roar of the bus engine.
After about 45 minutes, the tour was over and the bus left for
the parking lot again.
"It was really interesting, especially witnessing the
activities of the Sumatran tigers at night," said visitor John
Lee, in his 50s, from San Diego, California.
Lee said the only concern was the crowded bus which prevented
everyone from having a clear view of the activities outside.
"Many of us could not see everything because some people in the
bus were standing," he said.
Yoshua, 10, commented: "The animals and the overall
surroundings of the night safari tour is much, much better and
far more interesting than those in Singapore."
But, he added: "I don't like the rules here, which do not
allow the opening of the bus windows."
The Night Safari has been opened to the public since the Idul
Fitri holiday last month. It took three months of preparations,
said Asep, the park's promotion officer.
The new adventure is opened for two hours from 7 p.m. to 9
p.m. every Saturday and Sunday with entrance fees of Rp 15,000
for adults and Rp 12,000 for children (six years old and below).
The daytime safari is opened from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven
days per week with ticket prices at Rp 8,000 for adults and 6,000
for children.
Priority
Unlike the daytime safari where visitors are allowed to drive
into the animal park in their own vehicles, visitors to the Night
Safari are required to spend their time in the safari bus.
"Our top priority is the safety of the visitors," said Frans
Manansang, one of the park's directors.
It is for this reason that parking fees for any type of
vehicles of the night safari cost Rp 2,000, while the daytime
safari fares are Rp 5,000 for four-wheel vehicles and Rp 6,000
for vehicles with six or more wheels.
For the night tour, the park management provides 15 shuttle
buses, which depart every 15 minutes, said Frans.
"We do not allow any standing passengers on the bus which has
a capacity of around 40 passengers," he said.
According to Frans, the management deliberately refused to
install any lamp posts inside the wildlife zones.
"Besides the danger to the animals, the lamp posts would also
not create a natural atmosphere for visitors," he said.
"We only use lamps empowered by around 10,000 watts installed
at four posts and illuminated from four corners on the top of the
hills," said Frans. "We design the lights to be as bright as a
full moon."
After the tour, visitors are invited to have a light supper at
the park's restaurant which is open until 11pm or browse in the
souvenir shop. Visitors are also able to stay overnight in
caravans or guesthouses where rates range from Rp 150,000 to Rp
200,000 per day.
Now nightlife is not only found downtown in Jakarta. Nightlife
at Taman Safari is also fun and full of entertainment. It is
definitely a must-see at the weekend.