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.