Recreation parks packed with holiday revelers

Recreation parks packed with holiday revelers

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta
Post, Jakarta

Idul Fitri is a time of joy, with lots of food and fun. During
the festivities, recreation parks here were packed with hundreds
of thousands of holiday revelers who flocked to the sites with
the whole family to celebrate the event.

Never mind the crowds or long lines to get into the spots, and
never mind the rain, as it happens only once a year.

Despite the rain on Monday afternoon, Jakartans poured into
favorite entertainment spots at Ancol Recreation Park in North
Jakarta, Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta and Taman Mini Indonesia
Indah (TMII) in East Jakarta.

Traffic congestion occurred on streets leading to the places,
which were packed with vehicles and passersby. Thousands of
people filled trucks, motorbikes and cars to reach the
destinations, as public transportation was scarce.

Some public buses and minivan drivers made the most of the
situation by charging illegal fares, as much as twice as normal,
while others took new routes, which provided a link between the
recreation areas, such as from Ragunan Zoo to Taman Mini.

At least 160,000 people visited Ancol on Monday -- a sharp
rise from Sunday's 78,000 visitors -- for picnicking, swimming or
playing, according to Ancol's public relations officer, Widianto.

By midday, there were already 29,173 visitors at Dunia Fantasi
(Fantasy World) -- the main attraction at Ancol -- while on
normal days the number of visitors ranges from 3,000 people to
7,000 people.

No wonder lines at the various amusement centers and the water
park were long.

Similar scenes could be observed at Ragunan Zoo and Taman
Mini. On the first day of Idul Fitri, over 36,000 people made a
tour to 55 spots at Taman Mini, which mainly display culture from
all the provinces around the country, said the spokesman, Jaya
Purnawijaya.

"Most of the visitors were Jakartans with their families and
friends," he told The Jakarta Post.

According to Jaya, the number of visitors had increased by 20
percent compared with that of last year. He believed that the
increase was related to more favorable security and economic
conditions in the city.

Meanwhile, some 50,000 people visited Ragunan Zoo on Sunday,
an increase of over 32,000 on last year's figure.

The zoo's visitors, mostly groups, experienced the holiday by
observing the animals in their enclosures, and enjoying the fresh
air at the zoo.

People, many sporting new clothes and footwear, sat on the
grass under the trees and enjoyed picnic lunches with their
family and friends.

However, most of them expressed disappointment because there
were no gorillas to be seen in their luxurious enclosure costing
Rp 10 billion.

"I came here to see the gorillas -- I've never seen one in
real life," said Odah, 63.

The food vendor and her extended family, consisting of 10
people, rented a truck to take them to the zoo from their house
in Ciputat, South Jakarta.

The zoo management had originally planned to show four male
gorillas from England in October. However, the plan was postponed
indefinitely by the Howletts and Lymphne Animal Park in Kent,
which owns the apes, partly for security reasons.

Some visitors to Ancol, Ragunan Zoo and Taman Mini said they
had chosen to celebrate Idul Fitri at the recreation areas in
view of the relatively inexpensive admission tickets.

Nur Naningsih and her family of 12 from Tanjung Priok, North
Jakarta, visitors to Ancol, said they had opted for Ancol because
it was affordable and fun, compared with having to go to the
Puncak (a favored upland resort area between Jakarta and
Bandung), for example.

"We don't mind the crowds ... in fact, to us the crowds are
part of the fun," Naning said, while watching her children and
nephews splashing about on the beach near where she was sitting.

Ancol Recreation Park had an entrance fee of Rp 6,000, Ragunan
Zoo Rp 3,000 for adults and Rp 2,000 for children, while Taman
Mini charged adults Rp 5,000 and children Rp 4,000.

The entrance ticket to Ancol, however, did not include entry
to Dunia Fantasi.