Wildlife Safari

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Taman Safari, is a wildlife conservation site some 80 kms / 2hours away from Jakarta. Its nestled in the hills around “Puncak Pass” (another weekend getaway for people living in Jakarta & Bandung) ,hence boasts of moderate temperatures for the animals to thrive. Having been to both Sanctuaries /national parks (Corbett Natinal Park, Kanha National park, etc) and zoos, I kind of found it fun going to Taman Safari, the concept of which is basically something in between. A sanctuary is for the enthusiasts, its literally the wilderness & doesn’t guarantee you spotting animals (3 days of loitering around with all six senses on high alert & all you get to see is tiger’s shit and elephants footprints); and in a zoo animals are caged in small confinements. Whereas here, they are let loose in parks –which are much smaller than National Parks of course , but are much better than cages- Which ensures guranteed sightings & is fun especially with kids!

We left Jakarta at 9 am and got back by 6 pm, i.e.; a 9 hour road trip with our 10 month old baby who does not like being confined to a car and would prefer walking as much as possible, which meant we took along both our maid & nanny – the more the merrier !

Wildlife from around the world included beautiful giraffes, deers, bears, orangutans, elephants, bisons, ostrich, hippos, owls, and of course our beloved big cats, lions, cheetahs, tigers & leopards. The deers we could feed carrots sitting in our car- which was absolutely fascinating for our baby.

The place also has several activities lined up, the dolfin show , tiger & lion show (which we attended) and also has a pretty darn good water kingdom (which we didn’t dive into). Eateries are spread well across the place (Indonesians & their love for snacking!) and so are the cool reasonably priced souvernir shops. Picked up a Giraffe cap for our baby & some lion slip ons for me! Basically if you get there early morning you can easily stay upto the evening having your hands full with fun stuff...or you could stay back for the Night Safari too! For a price of Rp 130,000 per person ($13) , I think its completely worth a day trip.

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