It's a Reptile House, and Bird Park

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We wanted to do something special on the last full day of our honeymoon, so of course, we were going to go to Bali Bird Park and Reptile Park.Kristy read some particularly positive reviews regarding the parks. There was a bird feeding and the opportunity to take pictures at 9:30. We raced out of bed and scarfed down an abbreviated breakfast and dashed out the door so we could get to the park in time for the feeding.

We ended up buying the first and second Bird Park ticket of the day. The photo opportunity started at 9:30, but was available all day. The mix-up turned out to be a blessing as we toured the facility without the large crowds that would show up later.

Throughout the morning we saw just about everything the Bird Park had to offer. We took pictures of us holding parrots, fed small birds and large pheasants, gawked at flamingos, tossed fish to pelicans, and watched two flight shows featuring hornbills, parrots, and birds of prey. The park also had two Komodo Dragons. Brad was very excited about seeing the dragons first because dragons are awesome and second because we were not able to travel to Komodo island. We saw the larger dragon first. He was about six feet long and very impressive though he did not move much. Unfortunately, we missed the biweekly feeding that the dragons get. It was still cool to see the dragons and the park as a whole was fantastic.

Next, we went across the street to the Bali Reptile Park which is completely separate from the Bird Park. The separate ticket was considerably cheaper than the Bird Park. We soon found out why. As we entered the Reptile Park a “tour guide” flanked then led us around. The man was creepy and offered no information about the reptiles other than briefly pointing and saying the name of the animal. He seemed to be attempting to hurry us through the exhibits which made little sense as there were no groups behind us. He also shadily tried to sell us an opportunity to feed some of the crocodiles on site.

Creepy employees aside, the exhibits were pretty cool. There was a snake farm inside a cave as soon as you enter. There were a wide variety of species including vipers, anaconda, python, and cobra. There was an iguana house in the back where some guests were holding the large lizards. There were many crocs around the property. Some were slender-snouted while others were behemoths. None of the reptiles were moving around much, but it was still pretty cool to see the scaly serpents.

After the Reptile Park, we had to walk a few blocks away to get a grab to pick us up. The local taxi drivers are pretty hostile towards grab drivers which restricts service. Back at the hotel, we made a plan for the afternoon. We found a place to drop off laundry down the street from our hotel so we would have clean travel clothes for the next couple days. On the way back from dropping laundry we stopped at a Luwak Coffee farm. The farm offered tours, tastings, and had a small shop. Brad really wanted to try some Luwak coffee so we skipped the farm tour and just ordered a cup. The coffee was fantastic so we bought a few packages of beans to take home. Once we returned to the hotel, we headed down to the pool. We ordered some lunch from the bar. The food was tasty, as we had come to expect from the Sthala. We swam and laid out in the hot sun. That night Kristy was coming down with a cold so we ordered room service in lieu of going out for dinner. We stayed in and watched some TV. Fortunately, Sthala had many English stations including some premium movie channels.

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