Sorry about the delay in posting, folks. I picked up a bug on the flight home, and took a few days to recover.
After two nights, The Princess and I were due to farewell DeKuta and move on to Mara River Lodge, for our time with the animals. I'd booked an overnight stay through Wotif, and our package included breakfast, photo opp, unlimited Park access and Safari Journey for two.
Over the next 24 hours, I learnt six important things:
1. Get to breakfast early at DeKuta, if you want a full belly. By the time we arrived downstairs to eat, pickings were slim indeed. Oh, the decisions to be made: ‘Do I take that last lonely quarter of grilled tomato?' ‘Do I really want eggs again?' The fruit was all gone, bar a few miserable wedges of watermelon. The Princess settled for a cup of bad coffee and a scowl.
2. Taxi drivers are a forgetful bunch. Ours forgot to tell us in advance that he wanted 20% on top of the metered rate, to drive us to the Safari Park. I went to pay the 160K fare and discovered the driver now wanted 200K, ‘to pay for the ticket'. What ticket?! We didn't have to buy one; nor did he. I looked for him all afternoon as we explored the Park, but not once did I see him riding a camel, eating popcorn at the bird show, or feeding bananas to the elephants. He must have forgotten to buy his ticket...
3. Be prepared to pay handsomely for everything at the Mara River Lodge. Although the Safari Park prices are reasonable - particularly for souvenirs - the hotel side of the Park charges like rampant rhinos. Your trusty Magnum ice cream costs four times more than elsewhere; a mojito at the pool bar costs 70K++ and they don't use mint. (Whoever heard of a mojito without mint - or any other kind of herb? Outrageous!) Prices on the dinner menu at the Tsavo Lion Restaurant (without the lions) were on a par with Australian prices, and the food wasn't especially good.
4. Rhinos are boring animals. Watching them is up there with waiting for spuds to cook. Once we had settled into our room at the hotel, I propped myself up on cushions and gazed over the balcony, to see what the animals were doing. The zebras were doing lively zebra stuff, like annoying the hell out of others in their herd, or chasing after jeeps, hoping for carrots. But I don't think those rhinos moved once all afternoon. Somebody buy them a PS2 - quick!
5. English language skills vanish when you ask a tricky question. The Princess and I were on the Safari Journey. We had stopped in front of the orangutans, my favourites of all the primates. Four or five of them sat around their enclosure, ignoring us. ‘How many babies do they have a year?' I asked. ‘They have three babies a year,' our perky young guide replied. Being a mathematical genius, I did a few rapid mental calculations. The Park had been open for, say, five years. Five multiplied by three makes fifteen... I think. Fifteen babies, plus the five adults we could see, came to twenty. In another ten years, the Park would have at least fifty orangutans. Hooly-dooly! What does the Park do with the babies, once they're grown? Having your photo taken with a squirming littl'un is a delight, but I can't think of too many people who'd be comfortable having a happy-snap taken with a lapful of adult orangutan. So I asked our guide what the Park did with all the superfluous apes. Ms Perky's face went blank, as she stammered out a reply that nobody understood one word of. Then her face brightened. ‘In that tree to your left, you will see a ...' and on we moved to the next attraction.
6. Breakfast is the best meal of the day at the Lodge. The lion enclosure outside Tsavo was empty as we sat down. Then a jeep appeared, driving three indignant lions in front of it. The lions came close to the window to drink from the pond, they roared their displeasure at having to spend another day watching ugly humans, and then settled down for a well-earned nap. The buffet itself was excellent! ‘Mum, this is the best meal so far in Bali, isn't it,' exclaimed The Princess, her plate piled high with fruit and other healthy nosh. My mouth was crammed with bubur when she said it, so I could only nod my agreement enthusiastically. For the first time in three days, The Princess had a happy tummy!
One night at Mara River is about all most people would need or want, and staying overnight has been officially crossed off my Bali bucket list.
It was now time move into the hedonism phase of our holiday... chilling out at the Pearl Hotel.