following on from JBR day 3,
Its our last breakfast here and its a bit quieter as we are up so early. I notice an Aussie guy who seems to be much loved by the hotel staff, having obviously just arrived but a hotel regular no doubt. The staff are so excited to see him and come over for a catch up one by one. He has a good grasp of the local language and I'm convinced I know who he is. Jerryatric is that you? I know you love the Novotel from your Forum posts, and when your wife arrives to join you I'm absolutely convinced. Next time I'll come and introduce myself but this time you were being mobbed by adoring fans and I didn't want to interrupt you. It was lovely to see an Australian who really helps balance out the negative reputation some others earn us.
We check out, and Kadek is there right on time to drive us to the Safari Park where we are staying for one night, primarily because Emily is obsessed with animals. Hoppy and I have been there in the past for both a day trip and an overnight, so although its nice, the novelty has worn off a bit. Its something you could do every few years as things change and new exhibits open.
I expected a long and tedious drive, but it was amazingly fast, about 1 hour and 10 mins from Benoa. As you get close to Gianyar there are lots of plant nursery type places where you could buy beautiful tropical plants and garden sculptures. Always a shame you can't take these back home. The only other notable item on the trip was a huge procession of Election Busses, jeeps with disco music blaring, and unlike anything I've ever seen here at election time. I'm sure if Tony Abbot were going to a pre-election event in Geelong, he wouldn't have 5 of the latest model of tour buses emblazoned with photos and logos, jeeps with flags and music and a full convoy of cars. It was amazing and not the last time we really were aware the elections were imminent. Kadek's opinion was that the huge waste of money could have been better spent and from our view, I can only imagine the cost.
We arrive at the Safari Park and as Kadek made the reservation for us, we let him do what he has to do to get into the park. Kadek gets some kind of points reward for each tourist he brings to the park and can redeem the points for his own family to visit. We have to wait about 20 minutes in a kind of lounge area to let some local School groups and a big group from the W Hotel go through on the shuttle from the entrance up to the park. Eventually we get our own jeep which takes the 3 of us, our luggage and Kadek up to the hotel reception area. Kadek tells us that the booking is under the name Bello, as every 5th person in Bali is called Kadek, so this is the 'tour guide' name he uses which we find amusing. I get called Mrs Bello by hotel staff for the rest of this stay!
We check in, say goodbye to Kadek, and are driven to our room which overlooks the enclosure housing the Rhinos, Zebras, one lone Wildebeest and the Elephant Safari track.
In our room there is no bed set up for Emily to sleep in so we go back to reception and ask if they can set one up. We are advised that there would be an extra US$ 50 charge for this, which I think is obscene. The 'Bed' is actually a thin mattress about 10cm deep which I have already seen hidden behind the connecting door in our room, and Emily barely eats a single piece of toast for breakfast, so there is no way I'm adding this cost to our already US$250 room. We have also already added another $45 dollars for 3 day safari trips, the cost of dinner in the restaurant tonight and we plan on 3 night safari's at $90 so I'm a bit tired of all the 'extras' while in the park.
I tell reception not to worry about the extra bed, and I go back and get the mattress out myself, and use the pillow and blanket I brought with me from home to make a bed. That's $50 extra to spend on something else as far as I'm concerned.
I find it hard to judge the value of staying here - the room is ok but not luxury, and at twice the cost of the Novotel, is about half the quality. The shower floor has a broken board, the bathroom door doesn't close or lock, and the balcony doors have a gap that lets in mosquitoes as big as grasshoppers. Later I find the hot water doesn't work in the shower. But, I realise we ARE living in a Safari Park with full access to amazing animals and an experience you can't get at home so I'll suck it up for a while. I do notice however that the hotel is nowhere near full, and probably only see one other family staying there over the 2 days we stay.
We are keen to get moving - there are just so many things to do, and you want to get the photo opportunity done before the animals get tired and cranky and we start looking like the humidity has got the best of us.
The first photo opportunity is with a Lion Cub, he's hot (in a temperature way, not a sexy way) and tired and we get out of there pretty fast because he seems a bit cranky and unpredictable. Just nearby is another photo op with a strange animal that looks like a cross between a small brown bear and a huge possum. He's brown, hairy, has orange eyes and a long tail that curls like a monkey. We are encouraged to sit down and he is placed on our laps and he crawls around sniffing and investigating us. I'm very apprehensive as I don't know what this is and can't factor the risk of being bitten without more information. I ask his keeper if he's a vegetarian or a meat eater. He's a Bintaurong and I'm assured he has no interest in eating meat but his glowing orange eyes are a bit disconcerting. I must admit that the word 'rabies' did spring to mind at one point. Emily is fascinated by him, but I'm keen to move on.
Next stop is the Elephant Bathing, a crowd of people are watching two elephants in a big pool area. Somehow we find ourselves right at the front of the crowd and we are asked if we want to feed the elephants. For 30k/$3 we can feed them a few carrots and for another 50k we have a professional photograph in a nice folder. They also take about 200 photos on my own camera phone which is great.
We join the day safari which drives through the whole park, seeing all the animals and then grab some lunch in the Cafe, a few items in the gift shop (very cheap prices generally) and back to the hotel for a swim and a cool down. Emily is loving spending her money here, and somehow gets random discounts or gifts with each purchase.
We take a break by the pool which overlooks the safari area, and Emily and I hear a strange wailing noise, which we assume is coming from the stage show they put on in the park. Except it goes on and on. And on. It continues all afternoon and into the night, going for a good 12 hours, a noise not unlike cats being strangled. Turns out it wasn't the stage show.. it sounds very much like a Mosque calling people to pray 5 times a day, except it doesn't stop between those 5 times. Kadek tells us later that there is a Mosque nearby, but they are not allowed to make the noise like that...
The pool area is lovely, and we are the only people who use it as far as I can tell for the whole 2 days. It has a great view of the animals and we can watch the mean tempered Rhino's chasing the poor single Wildebeest or the 3 nervous Zebras and wave to the Elephant Safari tours.
Here is where the bulk carrots (purchased yesterday at Hardy's) come in. In each room with a balcony overlooking the safari park, you receive a fruit basket for the humans, and a tiny basket of about 4 carrots which you are supposed to throw to the elephants as they come past with their mahouts and passengers. Its a lot of fun and not something you get to do in most hotels to say the least. So, knowing this from our last stay, and to prolong the fun, we have our extra, bulk buy of carrots from Hardy's supermarket. A genius move I think! The mahouts keep shouting for more, they must know there is a never ending supply for the elephants and although our throwing skills are poor, at least half make it over the gap from our balcony and to the elephants.
The afternoon is filled with the Elephant Education show and hand feeding carrots to a baby and mother elephant. We dress casually and head to the lobby for another 'Animal Encounter' before taking the night safari tour. I'm expecting some amazing animal (last time the elephant turned up in the hotel lobby) but its that bloody Bintaurong again and Emily is besotted with him. Prior to this trip she's never seen one before, but now its climbing on her head, across her arms, and nibbling her hair. Hoppy and I are each convinced to take a turn with the squirming creature and another few hundred photos are taken before we have to join the Nigh Safari truck.
I should mention that previously Hoppy and I have done the night safari and it was very dull - you go in a mini van, feed some carrots to some aggressive Zebras who put their whole head through the windows, and then try to feed some disinterested lions little pieces of chicken poked out of the window on sticks.
So, you can imagine Hoppy's delight (not) when I tell her that I've noticed from the new pictures in the park brochure, the night safari has been 'enhanced' so now we are travelling in what looks like a wire cage on the back of a ute, not a nice comfy minivan, and the pictures show a Tiger sitting on the top of said cage. Oh Joy.
And off we go, crammed into a truck with two 'handlers' who manage the animal food rations. It starts off sedate enough, carrots for the zebras, elephants, some cows. Then we move to the carnivores. The Lions are still not interested and little pieces of chicken are lying in front of their sleeping bodies from the previous tour. They are too lazy even to eat. We give up on the lions and move to the Tigers.. who are very very keen to play, climbing the rocks and jumping on top of the cage to eat the chicken feet being poked through the bars by our handlers. As a side note, Tigers are the only cats that like water, and this one has just had a swim, so we are covered in dripping water while totally mesmerised by the huge animal and his claws only centimetres from our heads. Emily LOVES this and takes the opportunity to reach up to tickle his tummy. OMG. Deep Breaths.
Eventually we pull away and head back to the lobby, glad we didn't overdress for dinner as we are covered in muddy drips from the tiger.
That Bintaurong is still there in the lobby, and no one wants to play with him, so Emily once more has another turn with him climbing all over her head and arms and we take more photos. We have dinner in the huge restaurant, with the Lions sleeping just behind the glass, and one behind the windows in the toilets. Dinner is actually amazingly good, I had Teriyaki Salmon with Mandarine Salsa that was delicious and only cost about $12, Hoppy had Lamb Cutlets that she was still raving about days later and Emily had some version of nuggets from the kids menu.
We compared all our photos from the sessions with the Bintaurong and cracked up laughing watching our own faces as he tried to walk across our heads and arms and we tried to not drop him or get bitten.
Its been another very full day and we head back to the room, noticing the frogs, tiny geckos and some huge geckos (as big as blue tongue lizards) which we have never seen before sitting on the outside of the huts we are staying in. There is one in our room somewhere, and he's quite loud, so I'm thinking he's a big one. I blame him for the fact that Emily jumps out of her makeshift bed on the floor when he makes a noise, and I find myself sleeping on the mattress and Emily in the relative safety of my bed, under the mosquito net. What kid is afraid of a random Gecko but happy to pat a Tiger or a Lion? My kid, obviously.