blah!: October 2010

Jakarta equals to air polution, traffic jam, malls and high-rise buildings?
Well, that's true.
But hey, if you're willing to explore a lil bit more, you might found another side of this city, the fun side.
My bestie and I [we are The Libra(s) :p] did that, and we can say that we Like what we found!

1st Destination: Suaka Margasatwa Muara Angke (SMMA) [Muara Angke Preservation Park]
In the name of "we-want-to-get-some-peace-of-mind-and-get-connected-with-nature", we decided that SMMA is the place.

It is located in Muara Angke, next to Pantai Indah Kapuk housing complex.
And by far, we thought that we've made the right decision. *proud smile*

The entrance fee was IDR 5,000.
The ticket lady reminded us about the existence of long tail monkey inside the park. If they saw a visitor bringing some hanging object [ such as bag, camera, etc], they easily got attracted, and sometimes they like to "grab" those hanging object from the visitor. So it was better for us to leave our bags and bring nothing inside.
She also said that, if we wanted to bring our camera, that would cost us IDR 100,000. Hmmmm, that's weird.
But hey, IDR 100,000 with a chance that the monkey would take away our cameras? NO, thank you. I'll just "quietly" take some pictures with my cellphone. :p
Then, the park guard asked us if we need his assistance to explore the place. And with the spirit of Dora The Explorer, we said, "No, thank you Sir. We think we're gonna be okay."
We were ready to explore the "wildlife" of preservation park and get connected with nature.

We were amazed with this place. Just few feet away from this park, right in front of the main gate, you'll find concrete buildings. And if you just step back to this park, you'll find this.

So far so good. No monkey attack or Return to Eden scene where we got attacked by a crocodile. *too much movies*
I really like the wooden bridge.

Anyway, as the ticket lady said, there's a chance for us to encounter the "real owner" of this place, the long tail monkey. By far, there was no sign of their existence. Thank God! *phiuuhhh*
We saw a lovely small bird though, flew from a tree branch to the bridge, and then it flew again to another tree branch.

So we walked until we found, what I called 1st Pit Stop. :p
This "little wooden hut" turned out to be an observation place for a researcher(s) who wants to observe birds in this park.

Inside the Pit Stop

And we continue our exploration.
Just few steps after we walked from the pit stop, I saw a monkey jumped on the tree branch, right next to the pit stop. *Kyaaaaaa*
We stepped back to the pit stop. Take cover inside the hut.

How pathetic, right in front of us, there it was, this lovely wooden bridge to terabithia.

And because of that long tail monkey, we got chickened out!
Started to blame the spirit of Dora.
And started to think, "We should've asked for the guard number. Just in case things like this happened." *d'oh*
And suddenly, Nini said, "We won't be defeated by long tail monkey, nor tail-less monkey!" *insert heroic backsound*

"But first, we need to get back and ask that guard to come with us."
Oh yeah, there goes our spirit of Dora the Explorer. Hahahahahaha.

So, we started all over again, but this time, accompanied by Mr. Rony, the guard. ^.^
As we got close to the Pit Stop, the place where I saw the monkey, Mr. Rony said, "The monkey that you saw, he was looking for food. Take a look at that mess. He's looking for food inside the dumpster and make a mess out of it."
I gotta say, that long tail monkey, he got a good taste in food.

Even the long tail monkey knows how to get a food. Just dial 14022. Ironic.

I won't bragging about "how the hell did this KFC trash got inside a preservation park?" dialogue with Mr. Rony. Let's say that, it's beyond his control. Well people, you might want to consider eating outside the park before you get into the park.

So, we walked and walked. Sometimes we saw a small biawak (type of lizard) on the bridge, and it would hide right away as we approached. And then we got into this open lake, where i can see big white birds flying around. Mr. Rony said that the bird is Kuntul bird.

no birds in this picture. my cellphone camera is not that great to catch a fast movement.

I asked Mr. Rony, "Is there a crocodile or snake?"
Mr. Rony said, "There are snakes here. Crocodile? I haven't seen one. But, who knows?"
Me, "......................".
Let's carry on then.

And before we know it, we finally reached the end of the bridge. They put this free-standing information display about Garbage at the end of the bridge. It informs us about most of the solid waste that got carried-away in the river in Jakarta. Most of the waste are plastic and styrofoam from the domestic waste. Various form and size of the plastic waste covers the root of the mangrove tree. Waste also dangerous for the living creature in the park. Some fish are found dead because they got trapped in the plastic waste.

Such a Waste.

We walked back to the main entrance. From Mr. Rony, we found out that the length of the wooden bridge is aproximately 900 meter [800 sumtin, i forgot the exact number]. So if we walk until the end of the wooden bridge, and walk back to the main entrance, in total, we already walk for 1.8 km!!! Great way to burn all of those fat, yes? :p

So that was it. Our 1st destination. Our little exploration on small part of Capital J on day 1.
I'm going to continue to our 2nd destination. Still on day 1. But not on this post. I'll write about it, as soon as I kick away the curse of laziness. :p

Ow, almost forgot. How can I be so impolite! Let me introduce you to "real owner" of the park.