Bali Bird Park

Last weekend I went with my friend Lisa to the Bali Bird Park. She was checking it out to write an article about it, and asked me to go along as her photographer!

Although I certainly have some misgivings in general about zoos and such, it was an interesting place. The day we were there, the lush grounds were swarming with hundreds of kindergarten kids! It's good to see the exorbitant entrance fee for foreigners is subsidizing the local kids to come and learn about all these incredible birds... because if you've ever been to the bird markets around Indonesia, you know there are few of them left in the wild!


















Although I have been lucky enough to see this beautiful and endangered Bird of Paradise in it's home on Waigeo Island in Raja Amptat!




This Komodo was a little constipated on the day of our visit...



... and this is the team of veterinarians and animal keepers that de-constipated him. I don't think I'd want to be that close to his venemous saliva!

Ubud and Environs...

We spent several days in and around Ubud, the town which is known as the 'cultural center' of Bali, when my parents were here. One of the neatest events during that time was a reunion between my dad and an old friend (and now, Batuan one of the most famous artists in Bali) that he lived with on his first visit to Bali in 1971.




The other truly magical experience, was when we happened into the Ubud palace to find hundreds of kids taking local dance lessons...




This little guy was absolutely incredible... he had all the motions, and facial expressions down to a 't'.




You can see why the Balinese dancing is so refined - because ALL Balinese learn the tradition from the time they can walk! In the evening, we went to a spectacular performance of the traditional Barong dance, by a well-known group which was lead by on of Batuan's sons.






...and the next night were treated to a very well-done fire dance.



On one of our shopping trips, mom bought a set of fabulous red bags which were made 'just for her'!?! They actually read "Jo (heart) Bali"!!! (Ok, it's supposed to read "I"... )


I actually don't think this next picture is from Ubud, however, these ceremonial processions typify a scene from our road trips around Bali.




Ok... I'm sorry there aren't many stories accompanying these pictures... I'm trying to get caught up with it all right now!

Elephant Gallivant

My mom thinks maybe I was on an elephant once when I was a little kid at a Circus or something... but I don't remember it...

A couple weeks ago, we went for an elephant ride with a few friends! We weren't actually planning to go, because we thought we would do a real elephant trek during our trip to Thailand... but we don't know when/if that's going to happen, so we seized this opportunity!

It was a blast! Mostly because of the motley crew that we were... with Sari being our fearless, yet fashion-full leader! When we arrived at her house, she ushered us into her closet to 'dress up' for our elephant experience... she had just arrived home from Jakarta, which meant she had been shopping for elephant-riding outfits - matching, of course! For Martin and I, t-shirts that said "love him forever"// "love her forever"... awwww so cute! And sun-dresses for the three ladies.

Dressed in style, we met our 'rides' for the next couple hours...


... and we were off!



Elephants are not native to the island of Bali. The elephants at this site are orphans which are rescued from dire conditions in Sumatera, and brought here to 'recover'. Without an undercover investigation, I obviously couldn't confirm... but each Mahout (elephant driver/carer) really has a tight bond with 'their' elephant, and they seem happy enough - who wouldn't be happy living in Bali!?!










Luckily our elephants behaved themselves - unlike these poor folks!




The "Elephant Camp" actually also had several other orphans on-site:
A baby bear from Sumatera



And a Javanese Gibbon...




Martin couldn't help but notice the similarity in the size of the elephant dung and a soccer ball!




After our elephant experience, we went back to Sari's palace to play some more! The attempts on the tandem bicycle were ultimately successful...



... and we played in the pool, which was delightfully cool (because of the higher altitude, i guess)...



It was just a fabulous day!

West Bali

Our first trip through the Central Mountains of Bali was actually on the way to the beautiful North-Western coast - to which I had never been before!




We were really spoiled and stayed in some totally swank hotels!




... and enjoyed it to the fullest and had an absolute riot!




Both places we stayed had incredible sea-side pools....




... on the characteristic black-sand beaches of North Bali.




... and backed by a mountain-view!




The staff and everything about the area followed along in our 'perfect holiday' vein! Upon checking in, our welcome drinks arrived on the doorstep...




After our first night in the Lovina area, we wandered our way over further toward the West Bali National Park... we made a short side-trip to stop at the Sacred Hotsprings at Banjar...




... where mom got a little bobo, but no big deal, and the response of the security guys was full of typical Balinese goodness.




We found a solitary special spot near our hotel in Pemuteran to watch a beautiful sunset over Java...



The next day we spent the better part of the day in the national park with a Spanish couple... We went on a boat trip to Menjangan island to go snorkeling... (and the first chance I'd had to test my underwater housing)!





I got excited at seeing a shark... but instead of taking a picture of what I was pointing AT, Dad got a great shot of me, pointing! Hahaha...




... and visited a temple (thought to be the oldest on the island of Bali), and we even did a geocache!






We also saw the island's namesake: the Javanese deer (or, Menjangan, in Indonesian)...




On the way home from our full day, a random pull-off at a spot near the coast turned into an extra-ordinary experience. We visited the local sea-side temple, and met the local priests, who invited us to be blessed in a very special private ceremony at their sacred spring (like 'la source' at the lake!)...






The next day, on the way home to the south again, we stuck to the white roads, and went through some very extreme terrain, riding along ridges between two sheer mountain slopes overlooking deep valleys, and also overlooking some precipitous drop-offs! It was the steepest road I've been on to date - EVER! Everyone along the road asked us where we were headed... because they couldn't imagine that we were going on THAT road! What adventure!








... and of course, in what became our usual style, before we'd even really gotten ON the road, we had already made at least 5 stops, most of which involved temples or monkeys... or both....







aaahhhh... what FUN!