We started the day with Chantal being sick. That’s not the best way to start the day but who gets a choice? After ruling out “Bali belly” we thought that it might be from bad sleep and consuming milk (Chantal is lactose intolerant).
We’d planned for Olivia, Chantal and Chris to go to the Bali Safari which is an hour drive from the hotel. Thankfully we’d booked a driver for 350,000 rupiah (~$35 AUD) for the day. The idea of a driver is amazing. They drive you anywhere you want and you can either pay an hourly or daily fee. For a whole day they can drive you around to your location and help you perform basic errands and tasks. For example, after driving an hour to the safari, our driver also lined up at the booking area whilst we sat in the shade. After he’d received the tickets he gave them to us and waited in the car while we explored.
The safari was both good and bad. We loved the fact we could see the animals and learn some important aspects of them. We loved the fact that we touched an elephant as it was just walking past. We loved that there was white tigers that we could see and photograph. But after a while we realised there were some problems. In one of the undercover areas there was a very young tiger that was asleep on a bench. You could pay 50,000 rupiah (~$5 AUD) to pat and take a photo. Chris thought this would be great for Chantal and encouraged her to do it. After a while she agreed and made her way to the long line of others waiting to pat the tiger and get their photo taken. It wasn’t until Olivia said “but what if it wakes up?” that we realised that this was wrong. The tiger had been sedated. Made to sleep so that others could touch its fur. So that they could have their photo taken without him/her realising. For other’s to make money off. It felt quite wrong considering we thought the purpose of the safari was to educate and encourage people to think about the lives of endangered and threatened animals. In the end we walked away in quite a different mood than when we arrived.
We saw the elephant shows too which were quite impressive. They performed acts, there was descriptions of the animals and how they’re threatened by humans. It was all very good and entertaining as you’d expect.
We walked past one of the stages that was used to show off the elephants and in their place was a beautiful large owl. At first we thought it was interesting that it was calm and relaxed where it was on the stage but Chantal pointed out it was tied to the ledge it was on. It was on this ledge for the whole time we were there.
We went on the “Safari Journey” which included a bus ride around a course of “wild” animals. There were animals I’d never heard of before like the bear cat. If it’s legal to get one of these animals in Australia then Chantal will definitely be begging for one for her Birthday.
Chantal was starting to feel very sick and we decided to make our way home. After reuniting with our driver, we made the long journey home with Chris and Chantal constantly falling in and out of sleep. We woke up and were very alert as we passed a severe car crash. A car in the oncoming traffic lane had been smashed up in the front and all traffic in those lanes had been cleared. Suffice to say we don’t think the driver made it out of the car unless they were superhuman. Unfortunately it looked like a “driver car” like ours. You know the type when you see them.
We’re now back in the hotel with Chantal resting before tomorrow’s bike ride across Bali. We’re really looking forward to it and hope to see a lot of what makes up Bali.
Chris and Chantal 