In Indonesia, you don't always have to understand everything

Now we have been here for almost one and a half months and it feels much longer. In the meantime, we have gotten used to many things, partly adapted to them, and most things have become normal. Germany feels so far away right now.

Of course, we also miss a lot, especially family and friends. Greetings from this place :D

And I also miss some of my animals in Rostock, especially the seals and the birds. But we also miss simple things like cheese (that's what we miss the most); decent, not sweet bread; I miss vegetables (for that, we have to go to the market in Palang, which is tiring and time-consuming even with a motorcycle) and Roy says he misses Basti.

Recently, I was asked if we had any annoyances. No, not really. But of course, there are things here that are a bit annoying. Like the constant rain and the high humidity, which doesn't let anything dry properly. That's why we have to keep all the cabinets open and put layers of newspaper between our clothes. But sometimes that doesn't help either and the mold takes over. Especially on leather items - and I have a lot of them: shoes, laptop bag, tobacco bag, earring bag, shoulder bags, and parts of clothing. That means regularly checking and washing things if necessary.

In that case, it's good that there is so much plastic here because plastic doesn't get moldy.

When it rains heavily and the water shoots over the rain gutter, the water also finds its way into the apartment in some places and we have to save the shelf in the bathroom so that our hygiene items don't get wet. Apparently, the roof is not completely waterproof in some places, but recently a delegation of people came here and documented all the defects. And some things have already been repaired. For example, the broken toilet flush. However, Roy had to readjust it again because the water still passed the stopper. Now it only drips a little and we have accepted that for now. The front door of our apartment (we also have one in the back to the garden), which was only able to be opened and closed with force, was sanded once. But wood swells in high humidity, so it got stuck again after about 3 days. Recently, after the delegation was here, all the doors were dismantled in the morning, taken away, and reinstalled in the afternoon. Now our door works perfectly...for now.

Then there are the ants. They're everywhere. And the tiny light ones can give a good nip. You can't leave anything lying around, not even chips or candy wrappers. Otherwise, within a short time, there will be a line of ants running through the house. So now every evening I check my bed for all kinds of creatures. And if necessary, there is also insect spray here.

And occasionally, we also have other intruders, like the cats or Niku, who is actually named Niko as I recently found out.

But originally, I wanted to give an insight into the classic zoo part (I already introduced the safari part) and the shows here in the park. Somehow, I got off track from my original plan :D

If you have ever traveled in Southeast Asia and visited a zoo here (excluding Singapore), you know how mediocre most zoos here look.

In contrast, Taman Safari is a very good zoological institution that is committed to conservation, education, and recreation and has set international standards. It keeps some breeding books and aims to establish itself globally. If you want to learn more about Taman Safari, here's the link: http://www.tamansafari.com

Most enclosures here are completely fine, but I don't know what it looks like behind the scenes or I can't judge it adequately. Basically, the zoo is not better or worse than most German zoos. There is room for improvement here and there, but where isn't there?

But here are a few impressions:

First and foremost, the proboscis monkeys. The group is comparatively huge, the enclosure is large, and there are also young animals.

The emu enclosure, which is currently being converted for the white lions imported from Canada, then without the emus of course. However, the lions are already there and the enclosure is not yet finished. But I don't know where the emus or the lions are currently housed.

The Sumatran tiger enclosure, which is also quite generous. There are definitely more tigers in the park than the 3 in the picture, I don't know exactly how many. But 2 are still in the cave in the Tiger Cave Restaurant and at least 2 are still at the tiger show.

Part of the enclosure of the short-clawed otters.

In the background, the penguin enclosure for Humboldt penguins and in the front, the beaver enclosure, although we have never seen a beaver there.

The seal enclosure, which has a disproportionately large land part with a kind of cave (for whatever reason). All enclosures also have underwater windows.

Now I come to the part that is rather strange for most non-Asians and that can be seen as critical.

The animal photo stations. First of all: the animals there are doing well! As far as I have noticed, they don't have to be touched or do any circus tricks like sitting on someone's lap. It's just about taking a photo with the animals. Indonesians are also rather restrained towards the animals and the number of visitors is also limited, so the attending animal keepers are rather bored and the animals are partly asleep.

At this point, I would like to draw attention to a video that was circulating on the internet a few years ago. It shows a lion lying in one of these photo stations in a Taman Safari Park and looking dazed. Nothing more and nothing less. At that time, there was a big outcry with hateful comments and criticism from various people who were less interested in the truth, claiming that the lion had been drugged. I wasn't there at the time and cannot judge. But now I am here, in a Taman Safari Park, and I strongly doubt that the animals here are given any medication or drugs to calm them down. Of course, I cannot guarantee that, but I have eyes in my head and a functioning brain. I now know the video and the reality on-site. And it teaches me once again that there are always multiple versions and perspectives of a story, and one should always be objective and critical before forming an opinion.

The 2 young orangutans walk to the photo station with their keeper in the morning. The animals also have climbing and playing opportunities (on the left edge of the picture).

First nothing going on, then someone wants a photo. Only one person is allowed to approach the animals, the others have to wait outside and take the photos. The whole thing costs about 1.50 euros.

Of course, there are also signs in the park that provide information about the animals or raise awareness about their threats.

In addition to the zoo part, as mentioned earlier, there is also an entertainment part with rides, a water park, and shows.


The entrance to the Safari Waterworld with a bathing area, slides, Captain Crocs Restaurant, and the clinic (in the center right of the picture) for minor treatments of visitors and employees. There we can also get medications if necessary.

Part of the Waterworld from above.

And from Captain Crocs Resto.

The adventurous slides.

Lastly, the shows. These are filled with a lot of Asian humor. We compare it a bit to the humor of the time of Charlie Chaplin. The musical accompaniment and sound effects add the finishing touch. Unfortunately, I can only provide photos here since video does not work :(


The 'Dolphins & Friends' show (the word for dolphin in Indonesian is lumba-lumba) starts with dramatic music, then otters appear, racing each other and balancing on a roll. Then come the sea lions, showing classic exercises like clapping, jumping, etc., but also dancing with the caretakers to 'my heart will go on'. And finally the dolphins, showing classical elements of a dolphin show. The whole thing is commented on with a microphone. The show may seem a bit cheesy for European taste (or for animal keepers), but I have also seen seal shows in Germany that seemed a bit too much like a circus for my taste.

Afterwards, we went to the 'stage' (thanks to our colleague Seger) for a photo with a dolphin (which would otherwise cost money) and exchanged information with the keepers or trainers.

The bird show was comparable to German bird shows. Probably, there was also information about the animals here. However, we did not understand a single word. Otherwise, the show was well done.



As a highlight, a bird of prey grabbed a live fish in flight from the small pond in the middle and ate it a little off to the side. Unthinkable in Germany.

I only have one usable picture from the tiger show. The tigers jumped over the platforms, similar to agility in dogs. Then they climbed the two pillars after the keepers quickly pulled up a piece of meat. And they jumped into the water after the keepers held a piece of meat over the pond with a kind of fishing rod. I think this is supposed to show what a tiger is capable of. In between, there was milk, for some reason. However, there was constant information about the animals. We didn't understand much of it, but it was obviously explained and clarified.

The elephant show felt a bit bizarre. The story is simple: elephants live happily in their homeland, then settlers come and drive away the elephants. The settlers then grow food that attracts the elephants again. After that, the elephants are tamed and live happily together with the settlers.
At least, that's what we think we understood from the story. However, in between, there is a dance by women with baskets of vegetables and the military ceremoniously rides on elephants in a slightly pathetic manner. And then there is this strange scene: