First Indonesian Road Trip

I think I've mentioned before, in Indonesia we drive on the right side of the car on the left side of the road.  For the first several weeks we were driving here (and sometimes even now) this led to turning on the windshield wipers multiple times instead of the blinkers, going to the wrong side of the car to get into the driver's seat, and reaching to shift into gear with the right hand instead of the left.  However, despite all of this (not to mention the rules of the road here, which are very different from those in the states) we had the audacity to attempt our first road trip without a hired driver.  The occasion for our journey was my brother's visit to see us.  It was his first trip outside of the US and he came all the way to the other side of the world!

Our destination: Taman Safari, about a 1.5-2 hour drive from our home, as long as you can avoid the Jakarta traffic.  On the weekends, when everyone attempts to escape hot and flat Jakarta, it can take up to 7 hours to get there.  We left at 4:45 AM on Monday morning, which ended up being the perfect time. We woke the kids in the dark of the early morning, loaded them and (way too much) stuff into the car, and made our get away.  Philip was the trusty navigator in the front seat, Jeff the courageous driver, and I was squished between the kids in the back.  We flew on the toll roads through downtown Jakarta faster than we ever have before. (Thanks, Jeff!)

As we drove south from Jakarta, coconut and palm tree covered mountains rose to greet us.  The sky started turning pink, purple, and orange as the sun began it's ascent.  Rice fields greeted us.  As we turned off the highway, we made our way up a twisty curvy road through a sleepy town that was already waking up at six in the morning.  Shops lined the streets, signs pointed that Taman Safari wasn't far away.  The views were beautiful.  I could see why people left Jakarta to come here.  We were climbing the mountains, crossing rushing creeks and looking down into valleys dotted with homes and shops.

Driving up and down the winding mountain roads.

When we got to the turn off for Taman Safari, we were almost the only car on the road.  We passed empty stands where hawkers normally sold snacks, and saw tons of carrots.  We wondered why carrots were so popular.  We arrived at the gate to the park at about 6:30, the park didn't open till 9.  We wandered around in the resort area next door as we waited, and thankfully there were swings, monkeys, and geese, so we had a great time.  The first thing we noticed when we got out of the car (besides how HOT the engine had made the floor of the car from our ascent!) was the cool mountain air.  We all had to put on sweatshirts! It was really wonderful.  Elias wore a fleece for the first time in his life.

Pre-Safari fun as we waited for the park to open. 

Yay for Uncle Philip!

Elias had fun on the playground, too.

Looking studly in their sweatshirts! Getting some tea and coffee to drink as we waited for the park to open.

I was a little doubtful that Taman Safari would be comparable to zoos in the states and thought it might be a little cheesy or what we call, "Asia-tastic" but I was pleasantly surprised.  Already the views and the weather made the trip worth it, but the park itself was a lot of fun, too! We drove into the park and started the safari drive, which was basically an hour plus drive right through the middle of more exotic animals than we'd ever seen! First we drove by the elephants and were impressed by the number of baby elephants.  In the states, zoos get excited if there is even one baby, here there were at least 5!

Lydia was a little unsure about the animals, sometimes. 

Zebras, antelope and cows with big horns (not sure the name of that animal) blocked our car from moving multiple times.  We also discovered why there were so many carrots for sale on the way up the mountain.  Other cars around us rolled down their windows and offered carrots to the animals to get them to come up to the car.  The animals came up to our car windows, too, but sadly we had nothing to feed them.

Poor zebra was probably hoping for a carrot!

We even drove through a section where there were lions, tigers, and bears wondering around our cars.  We drove by signs warning firmly, "please do not get out of the car, and don't roll down your windows to take pictures." To complete the safari feel, parts of the road were covered by rushing creeks, although we weren't sure if the creeks were supposed to be rushing that hard and that fast, or if it was a result of the rain.

Once we finished driving through, we parked and visited the baby zoo where you could seriously get your picture taken with almost any exotic baby animal you wanted to.  Lydia had a great time on her first pony ride.

Love this self-conscious face! So pleased and trying not to show it.

A little nervous to feed this elephant a carrot.

We were surprised to discover that Lydia loves rides.  We were a little nervous when some of the rides did not allow adults on, but she eagerly got on by herself and had a big smile the entire time.  I guess we shouldn't have been surprised since she's always enjoyed being thrown around by Jeff since the time she was a baby.

Thrilled!

I felt dizzy, but Lydia had a great time!

A little unsure about this one.

With our 4:45 AM wake up time for the kids, we couldn't make it past 2:30 PM, so with Elias asleep in his carrier and Lydia melting down, we decided to load back into the car and start the trek to our Air BnB for the night.

Thus started our next adventure.  What we didn't realize when we booked our BnB was how far it was from Taman Safari.  On the map it looked close by.  In reality, it took about an hour to get there as we drove around curvy mountainous roads, climbing to the top of a mountain and then making our way back down the other side.  Again, the views were fantastic, although I felt bad for Jeff who had to use every ounce of his concentration to do what he called Mario Cart driving. Basically, you constantly are gauging whether or not you can make it around the person in front of you on the two lane road while avoiding the motorbikes coming in the other direction and before the truck you see lumbering behind them hits you.  Our drive was around the time school lets out, so we saw lots of muslim school girls and boys waiting for oncots (a small van that provides public transportation) to take them home.  We drove past a soccer game taking place in the front yard of a mosque on a small muddy field.  Sporadically during our drive we drove in and out of rainclouds and wind as we reached the top of the mountain.  I enjoyed seeing everything from the back seat.

Using google maps and some tips from our Air bnb host, we found the turn off to our place, but once we got into the neighborhood, due to a miscommunication, we drove around for almost another hour trying to find the house! Finally we identified it by matching the picture from the air bnb website--should've thought of that earlier!

Our bnb

The house was in a quiet neighborhood surrounded by mountains and gardens with a great view.  It was nothing fancy, but comfortable for us, and we were only there for one night.  Once we found the house and got the key from the landlady, we trekked out on foot to look for some food.  We were definitely the only bule' (white foreigners) in the neighborhood as the stares and smiles and English practicing testified.  As we walked by, the kids would yell, "Hello, what's your name?" We walked down the narrow streets through the neighborhood and came back onto the busy main highway (think two lane road about 40 km/hour) where we saw some street vendors selling food.

Not so sure about the street food, Lydia?

The great thing about Indonesia is that people are so friendly and helpful.  Obviously we looked out of place and probably confused, so a well dressed man also waiting for food at the street vendors struck up a conversation with us in English, asking where we were from and what we were doing.  He then proceeded to help us to order our dinner, counseling us which food was "safe" (aka, well cooked or boiling hot) and translating between us and the vendors.  Although I can pretty much ask and understand prices in Indonesian, my language skills are still pretty limited--I didn't know the words for "take-away" or "cook this extra hot," etc.

Food in hand, we went back to our bnb to enjoy sate (grilled chicken on a stick with peanut sauce), some grilled chicken and rice, and some kind of sweet bean in a sweet sauce.  It was all delicious, especially since we were so hungry! Night was falling so we put the kids to bed and went to bed soon after.

Sunrise from the bedroom window.  Can you see the mountains?

I woke with Elias to a beautiful sunrise at around 5 AM, and we enjoyed some walks around the neighborhood before starting the trek back towards Jakarta.

Walking around the neighborhood.

There was more traffic this time around, and Jeff did a stellar job of navigating through some stop and go highway traffic.  We arrived at home in one piece on Tuesday afternoon.

We stopped at a chocolaterie on the way back.  At the very end of the hall, you can see some burka clad women.  We were surprised at the large presence of Arabic speakers in the Taman Safari area.  

We are feeling more confident of our Indonesian exploration skills now, and hope that we can return to Taman Safari and explore other corners of Indonesia soon!

(*photography credit for almost all of these great photos goes to Philip!!)