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All in all Jakarta was not my favourite place, but we did have some fun. After hitting a couple malls we found ourselves at the only ice skating rink in Jakarta. Not good at skating at all it was kind of nice to be one of the good ones on the ice! Jay pretty much skated circles around the wobbly locals lol Except of course the little ones in lesson who always manage to skate past me like I'm standing still no matter what country I'm in :)
Not sad to leave Jakarta we went to Satwa in Lampung, Sumatra to visit the national park which is a sanctuary for elephants, rhinos (5 of them including a baby) and tigers (rarely seen). There are also wild pigs/boars, birds, monkeys and all types of other local animals. We stayed at the Eco Lodge doing two of the tours they offer. The first tour we did was a 3 hour ride via a skiff on the river. We saw countless monkeys, birds, a lesser mouse deer (so cool and so small!) and two crocodile. I tried to get a picture but they are hard to spot, the skiff keeps moving and the last one moved so fast I only got it's splash. The second trip was to the elephant sanctuary/training centre. They have 66 domestic elephants and countless wild. From the pictures you'll notice the elephants do not have those big chairs on their backs that usually have a couple people in them; this is because elephants have very weak backs relative to their size. The mahout sat on the neck and we sat on the shoulders. Agon was the elephant Jay was on, he is 40 years old and a patrol elephant who helps to clear paths and watch for poachers. I was on 17 year old Carmella who is currently single but looking to start a family next year; her interests include dancing, performing and singing if you know any lucky available male elephants! The trek we went on was through the park with some pretty narrow paths. Jay and I both have torn up shins and ankles from the forging. At one point I couldn't keep my sandal on, but we didn't have to get off to get it; Carmella passed it back to us :-D I loved that the mahout I was with let me sit on her neck, he called me a mahout in training and let me carry the hook they use for steering. I was pleased to feel that it was not as sharp as I had feared. I didn't realize how much hair elephants had! It was also a lot longer and more wiry than I had expected. Their skin is tough, thick and surprisingly cool; their ears warm and hunger for bananas insatiable!!
In the never ending fear factor that is Asia and my desire to be one with wildlife staying in parks and jungles; one night eating dinner and getting advice from a regular Australian tourist a bat swooped down to fly way too close and right in between us. There were also giant beetles who were drawn to the light which was attached to a fan. The hazard here is that the fan would hit the beetle and it would literally shoot in any random direction. Awesome lol Geckos are everywhere but they are super skiddish and love to eat bugs so they are our friends. The one got a little too friendly though when it jumped out of my backpack I was going inti and into the daypack; too close for comfort and not a fan of things jumping at me LOL Oh man! If the food here doesn't kill me it might be from a heart attack :)
Satwa and the Eco Lodge was amazing, the staff are super friendly and the food delicious. I always wish we have more time because I would have loved to do every one of their tours!!!
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mom lol fear factorAsia starring Amy Fouquette!