Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine March 2019 | Page 91

Travel | Lampung
Bandar Lampung’s topography offers not only flat land
used for urban development but also cool tropical hills
offering a welcome break from the buzz of city streets.
A male elephant has fun in the
water in Way Kambas National
Park, one of the conservation
centres for Sumatran Elephants.
the Krakatoa volcano in 1883 and has remained
sturdy until the present.
To get a different view of the city, Salsabila takes
me to the west, which is hilly and green. The area
is popular with families and young people who
visit to enjoy the various well-managed rides and
attractions at Puncak Mas, including treehouses,
hanging bicycles and hot-air balloons. Only five
minutes from Puncak Mas is Alam Wawai Eco
Park, a campsite that is ideal for community
groups, with good facilities, including an
amphitheatre with a charming view out to sea.
Bandar Lampung’s topography offers not only
flat land used for urban development but also cool
tropical hills offering a welcome break from the
buzz of city streets.
“If I get tired of working in the city, it is easy to
escape,” remarks Salsabila. I appreciate this when
I see her interest in interacting with the animals
at the Taman Hutan Raya deer breeding facility
and introducing me to the variety of butterflies
at Taman Gita Persada. That’s the way to
find balance in life, I think.
5 Senses – Sight
SANG BUMI RUWA
JURAI MUSEUM
Located on Jl. H. Zainal Arifin
Pagar Alam No. 64, this red-brick
museum has a collection of more
than 4,700 historical objects
from Lampung. It is divided into
ten sections, such as geology,
biology, history, ceramics, fine
arts, technography and the
largest section, ethnography.
The museum is open every
working day except Monday.
Berada di Jalan H. Zainal
Arifin Pagar Alam No. 64,
museum berdinding bata
merah ini menyimpan lebih
dari 4.700 benda bersejarah
dari Lampung. Koleksinya
dibagi dalam 10 kelompok,
seperti geologika, biologika,
historika, numismatika,
filologika, keramologika, seni
rupa, teknografika dan yang
terbanyak yakni etnografika.
Museum ini buka setiap hari
kerja, kecuali Senin.
Elephants and Tigers
Speaking of animals, Lampung is synonymous with
the Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus
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sumatranus). There are two national parks here
concerned with the conservation of Indonesia’s
largest mammal, Bukit Barisan Selatan National
Park to the west and Way Kambas National
Park to the east.
As it is nearer to Bandar Lampung, I choose
to visit the Way Kambas National Park. Sulardi,
one of the coordinators, explains that the park
has an area of around 125,000ha and is the oldest
national park in Indonesia. “Here the large animals
are not only the Sumatran elephant but also
the tapir (Tapirus indicus), the Sumatran tiger
(Panthera tigris sumatrae), the Sumatran rhinoceros
(Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) and the honey
bear (Helarctos malayanus). We call them
The Big Five Mammals,” Sulardi says.
The elephants cannot be seen at all times of
the day; they have been released into the forest
so they can live naturally and are only brought back
to the Elephant Training Centre by the mahouts
in the late afternoon. In order to fill the time,
I am taken to Way Kanan in the national park
to participate in birdwatching while walking
along the mangrove-lined river. Photography
enthusiasts inundate me with photos they
have captured of exotic birds; it is my first
such experience and really opens my eyes to the
wonders of observing nature at close range and
the importance of animal conservation.
As the late afternoon approaches, I return to
the Elephant Training Centre and am finally able
to meet these amazing animals directly. The
elephants calmly emerge from the forest, like so
many hermits after a satisfying meditation. How
peaceful it is to gaze at the herd crossing the field
as a warm orange glow heralds the evening.