Today was our first Princess organised trip to The Elephant Safari Park and what fun it was. We were tendered on a larger boat than usual, meaning we were able to move around and go on deck and get our first glimpse on Bali. Our journey to the Safari Park in Ubud was interesting. Firstly they drive on the left – very sensible – and the traffic; wow, we've never seen so many motorbikes, mopeds and scooters, all apparently ignoring the rules of the road. Stephan commented that it was a wonder that there wasn't a pile of bodies along the side of the road. It's difficult to try and explain the various areas we drove through. It looked like there is a lot of poverty, but there were also lots of beautiful buildings as well. Temples abound and idols can be seen just about everywhere. Stone and wood carving is a major form of employment here and examples of work could be seen along the roadside. Oh, and in case you did wonder, we saw McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut!
As the journey to the Park continued we climbed into the hills and the scenery was at times stunning. Paddy (rice) fields stretched for miles as the road actually deteriorated. With narrowing space, a sheer drop on one side we were reminded of the popular series shown on Sky- Ice Road Truckers:Deadliest Roads set in India and involving driving up the Himalayas. Obviously our journey was nothing as bad, but I must admit I didn't look too closely. One thing that did strike us was the number of houses which were completely open to the elements but with people who appeared to be living there. Further up the road where we would see a few houses clustered together, we also saw what looked like the 'local grocery store' and even as we passed by in the coach they appeared to be well stocked. We had a brief stop at a Batik Factory where we saw the process from beginning to end which was the shop. The goods were beautiful with prices to match so we didn't buy anything.
Finally, slightly later than planned, we reached the Elephant Park. One of the first sights we saw and perhaps the most appealing was 3 baby elephants playing in a pool with a larger elephant seemingly in charge. The babies dunked themselves, each other and generally played as you would see a group of children playing in a swimming pool. After a while it was obvious that one of the keepers wanted them out so that they could clean the pool but they just ignored any verbal commands he was calling so eventually he went to get another elephant, mounted it and with the aid of the bigger elephant already in the pool he somehow shepherded them out. There was one funny moment when one of the babies turned back as if to go into the water, it got to the edge, seemed to think about it and then turned round and rejoined the others. If you think I'm giving them human emotions it was hard at times not to think they were laughing, especially when they splashed some of the people stood round the pool. Mouths opened wide, head slightly raised and their trunk in the air; they certainly looked amused as the staff stood there dripping wet. After a look round the shop and various other parts of the Park it was eventually our turn for a ride – 2 people to an elephant. There was a walkway at 'elephant height' so the driver came to the side of the wall and we somehow shuffled onto a bench-like structure on its top. The first few steps were quite weird, but once we got into the rhythm of the elephant's motion it was fun. The elephant's name was Deenah and she was 23 years old.
Suddenly it was time to go and because we had been late arriving because of a lot of heavy traffic holding us up, the tour guide had been in touch with Princess to say we would be late back. The last tender was due to leave the dockside at 4.30 pm but we didn't get back until about 5.15 pm. However, we were never worried about being left behind as there were 200 of us on the Park trip alone, plus others who had been similarly held up by the traffic, and that would have been far too many to leave. Speaking to people afterwards who had either been on different trips to us or 'done their own thing' most agreed that they probably wouldn't return to Bali. The resort area with the big hotels and pristine beaches is in a completely different area to all the organised trips and I suspect it is a little 'village' of its own and the people have no need to venture out of their comfort zone unless they really wanted to.
After dinner there was 'Dancing Under The Stars' but to be honest Stephan and I were tired and after a few shuffles round the floor we decided to call it a night
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