Taman Wisata Alam Mangrove - PIK

Who had the hellish traffic today? I had...it was the worst one. The 20mins trip to Pluit Village (where my girl has her Yamaha classes) became 70mins and we had 180mins on our way home instead of the normal 30mins phewww! Well...nothing much can be said...safe drive and just enjoy the traffic   :-)   And lets hope that tomorrow traffic will be a light one. if yes and if you aren't going out of town, then why don't you visit this place? Initially I didn’t have intention to write about this place…but since I put some of the pics that I took there as my blackberry profile, lots of my friend keep asking me bout the place. So here it is…Wisata Alam Mangrove

Simple and plain, yet beautiful

We heard bout this place from some time ago, however we never had a chance to visit this place even though it is quite close (still in Jakarta). Several times, we went to the neighbourhood area but again, we skipped this. Maybe I had a thought that this place would not be an awesome place that worth to visit *yeah…blame me he he he* Anyway, since we had nothing on our plan and we were nearby, last weekend we decided to drop by for a while…in which ‘a while’ was extended for an hour and so *grinning*. If there weren’t dark cloud hanging low with thundering sound, I believed…we would have been there for some more time…taking picture and exploring the places (the area is sooo big). It was too pity we didn't bring our camera, but yet we managed to get some good shots with my mobile's camera.

Playing hammock in rabbit garden

The place is easy to find, thanks to those signages (there are several signages showing the way…so no worry…you will find it unless you can’t read). First, head to Pantai Indah Kapuk, follow the road to PIK hospital and Waterbom. Then follow the road to Yayasan Buddha Tzu Chi and the newly established Tzu Chi School, the grande grayish Chinese building on the right corner. Go along the side road of the Tzu Chi building then turn to right. Wisata Alam Mangrove is located directly at the back of Tzu Chi building. It is a dead-end anyway, so you will not miss the place.

Catch the rabbits

For entrance, we have to pay IDR 10k/person and another IDR 5k/car. From the outer gate, we cannot see anything unless greenery. A few metres to reach the parking lot, I started to complain…geez…it was scorching 2pm sun and we were strolling under the sun *melting* Luckily, after a while, the weather became more friendly, a little bit cloudy with some breeze. From the parking lot, we strolled for a minute when we reached the Rabbit garden. It isn’t a garden, just a place (3m diameter) surrounded with fence with a big hutch in the middle of it, complete with handmade burrow and tunnels as well. There are several rabbits with various kind/breeds, I saw one Lob rabbit, and many Rex ones. Children can enter the garden and play with the rabbits with IDR 2k/person as the fee.

The seating area in front of the restaurant

Right across the Rabbit garden, there is an arc of villas for rental. They have various types of villas, 2-3 bedrooms, starting from IDR 1,3m per night. They also have bigger house to cater small company or big family outing as well, starting from IDR 5m per night. All of the villas are landed, with wooden façade and furnishing. While next to the rabbit garden, there is a small restaurant. Not far from the restaurant, there are small outbound places (on the right and left side) and another arc of camping ground (on the far left side). Here, you can use tent for camping, or if sleeping inside tent is not comfortable, they provide wooden villas in the shape of tent. So you will still get the feeling of camping…in a much comfortable way   *sounds good right*  

Camping villa above the embankment

Another awesome thing is some of the camping villas are landed/grounded, while the rest are built above the embankment. However, for the camping villas, they don’t have en-suite bathroom inside the villa, but they provide public bathroom for use. For the camping villas, you can choose the one with fan or air-conditioned, starting from IDR 300k/night (includes breakfast for 2 persons).

The simple outbound area

Beside villas, they also offer several activities such as canoing or ride the boat (starting from IDR 50k). You can participate in mangrove conservation by replanting the mangrove, with IDR 150k/person. They also caters wedding, meeting, company outing, or pre-wed photo-taking (since the place is quite beautiful in an unsual way).

Landed camping villa

Well, in short, this place is awesome (if you are not afraid of some little insect though he he he). It is close, cheap, and a good place to learn about mangrove conservation. So, why don’t you visit this place during tomorrow holiday…bring along your kids…and don’t forget your camera. Have FUN!

The landed villa

Taman Wisata Alam Angke Kapuk

Kapuk Muara, Pantai Indah Kapuk, Jakarta Utara

Telp. 021-2903 3066

Web: www.jakartamangrove-resort.com