Not Just Another Zoo

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When we first got here, I noticed a sign to 'Kebun Binatang' (Animal Farm) on the roads of Bali. I was a bit 'slow' and it didn't click to me that 'Kebun Binatang' = Zoo. In my mind it's probably just a small little farm with chicks & ducks tucked somewhere far away. So i never thought of promoting it when my family & friends from M'sia came to visit. They weren't really interested anyway cos surely the animals are kinda similar right.

Last weekend, a friend asked if we wanted to join her family to the zoo. We weren't that keen at first but said yes anyway cos we thought it would be fun to hang out with them and Ayisha would enjoy the animals & have fun with Charlie, their son who goes to the same playgroup.

When we asked for directions, they said to follow the signs to Bali Safari & Marine Park when at the main highway, which I thought is just a fancy name for this 'Kebun Binatang'/zoo.

As we enter, the place looked surprisingly huge and very popular too. There's lots of tourist buses & long queues at the ticket. Entry is NOT as cheap as i thought a 'Kebun Binatang' would be. We were not prepared and probably wouldn't have come if we knew it'd cost US35 to get in (for non-residents, Ayisha free). But then again, if we're not there, we wouldn't have found out it's not just a farm with chicks & ducks.

It's got a lot of stuff going on and it seemed like there's just so much for us to do! Made the 'bigger' kids very pumped up to get in. The expensive ticket does come with a lot of perks like free rides on the amusement park (aha, this zoo has one), free entrance to waterpark (yep, got that too), free one-on-one pics with the white tiger/orangutan, a theatre show and a Safari bus tour that takes you to the animals of Indo, India & Africa, among other things. This place is so huge that we needed a bus to take us from ticketing to the main entrance.



The service and amenities at this park are pretty impressive. Right from the start, they managed the queue for the tickets & buses very well. They warned that the safari tour would have a 30 min wait but even with the busy crowd, it wasn't even 10 mins. Plus, with the US35 ticket, we get a first in line treatment for everything.

The safari tour was quite a thrill for me. I've done once before in Bangkok where the wild animals are so close to you but I've never been on one that crosses narrow bridges and deep river to get from one animal to the other. The coolest would hafta be watching a family of hippos swimming just next to us while we cross the river. They're massive!


For those who haven't seen a white tiger do poo poo



The waterpark looks quite fun, especially for kids but we didn't come prepared so we just strolled thru. There's rides for lil kids (free) and big kids at the fun park. The big boys did have a few rides on the rollercoasters & bumper cars. We mummies gave up our free ticket rides for our other 'lil ones'.

There's lots of little stalls around if you needed a rest, a snack or a slushie and the toilets are nice & clean complete with a nursing room.

This made me giggle to myself..


Spot the tiger!

Again, as we didn't come prepared, we missed all the animal shows at the allocated time. It would've been so much more enjoyable for the kids.

We had a really great time together and the overall experience was such a pleasant one. I would definitely recommend the Kebun Binatang for our next guest especially with kids. It could be an all day thing for them to enjoy and after that, mummies can go shopping & have as many massages for the rest of the holiday ;)

Comments

Chech said…
Hi, Yan. I'm Aishah, one of your readers :).

Thank you for highlighting about the 'Kebun Binatang'. I have been to Bali in 2009, and that was my only time there. My husband and I are thinking of going there again, most probably with our toddler. Reading about your 'kebun binatang' experience made me wanna go there now, now, now :D. Interesting place to visit.

I love your review on one of the restaurants, there, too. Hope to read more on your experience there.

Cheers,
Aishah
12 February 2011 at 09:21
F.Idrus said…
I LOVE Bali's kebun binatang. It was so Balinese, me love it!

Was there the last time I went to Bali hehe.. since we have this Zoo Date thingy you know... I think it was awesome tho it fall into the expensive site, dekat sama ngan Artis Zoo here in Amsterdam! Don't know la if because we were tourist and Michal being white and all kan....haha.
14 February 2011 at 22:38
Yan said…
Aishah: thanks for your lovely comments! yep, great place if ur bringing ur toddler...u'll have fun too.. let us know if u're coming, maybe we'll cross paths!

Faiez: haha...gitule pasalnya..sebab bule mbak!! but yeah, mmg hebat gak ah kebun die!
15 February 2011 at 04:15
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