Bali Safari Park, the night safari and a jungle waterfall

1. 
   Stop 1

   The safari journey at Bali Safari Park

   Bali Safari Park, in Gianyar on the east coast, keeps its animals in open country rather than cages. You ride through it in a safari truck with a keeper who talks about each animal as you pass: zebras, rhinos, wildebeest and deer in the grassland, then the hippos, lions and the Sumatran tigers in their own areas. The truck stops where the animals are close. There is also an animal show, a children's zoo and a water park inside the gates, so a family can easily fill the whole morning here.

2. 
   Stop 2

   Meeting the elephants

   The park keeps a herd of Sumatran elephants, and the elephant encounter is the part of the day children talk about afterwards. You stand with the keepers, feed the elephants from your hand, and have your photograph taken with a trunk over your shoulder; it is gentle and close, and the keepers have worked with these animals for years. The park runs a breeding programme for the species, which is critically endangered in the wild, and the keepers explain it as you go.

3. 
   Stop 3

   The night safari

   After dark the park changes. The night safari takes you out in a caged truck through the lion and tiger areas with the floodlights off, and the big cats come to the truck rather than the other way round — a tiger walking along the roof a metre above your head is a sight nobody forgets. The truck is fully enclosed and the keepers are on board. Dinner is served at the park restaurant that looks into the lion enclosure, and the visit can be arranged as the evening of the same day.

4. 
   Stop 4

   A waterfall in the forest

   Between the park and the evening, the jungle. The waterfall is a walk down through the forest from the road, on steps and a path that get wetter as you go, to a pool at the bottom where the fall comes down the cliff in two white columns. It is cool and loud and green after the open country of the safari, and the walk back up is the day's exercise. Wear shoes you can get wet; the guide carries water and waits at the bottom while you swim.

Rather plan the day yourselves? Take the car and the driver-guide on their own: eight hours for 500,000 rupiah or $30, and you choose where the day goes. Ask about the driver service · How the driver day works

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