Meru Betiri National Park (Sukamade)

It was easy to travel in Bali, but now that I am in East Java it becomes a little different (read: more difficult). I slept in Banyuwangi last night and it is my intention today to travel to one of the most remote corners of the island Java - Meru Betiri national park. In the morning I am the only white person (tourist) in a bemo (minibus) in the direction of the village of Pesonggaram in where the music tatters from the speakers.

After two hours of bumping around because of het bad road we arrive. There I have to change to another van that takes me to Sarongan in an hour. Along the way many plantations. First I make clear to the driver and later to other people on the little square where I want to go. The people here are not impressed and make it clear that I have to wait.

Because it is lunchtime I take place at a tiny restaurant and have no idea how the day is going to be, where, if, what and which time I’m getting picked up. 

At four in the afternoon, a noisy rickety truck entered the square and people sprung up from everywhere. I can’t believe it; is this my transportation to the park? My bag is thrown on the back of the truck and local people help me to get on. Whole families are leaning against the side of the high truck sides, in the middle a very large pile of goods is piled up.

I think people did shopping for a whole village and are going back to that place where you obviously can’t buy a lot. Everybody looks at me a little strange (as a white Western tourists) but all are smiling friendly in my direction and I also look for a spot on the truck. We bump away and I see the village of Sarongan getting smaller and think if this was a wise decision. The road is full of bumps and potholes and I have to hold on well.

The Wet Season

Because of the "rainy season" the water splashes from the filled holes that we pass and it starts to rain again. As we drive through a deep river and the water almost rises from the tailgate, I understand why people are currently traveling in this truck. It would be impossible in a jeep or minivan. Very carefully we drive slowly through the river and I’m happy when the truck pulls himself up the banks on the other side of it.

The landscape is varied; chunks of jungle are interrupted by large plantations. I see rubber, coffee, coconuts and cocoa. After a few kilometers we arrive at a small wooden house. This appears to be "Rajegwesi" and a Ranger asks me to step out. I have to pay the entrance fee for the national park. He also makes clear that I can sleep here and he can arrange a tour. I take my stuff out of the truck, wave the people goodbye and walk behind the man into a small room. 

He shows me a tiny room with a bed and asks me to follow him; he starts a tour through the jungle and to the beach. It does not feel right and I feel like I'm being cheated here. The price is abnormally high and I actually want to leave. The truck has already disappeared and I tell the man that I want to go to Sukamade. Together we walk to the river and I’ve got no idea where I’m. Luckily I took my big bag with me (because I didn’t want to leave it in that shack) but it’s heavy, the weather is ridiculously sweltering and flies infest my face and hands. We can not pass the river because it’s too deep to walk through at all and disappointed we walk back to the ranger house. It is already starting to dawn when suddenly a jeep comes up.

I stop it and the Indonesian man asks in English what I do here as a white tourists. It appears that the young man is a Dutch tourist and his Swiss girlfriend like me but with Indonesian roots; it is no problem to go with them. A minute later I’m sitting relieved in the jeep to look at the beautiful landscape that unfolds here. It is still 10 kilometers to our destination through the river at "Sumbosuko" and jungle. I’m so happy I didnn’t stay with the ranger. We pass a mountainpass and our driver/guide points to what looks like the ocean in the distance.

It is quite late in the evening when we are called over; a ranger reminds us to sit down at the edge of the beach. He tells us to be quiet and not to move too much. Otherwise we chase away the turtle. It seems to take hours and it is pitch dark here. We hear the thunder with sometimes a lightning crash but no rain.

Then suddenly a man in the dark appears andt makes it clear to us to follow him. Suddenly we see a very large turtle-shield above a hole. The ranger explains that the female first seeks a suitable spot at the edge of the beach between the bushes and then begins to dig a big deep hole.

When she decides to lay her eggs, she gets into a trance that allows her to approach her. What an experience; you can walk around her quietly. It seems like I ended up in a film set. Her eyes shine but are totally focused on her most important task. In the meantime she is measured; it turns out to be 1.21 meters in size. She has to weigh between 200 and 250 kilo’s. After an hour she finished laying her eggs and she is exhausted. We are expected to step back and let her do her final job. She throws the pit close with the sand on the edges and then quietly creeps back to the sea. 

The rangers go to work immediately; they take the sand away and pick up the eggs . They lay the eggs neatly in a square. We sit down in the sand and doze off in this warm, sweltering environment. The turtle has laid no fewer than 138 eggs that are put directly into a bucket. These are stowed away so that they can not be removed or destroyed - the giant turtle eggs are sought after and the beast is seriously threatened. It is two o'clock in the night when we walk back through a small flashlight light to our room. There is no electricity and crash down on bed. 

The breeding ground and the jungle

It is hot early in the morning; after breakfast we are invited to walk along to a little hut where we also went yesterday evening. It looks very different in the daylight and after some orientation we recognize the place and the men we met and spoke to last night.

Here is the breeding ground for the eggs that we buried here in the corner in a kind of sandbox. But of course there are also eggs released today and the little ones of a week are now put in a bucket. Together we walk to the beach where we can release them on the beach. These themselves find their way to the sea. It is important to see those little ones struggling in the water where they hopefully survive.