BALURAN NATIONAL PARK SITUBONDO IS LITTLE SAVVANA IN AFRICA

The best adventure in savvana, you can enjoy in Situbondo. No need to go to Africa, Indonesia has the best one.It is called as Baluran national park.

Baluran National Park is located in Situbondo Regency, East Java, Indonesia. It has a relatively dry climate and mainly consists of savanna (40%), as well as lowland forests, mangrove forests and hills, with Mount Baluran (1,247m) as its highest peak.

In stark contrast to the lush green scenery found elsewhere on the island of Java, the Baluran National Park, located on the east-most edge of Java, consists predominantly of open savannahs, where wildlife roam free. Here one can watch grazing, the large Javan water buffaloes called “banteng”, small Java mouse deer known as “kancil”, peacocks strutting about displaying their colorful plumage, eagles flying overhead and macaques fishing for crabs with their tails.

Baluran National Park is situated at the north-eastern extremity of Java, close to the islands of Bali and Madura. The park is bordered by the Madura Strait to the north, the Bali Strait to the east, the river Bajulmati (Wonorejo village) to the west and the river Klokoran (Sumberanyar village) to the south.

This park is a forest preservation area that covers about 25,000 hectares of the north coast of East Java. The park offers some great scenery and has organised safari activities. Safari is a much misused term in Asian travel circles but in this case it is appropriate - there is something very African about the savannah grasslands of Baluran. Of the three large national parks in East Java, this is the easiest reached and by far the easiest to travel around.

During the dry season, the land parches and water becomes scarce, while when it rains, water slides over the black alluvial land with little being absorbed, forming water pools especially along the Park’s southern part that connects Talpat with Bama Beach.

when you visit Baluran during the rainy season, you will see ample water holes, but during this time the Banteng and the wild bulls prefer to wander in the forests, although other animals like peacocks, mouse deer, and wild fowl do come out and can still be observed.

Baluran National Park boasts 444 species of trees, some unique to the area like the widoro bukol (Ziziphus rotundifolia), mimba (Azadirachta indica), and pilang (Acacia leucophloea). These plants are able to adapt to dry conditions when others have long wilted. Other trees also remaining green are the candle trees or kemiri (Aleurites moluccana), gebang (Corypha utan), api-api (Avicennia sp), the tamarind tree (Tamarindus indica), gadung(Dioscorea hispida), kendal (Cordia obliqua), manting (Syzygium polyanthum), and kepuh (Sterculia foetida).

 Additionally, Baluran is habitat to 155 types of birds, among which are the rare fire kite (Hirundo rustica), the red forest fowl (Gallus gallus), kangkareng (Anthracoceros convecus), hornbills (Buceros rhinoceros), tuwuk or asian tuwur  (Eudynamys scolopacea), peacocks  (Pavo muticus), and herons (Leptoptilos javanicus).

There are several activities that you can do in this park such as: - Safari Forest - forest adventure - Diving and snorkeling - Mountain hiking and mount climbing - Hill walking - Beach adventure to watch the fishermen's daily activities and seed seekers - Canoeing, rowing or boating until you the Fresh Water Gulf, Sejile Gulf and Bilik Beach.

A safari trip to Baluran is indeed a precious journey.