Turtle Island, Moncot Sari Turtle Farm

This was a pleasant surprise. We had no idea of its existence until our guide bring us to a beach at Nusa Dua. There, we were introduce to a number of activities we can do from scuba diving to skate boarding...of course those are not the stuff we can do with a 3 yr old.

We finally spot the item - to take a boat ride (with clear fiber glass bottom so we can see the marine life beneath) to the turtle island and back. It cost USD50 per pax on the menu. But we manage to bargain it down so SGD 50 for the 3 of us.

The boat ride is nice and start out gentle. The water is clear but there were not too much marine life beneath till we stop at a spot with plenty of fishes. We were given bread to feed the fishes with silver and purple stripes and the 3 yr old have a great time doing that.


Turtle island, as in the name sake is a wild life farm that rears many turtles. The big ones are big enough for our 3 yr old to ride on and we can see little baby turtles and touch and hold the turtles with the help of the designated guide from the farm. Besides turtles, there are hedgehogs, snakes, iguana, bats, eagles, hawks and falcons as well as squirrels and rabbits as part of the wild life collection. Most of the animals are "domesticated and we can touch and hold the snakes, iguanas, bats and falcons if we are game enough. Takers, anyone?

Fresh coffee at a plantation

On the way back to Kuta from Kintamani, our tour guide brought us to a plantation where we were serve free drinks as we seat looking at the greenery of the plantation.

It was still drizzling and the hot Balinese coffee and herbal drinks were a wonderful treat for us. We had Bali Coffee, Hot Cocoa, Ginseng Coffee, Lemon grass tea and ginger tea. The hot cocoa is extremely rich and my 3 year old immediately fell in love with it...his charm won him a second cup quickly. The ginseng coffee has a distinct aroma about it and till now, I regret not buying the powder when I had the chance. Oh, and for smokers, they offer free tobacco leaves which you can wrap in a piece of paper provided and smoke like a cigarette.


I think we must have spent at least an hour there, enjoying the rain and the view of the plantation in the rustic settings and enjoying our hot and freshly make drinks. hmmm the feeling is heavenly.


Nothing in life is free and after the free flow of complimentary drinks, we were invited to look at their fresh products. Their specialty is this coffee call Luwak, which cost Rp30000 (S$4+) a cup. It is an extremely rare coffee and those who had tasted it describe it as being " heavy, rich and strangely complex with hints of chocolate, old wood and hazelnut." Tempting? Well, after finding out about the production process, non of us dare to give it a try.

Coffee Luwak is the result when coffee berries are consumed by Asian Palm Civet and the beans were passed out undigested. The enzymes of the civet's stomach supposedly break down the coffee's protein and add to the flavor of the bean...

Kintamani

After almost 2 hours, we finally reach kintamani bali from our Kuta Hotel. It is a bumpy ride though small roads. It is time to get off school on our way there and we see many school children riding scooters and motorcycles on their way home, in the rain. It makes me think how luck children in Singapore are.

I read somewhere that that it is best to visit Kintamani early in the morning. Well, I learn why when we got there. There is fog every where and we can't see the lake or much other than the black volcanic stones scattered everywhere. It is still raining hard after we make our round over the mountain. Our guide brought us to this restaurant which have a view of the volcano ( when there is no fog, that is) We sat outside and with all the fog, it is like sitting in the clouds. It is very cold up in the mountains, making me wish I had wore something thicker.

The restaurant is nicely decorated and offers a buffet style lunch but the only thing we like is the satay and crackers. The baby high chair is way too high- higher than the table. But I guess people come here for the ambiance. The ambiance does not come cheap, buffet lunch for two + drinks cost a total of Rp. 287000 (about S$39)