Families flock to recreation sites

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 10/03/2008 11:34 AM  |  City

HOLIDAY DIP: A father (center) dressed in his holiday finery takes a dip with his daughter at Indah Ancol beach, North Jakarta, on Thursday. Some 157,000 people visited the Taman Impian Jaya Ancol theme park. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)

Dozens of lively colored sailing boats sailed out toward the open sea from Ancol Beach in North Jakarta under the blistering midday sun on Thursday.

Each boat carried around 20 passengers, all dressed in their Idul Fitri best.

"All aboard! It only costs Rp 5,000 for a 20-minute trip," said Pakuat, a man in his 50s with sun-hardened dark skin, while offering his tours to visitors from the paved beachside area.

From the other side of the beach a crowd could be heard. The water there was full of hundreds children in rented yellow, blue, green and bright pink life buoys -- all under the watchful eyes of 15 lifeguards patrolling the area.

This was the scene at Ancol Beach, part of Taman Impian Jaya Ancol theme park, which is one of Jakarta's recreational areas that was thronged by visitors on Thursday, the second day of the Idul Fitri holidays.

"My husband came back from Cirebon (in West Java) for Lebaran and he wanted to come here with our grandchildren. We don't come here very often because it is quite expensive -- Rp 12,000 per person -- and there are six of us here today. To cut costs, we brought our own food and mattress," Suminah, a cheerful woman in her 60s, told The Jakarta Post.

According to park officials, approximately 157,000 people, 10,300 cars and 16,500 motorcycles had entered Ancol and not only for the beach, but also for its theme park and magic shows by international magicians.

"In total, we have had almost 300,000 visitors since Tuesday. This is between 5 and 9 percent more than last year," corporate communications officer Sofia Cakti said.

The increase in numbers of visitors was probably caused by the increasing population of Jakarta, Jaya Ancol recreation and resort head Husni told the Post.

"During takbiran (a time for Muslims to march and chant prayers on the eve of Idul Fitri), there were more people here compared to last year. We had around 57,000 people on Tuesday evening, compared to 50,000 at the same time last year," he said.

Another tourist attraction, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) expected to attract some 55,000 visitors by the end of Thursday, increasing their total by 3,000 compared to last year, and almost doubling yesterday's total, Antara reported.

The park's management expects its numbers of visitors to peak this coming Sunday, reaching around 70,000 people (up by 10,000 during the same holiday period last year).

TMII's neighbor, the 135-hectare Ragunan Zoo, has also seen a similar increase in numbers.

"We estimate the number of visitors today, the second day of Lebaran, to be more than 100,000 -- because on the second day of Lebaran last year we had 146,000," zoo management spokesman Marjuki said on Thursday, as reported by Antara.

Further South of Jakarta, in the Cileungsi area in Bogor, Mekarsari tourist park (featuring a tropical fruit garden) welcomed some 12,000 visitors on Wednesday and 30,000 on Thursday. (mri)

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