It's a zoo as people enjoy holiday

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

This year's mid-year school holidays saw the number of visitors to Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta and to Ancol Dreamland in North Jakarta reach record levels thanks to better public transportation.

The zoo received more than 85,000 visitors on Sunday, which was 20,000 more than last year's numbers.

More than 100,000 people visited the North Jakarta's Ancol Dreamland on Sunday and about 80,000 on Saturday. Last year the number was 62,000 and 55,000 respectively.

Zoo spokesman Mardjuki said the operation of the busway system serving the route of Kuningan-Ragunan had contributed to the increasing number of visitors.

"Affordable entrance fees and easier access to public transportation definitely contributed to the higher number of visitors," Mardjuki said.

He said on weekdays during the school holidays, the number of people who visited the zoo was around 3,000 a day. Usually the zoo attracted about 2,000 people each weekday.

The 140-hectare zoo operates from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. with an admission fee of Rp 3,000 for children and Rp 4,000 for adults. It holds more than 3,000 types of animals from Indonesia and other countries.

"Ragunan is an affordable recreation place. Besides displaying many animals, it also offers lots of games," said Lia, a resident from Cengkareng, West Jakarta.

Visitors have to spend extra money to play a game or visit the primate center, one of the zoo's main attractions.

The huge number of visitors was an advantage for the traders there.

"Last weekend, our turnover was about Rp 5 million. But if it's not the holiday season, we sometimes only earn around Rp 10,000," said a hotdog seller.

According to Mardjuki, on Saturday and Sunday the zoo earned about Rp 415 million.

Last weekend saw a huge increase in vehicles entering the zoo grounds too, although most were motorcycles, Mardjuki said.

"We allowed cars and motorcycles to park in the zoo's yard because part of the zoo's parking lot has become the busway's lane."

Ancol Dreamland also benefited from the operation of the new busway route, said head of communication for the funpark Sofia Cakti.

"Besides, we also have a brand new game in the Dufan," she said.

"It's called Tornado and is an adrenaline-pumping roller coaster."

Of the 106,268 people who visited Deamland on Sunday, 25 percent visited the Dufan area, she said.

"During the holiday, we are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with an entrance fee of Rp 90,000," Sofia said

Usually it is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a Rp 70,000 entrance fee.

Dufan, short of Dunia Fantasi (fantasy land), is a 9.5-hectare theme park where visitors can enjoy various kinds of adrenaline-soaked thrill rides, from roller coasters to gentler rides including merry-go-rounds.