It’s story time!
Yesterday, my family and I finally reached home after spending the weekend in Melaka. We stayed one night at the Bali Residence Melaka. After checking in, we chilled in the room for about an hour before heading down to the swimming pool. Usually, I don’t bother with pools — I live in a condo, so seeing one is nothing new (arrogant, I know 😅). But this time, my two little nephew was so excited and kept begging us to bring him down. My kind older sister pitied him, and just like that, I got dragged along.
AND IT WAS SO MUCH FUN.
The kids’ section felt like a mini waterpark — slides, splash buckets, water guns, everything. I honestly wished I was under 12 again so I could play without shame. Since I couldn’t join fully, I just played around in the water while teasing my nephews, trying to convince them to try everything. Unfortunately, both of them were scaredy-cats. Cute, but useless. 😂
That was the highlight of Day 1.
Day 2: A’Famosa Safari Wonderland (Alor Gajah)
I’ve been there before with a friend back in 2020, and I enjoyed it a lot, so I was excited to go again with my family. The entrance fee was quite pricey though — RM60+ per person.
But once we entered, I immediately noticed changes. There’s now a crocodile cave right after the entrance, which wasn’t there before. Inside, it was nicely designed — cool with air-conditioning, and it felt like an aquarium. You could clearly see the crocodiles, and honestly, it was pretty nice for pictures!
Throughout the visit, I noticed they added quite a lot, especially the truck-tour feature. The safari seems extended, and now certain areas are toured using their trucks. The driver would introduce the animals — their names, species, habitat, etc. We got to see the cat family, birds, hippos, deer, and more.
There’s also a Monkey Island now, and to get there we had to ride a seated boat across. The monkeys were super cute! Their animal shows were mostly the same, but they added the “Wild West” show and an aquatic elephant segment.
My Honest Thoughts
The fun animal play, bird show, and elephant show were actually cute and educational. I enjoyed those.
But the Wild West show… oh dear. Honestly horrible for me. Too much action that felt unnecessary — lots of hitting, punching, and kicking. Not really suitable for kids. And I couldn’t even understand what the actors were saying — everything sounded like gibberish. I wish they would replace the violence with more skillful, entertaining stunts instead.
Also, animal feeding was crazy expensive. A small bucket of bananas for RM20?? Bloody hell.
The Sustainability Part
Now, this part hit me differently.
Since I’m working in travel agency and involved in sustainable tourism, I couldn’t help but notice things that didn’t feel sustainable at all.
Animals have extremely sensitive hearing. I can’t imagine how many trucks pass by daily — the noise, the engine vibration, the loudspeaker announcements over and over again. It’s a lot.
To make it worse, the weather was really hot yesterday. At least we could bring our umbrellas. But some of the animal enclosures were quite exposed, with very few trees for shade. I kept thinking about how stressed the animals must be.
I’m still grateful that the safari gives people the chance to see wildlife up close. It’s rare and special.
But I really hope in the future, we can enjoy these experiences in a way that’s healthier, kinder, and more sustainable — so that the animals can live better, and so we can continue learning about them without harming them.
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