Couple weeks ago (I don't when, what am I, a calendar?) I took a stroll down to the famous Bogor Botanical Gardens. This lush oasis of serenity lies in the middle of town and houses the Bogor palace, which is the Governor or President or some official's summer residence. The gardens were established several hundred years ago by the Dutch when they ruled the spice trade in these parts. At that time Bogor was a quiet mountain resort far removed from the hustle of Jakarta, not the bustling suburb it is today. The lush grounds support foliage from all over the world, including a section with conifers, something I thought I'd never see in this country.
I went on a weekend which happens to be the time when the Bourgies from Jakarta bring their families down to the relative quite of Bogor, choking the streets with their increased traffic. A herd of shorty deer roam freely on the palace lawn. They come up to the fence to feed on carrots offered by excited toddlers. Carrots purchased by parents from entrepreneurial Indo's who park themselves by the garden fence for that very purpose. Pretty chill life style them deer have. Eat grass. Eat carrots. Grapple horns with rivals from time to time. Fornicate. Sleep. A veritable deer paradise.
Inside the gardens school children wander about listlessly. A couple of families stop to take pictures with me. Apparently all it takes to be a celebrity around here is white skin. Though certainly exotic and well maintained the place has the air of all botanical gardens I've ever visited. By that I mean too manicured, not wild enough. I prefer a jungle proper, all vines and roots and foliage struggling for the slightest advantage. True nature.
Outside a man is handling snakes. He sees my bulky camera and beckons me over. "Do you want to hold the snake?" Hell's to the affirmative, Mr! The reptile coils languidly about my limbs, a constrictor I presume. The man snaps photos while I slow dance with the serpent. "Kiss! Kiss!" So I pucker and smooch. Poor thing. *Sssssssssssss What issssss thissss ssstrange creature that makessss to bite ussssss? Why musssst it touch usssss with it'ssssss mouth? Let usssssss back in our cage. We're frightened ssssssoo we are ssssssss*
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