Hotel
Koen stayed at
Delta Gecko Lodge owned by Christina, an Australian-German woman.
- The "lodge" is about 4 km to the west of Pangandaran, so you have to take a becak and they will charge you 5000 Rp + they get a huge commission from Christina, that's why she wants you to stay at least 2 nights.
- The accomodation is basic with huts starting from 10.000 Rp going up to 40.000 Rp for the biggest ones. Since recently, they have some electricity. At night the place is lightened with candles. Huts have cold water. The beach is across the road.
PS: apparently there is now electricity available from 6 till 11 pm.
- At the lodge you can rent motorbikes quite cheaply so you can visit town. There's a kind of "Youth hostel" atmosphere: everyone eats together so you can talk to other travellers. They also regularly arrange trips. Top of the bill and not to miss is the Green Canyon by canoe. However, don't always believe all her stories of "not to miss activities".
- Update 12/2000: There is electricity even limited from 18.00 pm to 23.00 pm. After 11 o'clock, if you are still awake, they put a traditionnal lamp (so-called lampu teplok) on the front table. Some 11 km to the Banjar city direction, there is a nice beach called bata Karas. Due to the windy season, you have to be very careful.
The
Laguna Beach Bungalows (tel. 0265 639761) is at 2 km from the center which is a disadvantage. They promise free shuttles to town, marvellous buffet diners etc..., but with tourism being low they cannot live up to their promises. The place is owned by a Dutch woman, but when she's away, service might deteriorate a bit. They charge 20.000 Rp for an economi and 30.000 to 50.000 Rp for a bungalow including breakfast (6/98).
What to do?
Green Canyon- This is a great place to visit, by you must do it with the Gecko Lodge tour. They are the only ones who go there with a canoe instead of a motorboat. You will see much more, but you will also swim into the canyon which is really great. Take a waterproof camera with high speed film.
- The tour costs 20.000 Rp a person including a meal (5/97).
- If it has rained a lot, it's sometimes impossible to visit the canyon.
Pangandaran Nature Reserve - It's not possible to enter the park legally nowadays. You can only visit a small part of the park which is open to visitors. Christina says she can arrange tours into the actual park (illegally) but it wasn't possible while we were there. However, I got a report from someone who did this trip with her (7/98).
- Visiting the smaller part is also worthwhile although not really spectacular, but you should have a good guide. You will see much more smaller animals like iguanas, scorpions, porky pines etc...
Trips by bike Ask at the Gecko Lodge for a map. they promote trips around Pangandaran. We didn't do this.
Want a personnal guide? A guide which was recommended to me is
Elan Jaelani. You will find him at the bridge near the Green Canyon at Kantor Green Canyon, post 46394, Ciamis Selatan, Jawa Barat. His English is excellent and he will guide you in a marvellous walk through villages and rice fields (10/98).B
Go on to "Yogyakarta page"If you have questions on Java, please
e-mail Steven Buvens
