Eid holiday is the right time to travel at home. In Tarakan City, North Kalimantan, one of the most visited attractions during the Eid holiday is the Mangrove and Bekantan Conservation Areas or KKMB.
This 22-hectare conservation area is very easy to reach because it is located in the center of Tarakan City. The entry ticket was not that burdensome. Just pay IDR 5000, we can enjoy the lush mangrove forests and the agility of โbekantanโ or proboscis monkeys that are endemic animals in this region.
The tracking path made of boards and concrete is provided to facilitate visitors around the KKMB. At some point information boards are available. The information boards are provided to educate the types of mangroves and animals that live in KKMB.
There are 27 types of mangroves in KKMB, ranging from low growths such as โjerujuโ (๐๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ถ๐ด) to towering ones such as fires (๐๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ข sp.), and โbakauโ trees (๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ป๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข sp.). Various types of coastal biota and watershed can also be found in this place. Under the mud there are colorful crabs (๐๐ค๐ข sp), โglodokโ or โtempakulโ fish (๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด sp), and water snakes. Every now and then the chirping of the king prawn (๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ด๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ด) also breaks the silence of the mangrove forest. Animals that are excellent for KKMB visitors, of course, is โbekantanโ or proboscis monkey (๐๐ข๐ด๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ด). This large-nosed monkey is deliberately bred in this place.
The best time to see โbekantanโ is around nine o’clock in the morning and three o’clock in the afternoon. During these hours the โbekantanโ mob will search for food. โBekantanโ utilizes mangrove leaves as food. But the management of KKMB also prepared food like bananas.
