By: Iqbal F. Hanif

The morning was still dark, but the enthusiasm and joy radiated from the faces of WWF-Indonesia supporters who that day with a number of media crews and WWF Jakarta staff began an unforgettable trip. In the last week of May 2014, they joined the 'Supporter Appreciation Trip: Adventuring in the Paradise of Andalas', visiting a number of WWF-Indonesia conservation workplaces and nature tourism in Lampung Province.

On the first day, the group traveled through the winding and sometimes damaged roads of Sumatra to Sedayu, a village located in the buffer zone of Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and a traditional coffee processing facility led by Mrs. Damiyati. There, the trip participants saw the coffee processing process, interacted directly with the women members of the group, and tasted the high quality Lampung coffee.

From Sedayu, the group continued their journey to Rhino Camp. There, the group spent the night and had the opportunity to see and learn how the Rhino Patrol Unit team works in terms of installing camera traps. These camera traps are installed in trees to capture animal activity in the forest. The installation process itself takes one month. Unlike an ordinary camera that has a shutter click pane, the camera trap has a heat sensor if a living creature passes in front of it. The trip participants did not waste the opportunity to take a selfie in front of the camera trap. The exploration of the TNBBS forest left an impression of how tough the task is for conservationists in the field.

The second day of the trip was the most anticipated moment for all trip participants; they visited the headquarters of Elephant Patrol (EP) in Pemerihan area. This place is home to five elephants that are kept and trained by the WWF-Indonesia Lampung office team to herd wild elephants that often enter local settlements. The group was welcomed by 'Karnangin' who always seemed ready to be photographed, and 'Tomi' who was playing with the mahout (elephant handler). The other three tame and trained EP elephants are 'Yongki', 'Arni' and the giant 'Renggo'. These five elephants must be awake during the day to patrol.

The participants did not miss the opportunity to chat with the five elephants. After cleaning and playing with the elephants, accompanied by the mahout, participants climbed onto the elephants' backs and rode around enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Bukit Baris Selatan forest for about 3 km. The activity in Pemerihan was closed by planting ten My Baby Tree tree seedlings by all participants.

Extreme and unfriendly weather prevented the planned trip to the microhydro alternative energy plant and the relaxing agenda at Krui Beach. The same was true for the third day's trip to Kubu Perahu, a waterfall in the TNBBS area. With the long and relatively difficult route through TNBBS and the weather conditions that were raining heavily, the committee decided to divert the destination to Lake Ranau, an area that is no less interesting. Traveling along the lake by speed boat, participants arrived at the hot spring location. Some of the trip participants were disappointed that they had to cancel their visit to Kubu Perahu, but were grateful to have been spared the worst that could have happened to them. One participant also reported an outbreak of pacet attacks there, especially after heavy rainfall.

The trip arrived on the last day. In Bandar Lampung, the group split into various directions. Through the three-day trip, a deep impression of the natural beauty in Lampung and the tireless efforts to preserve it will not be forgotten. Indeed, the paradise on Earth Andalas deserves to be preserved. Stay tuned for the next Supporter Appreciation Trip which is sure to be no less interesting.