Mangrove Conservation on the North side of Bekasi

Two months ago, I decided to leave Yogyakarta and continue my career in Cikarang - Bekasi. I come back to this city, finally, after living around for four years in Yogyakarta. I did expect a lot of changes in this city, but everything looks quite the same, to be honest. I decided to leave Yogyakarta because I want to go back home since my Mom lives here with my Sister. Besides, I want to continue my career because this city is close to Jakarta which everybody knows that Jakarta is the central business district of Indonesia.

Moving on, going back to this city is kind of depressing at first. When I was in Yogyakarta, I felt like that city is the best place to stay, living accommodation is affordable, public facilities are well provided, and there are tons of tourist attractions spread across the province. I am sorry to say this, but this city that I currently live in really needs a lot of improvements, especially the tourism destination. Being the biggest industrial city does not mean that this city does not need to have a tourism attraction, right?

One day, I surfed my Instagram to find out things that might be I do not know about this city. It brought me to one account which posted an image of a mangrove forest located on the north side of the district. The picture shows that the place is so natural, and I got so excited to visit that place. Then, when one of my friends came back home during the semester break about the last two weeks, 10 September 2017, we made it there.

It is Muara Blacan. Most people do not know about this place since it is really far away from the downtown around 60 - 70 KM away. It took at least two hours for me and my friend to go to this place. Besides it is located in one remote area of the district, access to this place is also not really well maintained. Yup, it is no wonder why local people of Bekasi itself do not know about this beautiful place.

Muara Blacan is an estuary located in Muara Gembong subdistrict. Based on some articles that I read and also from local people that I asked, he name of Muara Gembong comes from two words which; Muara or Estuary in Bahasa Indonesia and Gembong; a term of crook, villain, or criminal. Why it is named as Muara Gembong? Since this place is located in a remote area, long ago during the reformation period of Indonesia, a lot of criminals were being deported at this place. It happened in the past, but Muara Gembong nowadays is a lot more different, better, than ever before.

As I have mentioned before, this place is not easy to be accessed from downtown. There is no public transportation to go to Muara Gembong or Muara Blacan. In case you want to go to this place, you have to ride your own motorbike or drive your own car. My suggestion is to ride a motorbike since most of the roads are in bad condition. The picture above was taken in one of the roads to Muara Blacan. Since the background is wonderful, I decided to stop and asked my friend, Ika, to take a picture of mine, haha.

Another thing that you have to notice before you go to Muara Gembong is the fuel of your vehicle. Remember, this place is located in a remote area, so you won't easily find a fuel station nearby. I also suggest you bring your own meals before you go because it is quite hard to find a tavern, but it is available at Muara Gembong. Once you came to this place, you will see some boats anchored. The boats are used whether to fishing or to guide you to explore the mangrove forest. I did not take the boat, so I cannot give you any information about that. Some people said, if you are lucky during exploring the mangrove forest, you will find Javan Langur hanging on the trees since Muara Gembong is also one of the natural habitats of that animal.

Ah, I almost forgot to inform you, there is two access to go to this place; by Sukatani or Babelan. The first one is by Sukatani - Cabangbungin sub-district. The advantage of taking this road is you can find a fuel station and convenience store on the way to Muara Gembong. You can also feel the natural atmosphere since there are no industrial factories situated along the roads. However, it will feel like forever for you to get to the place since there are a lot of bend roads. The second road, Babelan, has it is own advantages such as; it is the fastest road to go to the place, especially if your starting point is from Summarecon Bekasi you only have to go in a straight way to this place. However, it will quite hard for you to find a fuel station or convenience store. Also, the condition of the road is not as good as roads in Sukatani sub-district since you will find a gas field factory on the way (a lot of trucks are accessing the roads, please do not hope for a better road)

So, that is all my exploration at Muara Gembong or Muara Blacan to exact. I am looking forward to visiting this place someday. It feels so different in Muara Gembong, it is green and so natural, even though this place is located on the north side of the biggest industrial district in ASEAN.

ps;

So sorry for the late post.