But the island also invites you to slow down, where life runs on “santai” time (“relax” in Bahasa Indonesia). You could spend the day lounging, digging into local cuisine or bowls of Indomie from the resort’s instant noodle cart, or unwinding at the hotel spa which incorporates local ingredients like black pepper in massage oils and zesty calamansi baths. In town, Waroeng Kopi Ake – Belitung’s oldest coffee shop – draws bapak-bapak (older gentlemen) who idle the time away over traditional brews.
INTO THE FOREST: TRAILS, TREES AND TARSIERS
We begin with a morning walk along the Whistle Trail, named after the melodious whistle bird and home to the white-tailed eagle. Our guide, Akbar Alfarisyi, a Belitung-born biologist who joined the reserve in 2022, has spent over a decade documenting the island’s rich biodiversity – more than 2,500 species of flora and fauna.
A former biology teacher in Jakarta’s universities, the 33-year-old is now focused on educating both visitors and locals, hoping to empower a new generation of nature stewards in Belitung.
