“All the images included in the article are of the Bogor Forest on the island of Java, Indonesia.
In the 1970s, we spent one of our vacations in the Puncak Highlands, which I mentioned earlier, and it was an occasion for a friend of the family, an Indonesian, to invite us to accompany her to the massive Bogor Forest, located not far from the heights of the Puncak Hills.
We accompanied her on a foggy morning.
There, we found areas designated for visitors where we could sit, which were clean, with tables and benches neatly arranged… nothing marred the beautiful view of nature.
My dear parents sat down and left us in the company of Mrs. Alisha, the Indonesian lady.
She took us into the forest, which seemed to stretch endlessly around us at first glance. The place felt pristine, and as we walked, we encountered animals that lived in the lush, green forested terrain…
The trees were tall, and their leaves were a vibrant green… At one point, Mrs. Alisha asked us to stop to show us a procession of wild chickens:
‘Let them pass peacefully.’
After that, a henna-colored fox crossed our path… then from afar, we spotted a wild boar, and we were amazed at the sight of a very large anthill, much bigger than the ants we were used to.
We walked, looking around in awe and amazement, saying to ourselves, ‘My God, how wondrous are Your creatures! Each type moves in its own environment, coexisting without interfering with the other.’
At one point, we were genuinely startled because a snake appeared from above the branches of a tree, but Mrs. Alisha reassured us, saying:
‘Its bite is not poisonous, and it is not naturally aggressive, so we will pass underneath it safely.’
We passed by, our eyes fixed on the snake, fearing it might jump on one of us.
Our walk in the heart of the Bogor Forest lasted a long time, and at the end of it, Mrs. Alisha said to us:
‘Did you understand the lesson from this long and deep visit?’
‘Yes,’ we said to her. ‘We must live in peace with the animals of the forest and not harm their natural environment. That is how our Lord, the Almighty, commanded us: not to harm them, for they live under the protection of God, isn’t that right?’
Mrs. Alisha clapped for us.
That’s how the people of Indonesia are. Their country consists of more than 13,000 islands, and more than 200 million Indonesians live alongside diverse and numerous animals in harmony and balance.”
