The Adventure of Thomas the Cat by Ichus Rose

Chapter 1: The Lost Kitty

The Little Thomas

Thomas is his nick name, his full name is Thomas Phillip Leonhart. He is my beloved cat that I owned since 2 years ago.

Thomas came into my family on May 2010. One afternoon I heard loud kitten crying in a distance. I thought it was some neighbor's new cat so I was not pay much attention at that time. I was so curious when the next morning I can still heard the kitten meowing somewhere. Sounds miserable. I hurriedly begin to looking for the source that turned out was coming from a carton box dumped in the bushes not far from my house. I went to it and found this cute white and hazel color cat. The carton box is half open and he could just jump easily out and escape if he wanted to but no, these kitten was just sit there obediently, or maybe he’s too weak since it was left there overnight. I fell in love with him instantly when I looked into his beautiful round eye so I took him home. I always love cat but I still considering to pet one.

Who wouldn't fall in love with him?

 So these little kitty that I found was about 2 or 3 months old, maybe, just based on his looks, pretty inaccurate since I'm no expert :) The kitten seemed not afraid to see a stranger like me. He came willingly to my house instead. After I fed him, a huge one, he's certainly starving,  he seemed to gain some strength and followed me everywhere around the house. He liked to play with my children and they liked him too. They begged me to keep him, they even promise to take care of the cat themself. Well, my children were still young, around 4 and 3 years old so I wasn’t sure if we could manage to have pet. It’s about hygene issue. But only after I saw him went poop in the toilet that I finally decided to keep him as pet. I assumed that these cat is well trained somehow before he had dumped so it wouldn't be that bad keep him so....

It's official! We have cat! And we named it Thomas Phillip Leonhart, the prince of our house....

Taman Nasional Baluran by Ichus Rose

TAMAN NASIONAL BALURAN

Taman Nasional Baluran terletak di Kecamatan Banyuputih, Situbondo, Jawa Timur, sekitar 1 jam perjalanan dari Banyuwangi, merupakan kawasan konservasi alam yang memiliki keindahan dan eksotisme panorama alam. Luas taman ini sekitas 25.000 ha dimana 40% dari total luasnya merupakan ekosistem savana yang alami dan merupakan yang terluas di Pulau Jawa.

Savana Bekol

Hutan Mangrove

Taman ini hampir bisa dikatakan sebagai miniatur hutan Indonesia karena hampir semua tipe hutan terdapat disini yaitu meliputi hutan pantai, hutan mangrove dan rawa asin, hutan payau, padang rumput savana, hutan hujan pegunungan, hutan musim, hutan lamun dan gugusan terumbu karang. Flora yang terdapat di hutan-hutan ini antara lain Pilang (Acacia leucophloea Wild), Mimbo (Azadiracta indica A. Juss), Gebang (Corypha utan Lamk.), Asam (Tamara indica Linn.), Kepuh (Sterculia foetida Wall.), Widoro bukol (Zyziphus jujuba Lamk.), Kesambi ( Schleichera oleosa), Ketapang (Terminalia catappa Linn.), Mnating (Syzyqium polyanthum).

Rusa (Cervus timorensis)

Merak hijau (Pavo Muticus) 

 Selain hutan, di taman ini juga bisa dijumpai beraneka ragam fauna seperti mamalia besar yaitu Banteng ( Boss javanicus), Kerbau liar (Bubalus bubalis), Rusa (Cervus timorensis), Kijang (Mutiacus muntjak), Babi hutan (Sus scorva), Macan tutul (Panthera pardus),  Kucing batu (Felis bengalensis), Kucing bakau (Felis viverrina ), dan Ajag (Cuon alpinus). Sedangkan untuk jenis primata antara lain Kera ekor panjang (Macaca fascicularis) dan Lutung (Trachypithecus auratus cristatus). Disini juga mudah dijumpai berbagai jenis burung antara lain Merak hijau (Pavo Muticus) Ayam hutan merah (Gallus gallus), Ayam hutan hijau (Gallus varius), Kangkareng (Anthracoceros convexus), dan Rangkong (Bucheros rhinoceros).

Pantai Bama

Diujung taman ini juga terdapat pantai berpasi putih yang masih asri yaitu Pantai Bama. Pantai dengan hamparan pasir putih ini terletak 3 km dari savana Bekol, dan dikelilingi oleh hutan mangrove sbagai habitat berbagai jenis burung dan primata seperti kera abu-abu. Pantai Bama juga menyimpan keindahan panorama bawah laut yang menawan. Aneka terumbu karang dan ikan hias dapat dijumpai dsini. Pengunjung bisa menikmati rekreasi ditepi pantai, diving, snorkling, maupun berkano di pantai ini.