On the tiny resort island of Pulau Macan, about 85 km north of Jakarta, you might not notice the solar panels mounted above the sun-drenched pier, or the energy-efficient lightbulbs tucked into corners of huts. As you snooze in a hammock, no diesel generator disturbs your peace. Instead, energy comes from an incongruously bright red battery bank behind the clubhouse. Fed electricity by the pier’s solar panels, which rotate to follow the sun, it provides power for the entire island.
It’s one sign that Pulau Macan, or Tiger Island — one of the Indonesian capital’s best weekend getaways — strives to live in harmony with nature. Request a tour and staff will show off others, like an organic garden, compost pits and furniture made of driftwood. Less visible are the island’s recycling and waste-management practices. But you’ll probably see — and smell — the lack of such practices as you’re picked up by the resort’s speedboat at Ancol Marina in polluted north Jakarta. Indeed, the speedboat must make occasional stops to clear garbage from its engines as it leaves the area.
