Quite literally your friendly neighborhood fruit bat, since that’s the kind of thing that happen in Bali. This gent is named Rasta, and he lives in a tree at the Art Cafe Warung and Spa in Sanur, near the Mercure Beach Resort. He ended up here after his wing was broken, and now he seems to subsist pretty happily on handfed fruit. 
Fruit bats may look offputting but are among some of Southeast Asia’s most charming wildlife. Although they don’t exactly smell pleasant, they’re quite harmless, and Rasta is especially amiable when it comes to tourists snapping incessant pictures of him. 
He can easily be cajoled out of his tree with pineapple or watermelon, and watching a fruit bat climb during the daytime is a uniquely alien experience. He also has a charming and extremely long pink tongue.
The staff at the cafe have sort of trained him to extend his wings when they clap. Using food rewards to train a fruit bat is an achievement in and of itself.
Dear Faine,
I cannot thank you enough for this post!
I’m a huge fan of all kinds of bats, and living in Melbourne I’ve become quite fond of the big kinds of bats we’ve got around here.
After having a pretty bad start to my vacation on Bali this was the pick-me-up I needed.
The cafe staff was a bit confused when we told them we had come all the way to their small cafe not to visit the attached spa but to see the bat.
Rasta was just hanging around in his tree, but after the fruit platter we had ordered came around he was easily persuaded to come into reach by just holding up a piece of pineapple.
He’s quite the adorable fellow, and watching him chew and then spit out fruit once he’s sucked the juice from it is one of the cutest things I’ve seen.
I recommend this visit to anyone!
Thank you 🙂
Tim