Flores – Lubuhan Bajo 27 August – 4 September
Sailing on, we found a beautiful island in Riung Bay. White sandy beach, corals for snorkelling, some shelter on the beach, all part of the 17 Islands National Park. Much better than the Monkey Beach anchorage, which is in the 101 anchorages and where most people went. We really enjoyed our stay and delayed our departure for a day.
The next stop at Lingeh was interesting. A nice anchorage behind extensive reef, but annoying locals. This was the closest we came to feeling uneasy, and we took removable things into the cabin for the night.
An early start, we followed our track to get out of that bay. We made it to Bodo Island, but it was too rolly for us. So we got into a nearby bay, well protected and easy to get into. Some locals came by, but went after we said no thanks to their offers of pearls and carved dragons. We even had some rain, the first rain for months! The boat needed a wash badly. We had a very restful night.
We needed that rest, as the trip to Rinca included 25 knots on the nose for some time. We felt that we should sail, so we tacked until we got into the bay where the National Park hut was. As we arrived rather early, and tourist boats were still coming in, we decided to have a look ashore. There was a jetty to tie up our dinghi, and some monkeys to greet us. We walked to the station and joined a tour immediately. We saw our first Komodo dragon near the cafe, and quite a few on the short walk, some of them mating (or more accurately, just lying on top of each other). They are close to 3m long, with very powerful legs. They all seemed to be rather inactive, which was ok with us. I would not like to test if they run faster than me!
We also paid the fees, which were rather steep (360,000 rupiahs). I suppose a lot goes into the park maintenance and preservation of habitat, so that’s ok. We could have gone again the following day, but the dragons were not that fascinating. We wanted to snorkel at Pantai Merah (red beach), supposedly a great spot. Unfortunately we had to fight a big current in Lintah Strait, and it was quite an effort to get there. But the only mooring buoy was vacant, and we were tied up securely. Snorkelling was good, we took the dinghi to various spots.
After some excitement with another boat dragging anchor, we moved to the Eco resort near Labuhan Bajo. The current was not against us this time, but the wind varied. We went to the resort for dinner, and the earth moved for us! The first tremor was a little one, similar to a truck going past a house. We did not recognise it, but the second tremor left no doubt that we experienced our first earthquake. Even the staff at the resort looked worried, and the Admiral went outside to check if the trees were ok. But that was it, and we had a lovely dinner (although expensive for Indonesia).
Next day, we had a look at Lubuhan Bajo. It is quite a nice town, and it could be the next big tourist thing in that area (“gateway to the dragons”). We found an internet cafe... This explains the long delays between postings. We moved the boat closer to the venue for the welcome dinner, and rested. Next morning, we got some fuel, and we got water from the town. There are shops with water filtration equipment, and for 20 l water, we paid 6,000 rupiahs. It was quite a bit of work: take the dinghi to the jetty, around a fence, along a breakwater wall, through some back yards, across the street, and there it was. It is a lot easier with empty containers...
To be continued
Rosi & Mike
Sailing on, we found a beautiful island in Riung Bay. White sandy beach, corals for snorkelling, some shelter on the beach, all part of the 17 Islands National Park. Much better than the Monkey Beach anchorage, which is in the 101 anchorages and where most people went. We really enjoyed our stay and delayed our departure for a day.
The next stop at Lingeh was interesting. A nice anchorage behind extensive reef, but annoying locals. This was the closest we came to feeling uneasy, and we took removable things into the cabin for the night.
An early start, we followed our track to get out of that bay. We made it to Bodo Island, but it was too rolly for us. So we got into a nearby bay, well protected and easy to get into. Some locals came by, but went after we said no thanks to their offers of pearls and carved dragons. We even had some rain, the first rain for months! The boat needed a wash badly. We had a very restful night.
We needed that rest, as the trip to Rinca included 25 knots on the nose for some time. We felt that we should sail, so we tacked until we got into the bay where the National Park hut was. As we arrived rather early, and tourist boats were still coming in, we decided to have a look ashore. There was a jetty to tie up our dinghi, and some monkeys to greet us. We walked to the station and joined a tour immediately. We saw our first Komodo dragon near the cafe, and quite a few on the short walk, some of them mating (or more accurately, just lying on top of each other). They are close to 3m long, with very powerful legs. They all seemed to be rather inactive, which was ok with us. I would not like to test if they run faster than me!
We also paid the fees, which were rather steep (360,000 rupiahs). I suppose a lot goes into the park maintenance and preservation of habitat, so that’s ok. We could have gone again the following day, but the dragons were not that fascinating. We wanted to snorkel at Pantai Merah (red beach), supposedly a great spot. Unfortunately we had to fight a big current in Lintah Strait, and it was quite an effort to get there. But the only mooring buoy was vacant, and we were tied up securely. Snorkelling was good, we took the dinghi to various spots.
After some excitement with another boat dragging anchor, we moved to the Eco resort near Labuhan Bajo. The current was not against us this time, but the wind varied. We went to the resort for dinner, and the earth moved for us! The first tremor was a little one, similar to a truck going past a house. We did not recognise it, but the second tremor left no doubt that we experienced our first earthquake. Even the staff at the resort looked worried, and the Admiral went outside to check if the trees were ok. But that was it, and we had a lovely dinner (although expensive for Indonesia).
Next day, we had a look at Lubuhan Bajo. It is quite a nice town, and it could be the next big tourist thing in that area (“gateway to the dragons”). We found an internet cafe... This explains the long delays between postings. We moved the boat closer to the venue for the welcome dinner, and rested. Next morning, we got some fuel, and we got water from the town. There are shops with water filtration equipment, and for 20 l water, we paid 6,000 rupiahs. It was quite a bit of work: take the dinghi to the jetty, around a fence, along a breakwater wall, through some back yards, across the street, and there it was. It is a lot easier with empty containers...
To be continued
Rosi & Mike
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