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Puspita Sari is the name of the wooden boat about 40 meters long that will take us to the Togean islands, it used to be a metal ferry but now it changed its route which from the way it sounded when we asked seems to do it every now and then. Alex the owner of Melati Hotel assured us it is safe and not overcrowded. When we arrived at the port it's like a fiesta lots of people in the dock, we hopped in the boat, Lali showing us where our cabin is, it's small and a bit smelly and the crew who lives there still has their clothes there, they gave us the key to the room and they took some of their things out. The hallway is loaded with stuff, a king sized bed, a cabinet drawer and a big freezer! to take to the island where there is only 6 hours of electricity powered by a generator. There are 7 of us total gringos,it took ages for us to leave, I went in the cabin and though the fan is working it's stiffling hot. I watched a movie in my netbook and then I felt the boat moving,
great! just one hour late. Sleeping for us was a struggle it's so hot. The next day I asked the gringos they too have uncomfortable night in the regular beds outside, the boiler is so hot they have to sleep in the front of the boat for some cool air.
Around 7am we arrived at the 1st port and we stayed there for an hour, unloading stuff, it's like a fiesta in this small village everytime a boat arrives, I went for a quick walk out, people staring at me when I bring my camera out. Then off we go again to the 2nd stop this time not too long a wait, the 3rd stop is Melange island where 3 of the gringos got off to stay, the Argentine/Spanish couple and a German dude, they will stay at Lestari , already we see their boat waiting to pick them up. We saw dolphins on the way here and we thought also we might have encountered a whale as we saw a tail not fins at one point. One more stop at this village, then Wakai our stop , the locals started making conversations with me, asking me all about
my bracelets, how much they are and if I would like to exchange with them, I politely declined.We finally arrived! it took 14 hours, the wooden boat is so slow, but the good thing is it was smooth sailing the sea was relatively calm.
We got picked up by Pudin at the port, I can see the Paradise and Blue Marlin pick up boats are nicer than ours, they have a roof we don't! The German guy with us offered to buy us arak, the local booze here sold in plastic bags so before we left Wakai we bought our booze. The boat ride was about 30 minutes to Kadidiri , the beach was ok not spectacular, Lestari is at the corner next to the Blue marlin. We have individual rooms, we are in the new cottages so it's 100,000 rupiahs per night, the old cottages are 75,000 per person. I chose the one with a big bed and a hammock out front. It's low season so it's ok to have one person per room, there is a sign that says each room is for 2 persons normally. We got served lunch and then Tomas went to snorkel I
tried to sleep but it's so noisy, the kids are screaming, there is s small community of people living here and they were picking coconut fruits behind my cottage and I can hear the thud as the fruits fall off from the tree and roll down a slope under my cottage.
Sunset was good. Walked towards the Blue Marlin resort to get better photos.In the eve we started drinking the "arak". Fabian and I went to the Blue Marlin to buy sprite, they have no change for big notes I don't know why. Their clientele is on the upscale side am sure they spend lots, anyway, the arak in plastic we poured into glasses and mixed it with sprite, it has a subtle sweetness to it the arak, it's from palm trees Pudin told us. After dinner we bought more sprite and Fabian the German and I joined a small group in the beach a mix of locals and gringos playing and listening to guitar and singing, the locals are either divers or workers in the resort, one Italian girl is married to a local and a French girl from Reunion works as a dive master for Paradise resort.
There are 8 people here now at Lestari, 3 German dudes, 1 Polish girl, me, Tomas the Slovenian and a young English couple Stevie and Matt. Everyone is a solo traveller apart from the couple, good mix of people 3 of them are repeat visitors here. Lestari does day trips to various islands for free and tomorrow they plan to visit Karina beach. My opinion Malenghe has better scenery, they have a lagoon, we saw it when we docked there , there is only one place to stay there also called Lestari, we might come and have a look in a couple days..
After the arak is done its time to go to bed, electricity runs out at 11pm, I had a pleasant sleep but woke up to rain, and drizzled most of the morning, unpredictable tropical weather. When the rain let up we got ready to do a snorkelling trip to Karina beach, good thing about Lestari is day trips/excursions are free. I went to Paradise resort to rent snorkel they are out of it so I came to Black Marlin and rented for the day and it costs 15,000 rupiahs very good price. The boat trip to
Karina beach took 30 minutes we passed lots of small islets with no beach and a stilt village in one island, the water at some areas are so clear crystal blue it's amazing! Karina beach is good for snorkelling, nice corals and lots of different fishes, I saw crocodile fish, a few porcupine fish among other things, some in our group saw lobsters, Tomas and Fabian tried spear fishing but did not catch a thing. When I got tired of snorkelling, Lars borrowed my gear while I climb uphill with Laura and Yuseef to see the lake in the middle os the island, tough to get there but nice view if you find gaps in the trees, it's salt water apparently we did not swim but Yuseef said he swam here before and there are lots of jelly fish but lost their stings.
We were all hungry and 1:30pm Pudin our boatman is still spearfishing, not even checking if we are hungry or not, then another boat came from Lestari with our lunch but they did not serve lunch instead they went for a swim, so we all stood up and set up ourselves and ate lunch. Yuseef went
spear fishing as well and caught 2 coral fish and they grilled it. I went to snorkel again and saw a moray eel, cool. We were all tired when we came back from the trip then an hour later I was summoned to get ready for night fishing to fish for dinner, me and one of the German guys went with Aka the head of the family at Lestari and went line fishing, I caught the 1st fish and its about 3 feet big yes! Then the German caught 3 and I no more. But good enough, we have fish for dinner, I should add that the sunset is gorgeous lots of colors. We ate the caught fish for dinner, Tomas wasn't feeling well after the snorkel trip so went to bed early so more fish for us to eat!
The next day started sunny then clouds rolled in and started to drizzle, I went to snorkel just in front of the resort and it was good! I saw a cuttle fish about 2 feet long and changes shades and colors and patterns, really cool I followed it for 15 minutes then I got tired of it and went
on. Then a barracuda came out and seem to follow me so I swam back to the shore. Then we realized there will be a snorkel trip today to the coral reefs nearby so I went with them, snorkelling there is good, lots of colorful fish and corals but the current is so strong we all got tired swimming against it, the English couple came back to the boat first then the Polish girl then the German then me all in the span of 30 minutes and we all sat in the boat waiting for Pudin to get back from is spearfishing, the sun is so intense we have to cover our selves. Pudin did not catch a thing as usual and when we got back the rest of them are already having lunch, we got served lunch quickly and it's 4 different types of fish, all are delicious, a barracuda, a sweet lip fish and some others, we had a very good lunch and we were all stuffed, then it's siesta time.
Went out fishing again, every evening the patriarch of the family, Aka go out to fish near the reefs and you can come if you want,
tonight the 3 german lads, me and Tomas came. The sunset is unbelievably colorful and there was a double rainbow on the opposite horizon. Tomas and Lars had the lines, so they fished while me and Fabian relax watching the sunset. We caught only 2 fish all by Lars. there is anew guest from Switzerland married to a Filipina, he stays in Olongapo whenever he is in the Philippines, where I grew up, it's good to reminisce about the old time with him, very friendly guy. Dinner was good despite the lack of fish meat unlike the last couple of days. The Polish girls bought lots of arak in the other village and so Tomas and Fabian got drunk again. I exchanged movies with Martin and then I went back to my room to watch a few of the Heroes season 2. Oh I forgot we went to the hills behind the resort to scatter toasted grated coconut meat along the limestone cliffs to entice and legendary coconut crabs. They are now endangered but we just want to see them and maybe take photos. Fabian and I climbed with Aka along with their 2 dogs and the puppy. The way
was steep and we were all wearing flip flops, we were profusely sweating when we arrived at the limestone cliffs. On the way back we had some coconut water and the dogs went for a drink in the pond. Then in the eve after dinner we went back with Tomas in tow to hopefully see them, we wore boots this time, hard trek and it rained and alas we did not see them we went inside the caves we found some empty coconut shells meaning the crabs had been there but no sign of them. We saw a crab! but a different variety. We came back disappointed. I heard commotions that night I slept and when I checked to investigate what was going on, this cat sat in the corner of my room with a mouse in it's mouth! later in the day I will discover the dead mouse under my bed which I ended up having to sweep out of my room.
The next day is a lazy day, no activities planned and just chill and relax. The 3 Germans left for Gorontalo, I did not feel like going fishing for dinner so Aka went alone and caught
more fish than we normally do if we come with him. Dinner was fab and an annoying loose screw knit wit guy from Germany came, Tim is his name with English accent having been to educated at UK boarding school, his remarks does not make sense to me and is annoyingly arrogant so went to bed early to try and avoid him. Next morning we have a day trip to another island Palian, Rene the Swiss dude leaves this afternoon for Gorontalo so we went snorkelling with him, it was raining when we left but it stopped soon. The snorkel around the island is fantastic, there is a shallow wall teeming with colorful fish and also nice corals, the shallow bit is really shallow and I struggled to get back to shore after snorkelling, breaking a few corals along the way as it was not deep enough i felt so bad so i retreated to deeper water to find another way. Rene bought us Bintang beers before he left. I went fishing with the Polish girl and knit wit Tim, we caught 3 fish, Tim is an imbecile does not even know when he had a catch, even if I
told him there will be a tug on his line, so it was a miss and hit, he caught 2 though, the last one, a long needle fish when we just about to reel in the line before getting back to the resort. Sunset was once again glorious, tomorrow we leave this paradise, a bit sad to move on but we must. oh Togeans, I shall come back in the future. Word has it though that for scenery, peace and quiet, Malenghe islanad is amazing, only one homestay there also called Lestari, there is a lagoon there with a very long wooden bridge connecting the islands, really cool but we did not have time to go there it's quite time consuming, if you have time to do Togeans, stop there first before heading to Kadidiri or Bombas, saves you travel time and not backtracking when it is time to move on if your route is from Gorontalo to Ampana.
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Martha Yuliana
stunning pics!
I saw your previous blog and found you captured great moments in Indonesia, actually eastern part of Indonesia.. try to visit New Guinea as well ;) or maybe some little islands around Flores, like Waikabubak..a great places to dive especially in "Alor Sea".. happy travelling! :) PS:try to visit Java also ;)