Total Eclipse

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March 10th 2016

Published: March 15th 2016

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ATTS

Another stunning Sulwesi sunset

Ampana

Departing Tentana at 630am was inspired even if it did rain, as traffic was light as we climbed down out of the mountains, the roads were much better along the coast and the views were often stunning. We arrived at Marina Cottages around 11am and checked in before arranging our ongoing boat travel to the Togean Islands.

The day was hot and muggy and I spent the afternoon having a nap and reading a book about Nazis before having Nasi surya goreng for dinner washed down by many Bintang besar. I slept well before being dragged out of sleep at 430am by the call to prayer which went for a full 40 minutes, the faithful must have had trouble getting up this morning.

Vegetable omelette for breakfast and then the full solar eclipse began, unlike yesterday the weather was clear so we were able to watch the whole event, it was, to say the least extremely cool. The full solar eclipse lasts about two hours from start to end. It seems that there is dedicated band of people who travel all over the world to see full solar eclipses Sulwesi is full of nerds like me at the moment.

The covered bridge

Tentana

Next it was time to test out my new snorkeling gear so I sunscreened up and paddled of the beach to see the coral my new gear worked like a treat and I saw a variety of species including a clam. In the evening it is pleasant to sit near the beach and watch the stunning sunsets.

Today we packed up and headed down to the dock to catch the speed boat to Wakai, the main village on the Togean Islands, the boat was small, enclosed and cramped. I thought I hit the jackpot when I scored the front seat next to the driver, what a mistake that was, as the speed boat slammed in to every wave my spine felt like it would shatter and I couldn't feel my toes. The trip was reasonable short taking just over an hour, we did sea some flying fish which was cool.

From Wakai we changed boats for the one hour trip to the Fadhilla Resort motoring slowly through the islands the Togean's certainly are pretty. Our resort looks like something on a postcard, we disembark on a long jetty connected to our own island and are greeted by