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Published: January 1st 2014
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Scott arrived at our hotel in Kuta and joined us in the pool within minutes!If taking a 30 hour flight with a baby wasn't crazy enough, then surely taking her diving in Komodo was! OK, she wasn't technically diving but she joined in with all of the other activities on the boat. It was a full day out on the boat from 8am until 4pm and I was worried it would be tough for her. Where and how would she nap for one thing?
As it turned out, the boat was the perfect spot for her. The cooling breeze, rocking motion, and the constant engine noise meant a guaranteed nap on the way out in the morning and on the way back in during the late afternoon. As it was almost a 2-hour journey each way, she got some great naps in. Scott and I would take turns diving while the other one stayed on the boat with Kyla, usually doing one or two dives a day. Kyla was a hit with the boat crew and got lots of attention, especially from Alex. It turned out he'd looked after 3 kids at an early age. Still, we felt too nervous to leave her with anyone but ourselves. We had some nice dives, especially at
Sunset beer in Kuta!Manta Point. You can guess what the star attraction was there!
In the evenings we would get ready in our lovely air conditioned room before heading out to one of a couple restaurants with cushions for Kyla to crawl around on. It was very hot and humid so Kyla would get overheated quite quickly as she's so active. It was a case of eat as fast as you can and then head back to the coolness of the air conditioned room.
On our final night we finally made it up to Paradise Bar for sunset. We ran into Gregg's wife (owner of Dive Komodo) and their 2 1/2 year old girl. There were quite a few expats there with young kids, including a 4-month old baby. It was fun to catch up with her as the last time we were in Komodo, she was pregnant!
After five days of diving, it was time to move on. We'd planned to go to Gili Trawangen to just hang out on the beach, but after seeing how well Kyla took to the boat, we decided that more diving might actually work out better than beach time. We threw away our
Arriving at the little town of Labuanbajo, Komodo.flight ticket to Lombok and bought a last minute flight to Sulawesi instead, right there at a tiny kiosk just outisde the airport! I guess you really can travel spontaneously with a baby, and maybe that's the easiest way?!
We had a few hours until our flight took off. We tried to check our bags in as we were sick of hauling them around in the heat but found that the desk wasn't going to be open for a while. There was just one room with no fans and lots of people and it looked as though we'd be stuck there until the desk opened! Kyla had been a trooper and had sat quietly in the Ergo baby carrier the whole time we were standing buying tickets in the hot sun. Poor thing was probably melting, and indeed I felt the outside of the baby carrier and it was wet. Wet?! Oh no! A leaking diaper? Upon a sniff check, we quickly realized that it was actually watery poop that had leaked out of her diaper, onto the baby carrier and all over Kyla and myself! We looked around and verified that it really was just one big crowded
Good morning! Our hotel served us breakfast on this patio every morning.room - no bathrooms even. There was only one thing to do: set up a changing mat right there on the floor and change her into new clothes and a diaper, using baby wet wipes to clean her (and me!) up as much as possible. Kyla wasn't impressed at this prospect and was quickly in full on screaming fit mode. Scott wrestled her down while I changed and cleaned her. We became the star attraction. Everyone in the airport formed a big circle around us and watched, fascinated. I'm guessing it's not every day that they witnessed a western baby getting completely changed while throwing a fit in the tiny airport of Labuanbajo!
A few hot and sweaty hours later we were boarding our flight and on our way to Lembeh and Bunaken for more diving!
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At Last!
At Last I'm getting to read about your trip to Indonesia. Keep them coming!!