Banyan Tree

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Great time too with Paula and Arthur such a lovely size, views and lots going on, its the start of the festival there soon & look to be some good stuff on, including Black Watch which we saw in Sydney and was fabulous].

18th Feb
Just another day left then we will be flying home but what a finale, I am sat in our 'colonnial' villa in the Banjon Tree in Binton absolutely beautiful, wonderful attention to detail and service. Great beaches, pools and food overlooking the South China Sea and it is very hot but the breeze off the sea makes it feel comfortable. Have spent time in our Jacuzzi, swimming, a walk and a paddle on the beach , eating out looking over amazing coasts. This afternoon we went to the mangrove forest not far from here, it was really interesting. Indonesia has the biggest amount of them in the world hugely important for the environment and they seem to be managing well now, no deforestation allowed now in the groves. We went out on little motor boats only a few to a boat as it was low tide but the best time to go as we could see the root systems extremely well. Saw a monkey digging for crabs, monitor lizards and a few yellow banded snakes asleep in the branches above our heads. Local fisherman were about cooking local clams on fires .that they use for bait. Came across one man fully dressed in the middle of the river diving for shell fish, difficult to see him our guide said they had to be vigilant. Really pleased we came out of our hotel complex to see the mangroves they are very beautiful and Steve has taken lots of photo’s of the four main species.

19th Feb
Sad to leave such a beautiful place but excited to be going home and seeing the family, really missed them. It has been such an adventure and we have had the most amazing time. It difficult to put into words a summary of our trip but I think spending time with Mari & Graeme was really special and seeing old friends and catching up, meeting up with Karens’s friends and hearing their stories and all the fantastic scenery,oh and the trees and also actually the sounds which we have’nt captured but were amazing, cicadas different cadence depending where we were and all the wonderful bird songs and the stars.

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