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Published: October 26th 2005
Transport!!?
This is as close as you can get to a limmo on the Gili IslandsBack to civilization after 15 days away from internet access and all things related... It's hard to know where to begin as the last two weeks have seen us travel from Bali to Lombok, to the Gili Islands, to Komodo, Flores and Seraya. The beaches and landscapes of Indonesia are out of this world and words cannot do them justice, except to say that all the usual expressions of stunning, magnificent etc spring to mind.
Our journey to the Gili Islands off the coast of Lombok started at 6am in Kuta, Bali, from where we caught a bus up to Padangbaai. We sat on the ferry there for an hour or more in the scorching sun waiting for it to leave and then 3 hours later arrived in the port of Lombok to catch another bus up the coast to Sengiggi. No lunch or anything substantial had been consumed by us at this time so by 3pm when we got on to a smaller boat to head for the islands, we were feeling rather faint. The swells were really big too, and an hour and a half later we were so glad to get on to dry land. Gili Air
Gili Air
Daily storm brewing over Lombok is a small island and is very arid and sparse, like many of the Indonesian islands we visited following this. We took a ride on a horse cart (the only form of transport on the island) and found somewhere to stay. By 6pm we were ravenous and ordered dinner, only to have to wait over and hour for it to arrive on our table - at least you know the food is freshly prepared! We spent three days on Gili Air. Took a trip on a glass bottom boat and saw lots of turtles. Snorkeling was good too. Keith ate fresh fish every night for 30 000 Rp - less than 2 pounds for a whole fish! We moved to the larger island next door, Gili Trawangan to be nearer the action for diving and better beaches for swimming. On arrival the locals met us with the usual cries of "transport, somewhere to stay, magic mushrooms, ganja, where you from?" and in answer to the last question we were met yet again with strange looks and befuddlement that we could be from Africa and have white skin. We did find out that one of the Dive Shops on the island
Check the upper lip!
Taking a rest after fighting strong currents. Great snorkeling in Gilis. is owned by a South African by the name of Rob, originally from East London. So after finding a place to stay we walked along the beach and found Rob and signed up for a dive the next morning. We were up early the next morning and met Ong, our Indonesian dive master. We were taken out to sea, just the two of us and had a great dive at Shark's point, where yes, to Keith's utter joy, we saw sharks - three white tip reef sharks. Lisa bought a t-shirt to advertise the dive shop for Rob and Keith came away with a few ideas of his own regarding starting up a business in the dive industry!
The next few days were spent at the beach. Lisa made friends with the local kids and had trouble trying to swim peacefully as they all wanted to swim with her. The little ones can barely walk and are already throwing themselves into the waves on a beach with very strong currents - exhausting! We were missing some entertainment so decided to watch a dvd one evening. Little huts on stilts are erected along the beach and you choose a dvd
Who you looking at?!
One of Lisa's mates on Gili Trawangan and watch it on your own TV set in the hut! All you have to do is buy dinner. It was really strange watching a movie with the sounds of the ocean just behind you! At sunset we walked round to the west of the island which was really sparse and very, very dry. Each day we would see the rain clouds over Lombok, and yet not a drop of rain would reach the Gilis.
The next part of our trip was well worth the time we spent doing endless calculations as to whether our budget could stretch to accommodate it (they have recently increased their prices by US$50 due to the oil price hikes). Eventually we signed up for the Hunting Komodo by Camera tour with Perama, a local tour company. This has been one of the highlights of our travels. We spent three days, two nights on a big boat with 16 tourists and 8 Perama staff, sailing west from Lombok to Komodo and finally docking at Labuan Bajo on the west coast of Flores. This is a trip we will never forget. We left Gili Trawangan at 7am for Bangsal Harbour on Lombok and then caught
Child's play
Lisa supervising activities a bus all the way across Lombok to the North east where the boat was docked. On the way we went through a huge rain storm and the bus we were in just missed colliding in to a stationary van as a motorcyclist was thrown off his bike and skidded across the wet road. Everyone in the bus was pretty shaken up, and we were really glad to get on the boat and off the manic roads. We met the Perama staff and set sail for small island which they called Perama Resort - this is hilarious because there is only one ramshackle hut on the beach, where we sheltered from the rain and an old volleyball net. We then spent the afternoon snorkeling, playing volleyball and then listening to some local Indonesian songs which the staff performed accompanied by guitars, tambourines and drums.Tuna fish was put on the braai with corn on the cob for pudding? Back on board the boat, we crashed in to bed in our little cabin and the boat sailed all night. We arrived the next day at Satonde island and had an early morning swim in a huge salt lake. Most of the day
Just like home!
Keith doing his usual tasks was then spent sailing and it was awesome when a school of dolphins came swimming and jumping alongside our boat. The guys decided to trawl some fishing line and managed to catch two barracuda.
We met some awesome people aboard our boat - Martin and Michel - young French Canadians who were the party animals on the boat and kept trying to feed everyone Arak;. Ross and Keith from NZ who tried patiently to teach us a rather complicated card game; the two Japanese Sahoshin and Shinshinh who kept us all in stitches with their quirky comments said in broken English. The second night was a little more rowdy and when we finally got to sleep we were rudely awaken by a huge rat running over us!!! The next morning we trekked on Komodo island and saw several dragons. Snorkeling at Red beach was really something - the tropical fish were three times the size they usually are - our dive instructor on Flores later explained that this is due to the Wallace line, where the two oceans meet and conditions are perfect for fish.... IT is called Red Beach because the sand is red from the bright red
Komodo Dragon
Hope he's eaten! coral that is broken up. We docked at Labuan Bajo in Flores on or lats day and came back to the boat that evening for a farewell party. It was quite sad saying goodbye to everyone as we had had a really good time.
Our first day in Flores was spent on a dive boat at one of the easier dive sites in this area. The area is renown for the strong currents which reach up to 8 knots! It was the first time we had dived with long 5mm wets suits and steel tanks so the first dive was quite difficult, but the coral and sea life was truly magnificent. We ate lunch on the boat docked just off a deserted beach with white sand and turquoise water. There are so many islands scattered round Flores, and so many untouched beaches. We headed for Seraya island the next day, an hour by boat from the port and spent 4 glorious days marooned on the island feeling a lot like Robinson Crusoe. The scenery was out of this world and the sunsets took your breath away. We spent the days snorkeling and swimming in the crystal clear water and
Red Beach, Komodo
Another tough day in the office reading lots of books. There are jut 9 bamboo huts along a powdery white sand beach. There is light via a generator from 6 to 10pm and a bucket to use for washing yourself when the fresh water is pumped at 6pm. You "flush" the squat loo by throwing buckets of sea water down it! So simple and yet is everything you need to survive comfortable in paradise. We didn't wear shoes for 5 days and wandered along the sand to the dining area for meals. We learnt that life is really laid back in Indo, even more so on a tiny island so meals took about and hour and a half to be prepared, but luckily they were worth the wait! Keith wad forbidden to order chicken or duck, as these were running around the back yard and on the menu it suggests you order them a day before! There was no way Lisa was going to be on the island when one of the poultry met their maker! The goats took a liking to us and Keith fed them leaves from the trees whilst Lisa fed them water from her water bottle! We are such suckers.
Last
Ahoy!
Perama boat. Notice how barren the islands are this far east. night we explored the island and did some rock climbing round a cliff in to the ocean to try and get back to the huts before dark. Had a night swim in the sea which was a dusky pink colour from the sunset. It was hard to leave this morning. Our descriptions and the photos we took don't do the island and surrounds any justice - the true life scene is hard to paint in words...
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Ali
Ali Watters
I'm looking out for you guys :)
I'm in Gili Trawangan also (still) - not sure if you are but I'll look out for you. I didn't get to go to Komodo - real shame after seeing your photos. Hope the rest of your travels go as well as those above. Wierd - I was sitting in the same balcony in Melaka (Travellers Lodge) around the same time as your photo as well...