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Published: September 2nd 2009
We finished our scuba certification on Nusa Lembongan after 4 very successful dives. We were all a bit nervous on our way out to the very first dive - Manta point and Sam Fuchs (henceforth known as SamF) and I were trying to get over a bit of seasickness . As we entered the water a series of mishaps made me wonder if we should test our luck any further with diving. Upon entering the water Sam's mask strap snapped and we all watched his snorkel flutter to the bottom of the ocean, meanwhile SamF's mask and one fin fell off and I was wondering what the consequences of throwing up into my regulator would be. We persevered and the minute we got to the bottom all worries evaporated. 2 Giant Mantas floated peacefully by us and we started our very first dive in which we saw about 10 Mantas, many Nemo and Dori fish, and a whole aquarium's worth of fish I need to learn the names of. We did 3 more dives off of the coast of Lembongan and now we are officially certified!
We left Lembongan, took a very wet boat-ride back to the main island of
Bali and drove up to Ubud "The Cultural Center of Bali." We visited the Sacred Monkey Forest and were almost attacked several times by the angry monkeys. I thought monkeys were my favorite animal, but I think I might have to reconsider...they are viscous! Our second day in Ubud we met 2 girls from Utah and found a driver named Nunu who drove us around the surrounding area for the day visiting temples, waterfalls and lakes.
Our third day we wandered around the Ubud area, through vibrant green rice paddies in the surrounding villages. On our walk we happened upon a huge cock fight. We were definitely the only non-Indonesians there and upon closer look I realized I was very much the only female around (including the animals). I remembered reading somewhere that women weren't allowed at cock fights (not that they would want to be there!) so I thought we should probably move on, but the Indonesian men just laughed and beckoned us to join. They tie long razors to the rooster's stronger leg which makes for some really gruesome fights. We had no hope to blend in and at any given moment there was at least one
set of eyes staring at us. The Sams tried a few times to ask how to bet but they were greeted with confused looks and "no inglis" responses. After a few fights someone attempted to bet with SamF, much to everyone's amusement SamF's rooster was slaughtered and the man came over to high five us and jokingly grabbed my hand and made fake kissy noises which the crowd thought was hilarious...we felt a bit like the side show to the cock fights and decided to move on before they turned their razor taloned birds on the 3 foreigners.
We found our awesome driver Nunu again and had him take us from Ubud to the Coastal area of Amed in the Northeast of Bali where we are currently hanging out on the black sand beaches and enjoying some of the best snorkeling we have ever seen. I’ll try to get some pictures uploaded so you can see where we are. Hope all is well at home!
~Caitlin
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Michael Lister
non-member comment
It sounds like you guys are having so much fun. Super Jealous. Miss you, Hope you have a fantastic Birthday, Caitlin, where ever you are :)