Location:Komodo, Indonesia
Friday, August 12, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
If you are not living on the edge you are taking up too much space
I'm just back on solid land after 8 days on a dive boat in the middle of the Flores Sea. The route circumambulated the Komodo Natl. park, a huge area over 2000 sq km near Timor, some 1000 km east of Bali. The boat, called the Jaya is a wooden sailboat made in Indonesia that spends half the year in Timor and the rest of the year in the Similin Islands of Thailand. The crew are all from Sulawesi, and came from long lines of fishermen and pirates (literally their ancestors used to pirate Dutch boats coming to and from the Spice Islands), and they have a bit of pirate still in them). This was not a luxury cruise, but a bunch of hard core scuba nuts with a big boat. The dive crew, on the other hand was made up of English, Scottish, Australian, and Hungarian dive masters who all knew the waters well. They are all in their late 30s and spend their lives chasing the best diving in the world. Like nomads with a wetsuit and mask. They are all. Very accomplished divers who travel all over the world. I felt really fortunate to find them. The diving was wild, and probably some of the best in and ocean. Every day we dove with dozens of White tip sharks, giant Manta Rays, and literally billions of fish. There were so many fish that at times it was like being in an overcrowded aquarium. It was not for the feint of heart either. On an average dive we could go down to 15-25 meters and then swim into the current. only to get sucked along the tops of the reefs at 4-6 knots, literally flying by and with the marine life. The strong currents carry massive plankton with brings the fish, and the fish bring the predators. Some of the most beautiful things were not the largest, though, with tiny marine animals like nudibranches (soft sea slugs) and lots of other little critters. Granted, it was a bit tough to see them while being pulled along by the currents.
Oh yes, and the title of this blog is the living philosophy of Shannon, probably the best and most fearless diver I have ever met, and who I had the pleasure of spending 18 hours under the sea with. He has suggested that I next dive the reefs off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, where you can dive the deep currents where he saw over 100 hammer head and tiger sharks in one 50 min dive.
Shannon's dive briefings, before each dive mapping the site, the currents and emergency plans. Dingies circled overhead on each dive incase anyone got separated and had to surface alone in the currents.
an early morning (6:30am) dive briefing before castle rock.
The Jaya at full sail. Most of the time the conditions were not right for sailing, so we motored through the islands.
Coming back from the coast in rough seas.
The dive deck on the boat. It is out filled for about 16 divers
The only place on the boat to hang out in the shade.... for 16 people for a week. Luckily we were all exhausted most of the time from the diving.
Calm seas and hot sun were sometimes the rule, though hot hot was always happening. At night it was cold, this being winter in the Indian Ocean.
Castle Rock, a typical dive site. We would dive along the submerged landforms and over the reef. The Flores Sea has some of the highest diversity of marine life on the planet.
P' Nok, our Thai cook, was always bringing up tasty and spicy dishes. I'm not sure where or how she got all the fresh food in Labuanbajo.
Sunrise on the boat at 6:00 AM. There are almost exactly 12 hours of day and night this close to the equator.
Sunset in the harbor (if you could call it that) of Komodo Island.
IR 5,000,000 fines for violating the rules in Komodo park.
A view from Rincon Island of the bay and the Jaya in the distance.
This dragon is eyeing me up for dinner.
Resting dragon. They can eat up to 40kg of food in one meal.
It was the mating season in dragon land and this large (and full, from the looks of his belly) dragon is harassing the female, who wanted nothing to do with him. He was clearly irritated, so we kept a few meters back. The local park rangers used large sticks to whack the dragons on the head if they came too close to anyone.
Our two local rangers with their sticks.
Local fishermen from Timor selling pearls to us on the boat for $10-20 a strand.
Not a real Komodo dragon, but it could have been mine for only IR 2,000,000
Oh yes, and the title of this blog is the living philosophy of Shannon, probably the best and most fearless diver I have ever met, and who I had the pleasure of spending 18 hours under the sea with. He has suggested that I next dive the reefs off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, where you can dive the deep currents where he saw over 100 hammer head and tiger sharks in one 50 min dive.
Shannon's dive briefings, before each dive mapping the site, the currents and emergency plans. Dingies circled overhead on each dive incase anyone got separated and had to surface alone in the currents.
an early morning (6:30am) dive briefing before castle rock.
The Jaya at full sail. Most of the time the conditions were not right for sailing, so we motored through the islands.
Coming back from the coast in rough seas.
The dive deck on the boat. It is out filled for about 16 divers
The only place on the boat to hang out in the shade.... for 16 people for a week. Luckily we were all exhausted most of the time from the diving.
Calm seas and hot sun were sometimes the rule, though hot hot was always happening. At night it was cold, this being winter in the Indian Ocean.
Castle Rock, a typical dive site. We would dive along the submerged landforms and over the reef. The Flores Sea has some of the highest diversity of marine life on the planet.
P' Nok, our Thai cook, was always bringing up tasty and spicy dishes. I'm not sure where or how she got all the fresh food in Labuanbajo.
Sunrise on the boat at 6:00 AM. There are almost exactly 12 hours of day and night this close to the equator.
Sunset in the harbor (if you could call it that) of Komodo Island.
IR 5,000,000 fines for violating the rules in Komodo park.
A view from Rincon Island of the bay and the Jaya in the distance.
This dragon is eyeing me up for dinner.
Resting dragon. They can eat up to 40kg of food in one meal.
It was the mating season in dragon land and this large (and full, from the looks of his belly) dragon is harassing the female, who wanted nothing to do with him. He was clearly irritated, so we kept a few meters back. The local park rangers used large sticks to whack the dragons on the head if they came too close to anyone.
Our two local rangers with their sticks.
Local fishermen from Timor selling pearls to us on the boat for $10-20 a strand.
Not a real Komodo dragon, but it could have been mine for only IR 2,000,000
Location:somewhere in the Flores Sea
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Labuan Bajo
My boat leaves in an hour so I have time for one little post from Labuanbajo, the small and quaint fishing village on the edge of the Flores Sea. These islands are a few hundred miles from Bali but a century apart. The main attractions here are Komodo Dragons, huge carnivorous lizards, and the diving. There is also the now famous cave called Flores where the possible new dwarf subspecies of genus homo was discovered a few years ago dating to the Pleistocene and earlier. The local people have lore about little people roaming the forest, but little is known beyond that. We do know that Indonesia was home to many early species of of homo (think Java-man).
The bay is idyllic and serene with great sunsets. I have only been here two days, but its kind of charming. The biggest town, Labuanbajo has a few thousand people and tourists are just discovering its charm. Yesterday I rode a motorcycle into the interior on disintegrating roads and trough mountains full of switchback curves. Last night I could hardly move from the ride; my body was beat. I saw some lovely little towns and lots of rice fields, as well a cacao groves, smiling people and tons of little kids who all greeted me with enthusiasm. Anyway, before getting on the boat here's a few pictures.
Hey, it's a boat called the KMP! Must be mine.
View from the hotel of the serene little bay
Mountains, and more.
Small kitten sleeping in my shoe at the local "bar" as it is. They have a good soundtrack and fabulous homemade ginger ale (fresh ginger, mint, lime, and mineral water.
My main form of transport and torture. Comes with helmet.
Small farming villages in the interior of Flores..... It's dry here, but they bring water from the mountains in complex hand dug canals. This looks like very hard work.
A typical warung in this seaside town.
OK, heading for the boat. More when I get back next week....
The bay is idyllic and serene with great sunsets. I have only been here two days, but its kind of charming. The biggest town, Labuanbajo has a few thousand people and tourists are just discovering its charm. Yesterday I rode a motorcycle into the interior on disintegrating roads and trough mountains full of switchback curves. Last night I could hardly move from the ride; my body was beat. I saw some lovely little towns and lots of rice fields, as well a cacao groves, smiling people and tons of little kids who all greeted me with enthusiasm. Anyway, before getting on the boat here's a few pictures.
Hey, it's a boat called the KMP! Must be mine.
View from the hotel of the serene little bay
Mountains, and more.
Small kitten sleeping in my shoe at the local "bar" as it is. They have a good soundtrack and fabulous homemade ginger ale (fresh ginger, mint, lime, and mineral water.
My main form of transport and torture. Comes with helmet.
Small farming villages in the interior of Flores..... It's dry here, but they bring water from the mountains in complex hand dug canals. This looks like very hard work.
A typical warung in this seaside town.
OK, heading for the boat. More when I get back next week....
Location:Indian Ocean
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Bali Days
Ok, I'm remiss on posting to my blog, despite best intentions. It's been a long but exciting last 10 of so days. Bali is a paradise, but it comes with a cost, for sure, that affects both the people and the place. There's a clash between rampant development and traditional people and a clear impact on the local ecology. There are 240 million people in Indonesia, close to the population of the US, and there are 17,OOO islands. 120 million of those people live on the Island of Java in three huge cities, the largest being Jakarta. There are some other big cities, but nothing compares to Java. Just as a measure of the growth in wealth here, Indonesia is currently importing 800,000 motorbikes a month. That's almost 10 million a year. Asia is ascendant, but its not all good.
Bali has 2.5 million people, but many a clustered in a few cities near the coast, and the interior is made up mostly of smaller villages where people are closely related and farming, religion, and landscapes are intertwined. Each house has a temple where people daily make offerings to their ancestors. The temples are always in the NW corner of the compound and are large and elaborate with several shrines and altars. Each rice field, owned by a family also has a temple in the field. Each village has a much larger temple complex, also spatially located to the north (if you are on the southern side of the island, the import point is that it must be towards the mountain). These are used for community and larger ceremonies which are frequent (more than one a month). There are also much larger temple complexes located at prominent points like at the base of the mountains and by the sea. These are more pilgrimage destinations for events, or just when people can get to them. All these different layers are intertwined and have related meanings. For examples, the organization of water management, allocation and labor to keep the rice-production system in place intimately tied to the religious order and hierarchy. There's a good book by Stephen Lansing called "Priests and Programmers: Technologies of Power in the Engineered Landscape of Bali" that goes into much more detail.
Anyway, heres some pictures from my visits to friends houses in Bali, some household temples, and some larger ones. At the end are a couple pictures from my few days by the beach, surfing. Bali has some of the best waves in the world, so this was not to be missed. Next, I'll post on my trip to Komodo and Flores, wonderful islands to the east of Bali and centuries away. As I write I'm sitting in a rustic cafe in Labuanbajo, a small funks fishing village overlooking a stunning bay. It's hot and noisy and full of strange smells.
Sign at the entrance to Pura Tirta Empul temple complex. Don't go there if you are mad.
Temple in the lake
Preparing food for Kunidan, a large festival held every six months. All the food is for offerings at the community temple.
Young performer from the Barong Dance.
Rice fields on Bali, with mountains to the north.
More rice, this time by Kendran the little village where I rented a house.
Cave shrine to Ganesh, with traditional Balinese offerings
Perfect surf, Kuta, Bali (tourist hell with great waves)
Bali has 2.5 million people, but many a clustered in a few cities near the coast, and the interior is made up mostly of smaller villages where people are closely related and farming, religion, and landscapes are intertwined. Each house has a temple where people daily make offerings to their ancestors. The temples are always in the NW corner of the compound and are large and elaborate with several shrines and altars. Each rice field, owned by a family also has a temple in the field. Each village has a much larger temple complex, also spatially located to the north (if you are on the southern side of the island, the import point is that it must be towards the mountain). These are used for community and larger ceremonies which are frequent (more than one a month). There are also much larger temple complexes located at prominent points like at the base of the mountains and by the sea. These are more pilgrimage destinations for events, or just when people can get to them. All these different layers are intertwined and have related meanings. For examples, the organization of water management, allocation and labor to keep the rice-production system in place intimately tied to the religious order and hierarchy. There's a good book by Stephen Lansing called "Priests and Programmers: Technologies of Power in the Engineered Landscape of Bali" that goes into much more detail.
Anyway, heres some pictures from my visits to friends houses in Bali, some household temples, and some larger ones. At the end are a couple pictures from my few days by the beach, surfing. Bali has some of the best waves in the world, so this was not to be missed. Next, I'll post on my trip to Komodo and Flores, wonderful islands to the east of Bali and centuries away. As I write I'm sitting in a rustic cafe in Labuanbajo, a small funks fishing village overlooking a stunning bay. It's hot and noisy and full of strange smells.
Sign at the entrance to Pura Tirta Empul temple complex. Don't go there if you are mad.
Temple in the lake
Preparing food for Kunidan, a large festival held every six months. All the food is for offerings at the community temple.
Young performer from the Barong Dance.
Rice fields on Bali, with mountains to the north.
More rice, this time by Kendran the little village where I rented a house.
Cave shrine to Ganesh, with traditional Balinese offerings
Perfect surf, Kuta, Bali (tourist hell with great waves)
Friday, July 15, 2011
My new home
After four nights in small guesthouses in Ubud I was able to move into a small house in a village called Kenderan about 15 min to the north of the bustle. The house is located just outside the village in the rice fields. I comes complete with pool, staff of two during the week, and sweeping views of the paddies. The staff does come on weekends too so that they can leave offerings to appease the spirits that inhabit the land. This has to be done everyday.
The house is pretty cute from both the inside and outside. It's spartan by US standards, but perfect for the tropics. I have rented a small motorbike to commute between here and Ubud, where there is yoga, food, people, and internet. So far, I have ridden the bike about 300 km exploring the countryside and meeting Balinese, who are always friendly and willing to talk to a stranger, even if we can't always speak the same language. I would guess that about 1 in 5 people can speak a little English.
The house is pretty cute from both the inside and outside. It's spartan by US standards, but perfect for the tropics. I have rented a small motorbike to commute between here and Ubud, where there is yoga, food, people, and internet. So far, I have ridden the bike about 300 km exploring the countryside and meeting Balinese, who are always friendly and willing to talk to a stranger, even if we can't always speak the same language. I would guess that about 1 in 5 people can speak a little English.
Location:Kenderan, Bali
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