Thursday the 7th of October CRUISE TO FLORES DAY 1; CHEAP TOUR BEST CHOICE FOR STORMY WEATHER :-)

Pick up at 10:00 hurry hurry they say...pfff, next time just tell me that I can walk to their office (which is 5 minutes away) 2 hours later for a briefing. Yes, a 5 day cruise. Well, actually you start sailing at 15:00 after a long busdrive from Sengigi to Labuhan Lombok. 2 groups (boats) with 10 people each. Normally 20 people are allowed on the boats from Kencana, but with the conditions of the next couple of days, 10 is more then enough :-) A nice enclave of single Dutchies (Erwin, Karin and me), a few locals from Sumatra, a Swedish/Icelandish couple and a Polish couple...good mix. Get you Bintangs before you jump in the bus! After leaving Labuhan harbor the sky turned dark and grey. Just be positive :-) The wind catches up and the waves became higher. Lighting and thunder started and a boat that was not that stabile. You choose the cheapest, You get the cheapest. The 1st day we didn't see a thing and it was more one big test for your body getting sea sick yes or no. I must say, not exactly what we expected, but it was an experience! Most of the time I was chatting with Erwin or Karin (couldn't stop talking). The 1st night we stopped in front of an island calledGili BolaAt 2.30 the loud roaring engin started for an early sail. We survived the first stormy day and night and it went on with raining and a rough sail. Karin and I found a good way to kill the time on the upper deck.

Friday the 8th of October CRUISE TO FLORES DAY 2; A STORMY 16 HOUR SAIL THAT FINALLY GOT ME DOWN

After the early start it took 16 hours to get to the next destination. Beautiful surroundings you might guess? Nope, rain, rain and more rain. Floating in and between the water. A visit atMoyoIsland for a 'special' trekking to a waterfall? It was more a photo shoot, and the island was not so special. The funny parts were seeing the locals floating in the only 2 life jakcets on board and the silent Polish girl that try to escape the water in the home made canoe. A calm sea for a while but in the evening it started again. So bad that I decided to lay down on the upper deck. Wrong choice, I was sea sick. Erwin was so cool to give me those lovely yellow pills so I feel better now. And a night without a roaring engine.

Saturday the 9th of October CRUISE TO FLORES DAY 3; THINGS ARE CHANGING

Another early start, this time at 05:30. Grey but some bleu dots in the sky. A snorkling trip around Gili Laba Island with cool Pufferfish, many turtles, tuna, barracuda's, unicorn fish, huge triggerfish and much more. A steep hike to the top of the island with amazing 30 degree views on the surrounding island and the turquoise reefs. This is what I expected! The reefs are everywhere. The day became better and better. Sunshine! Get the Bintangs and enjoy. Today we also stop at Komopdo Island, the orignal habitat of the famopus Komodo Dragons. They still live here. The guides try to rip you off to charge 70.000Rp for making pictures, well forget it; another chance at Rinca tomorrow. We saw 4 dragons on a 1,5 hour hike, most of them around the guesthouse and restaurant. It was not that impressive. Deer on the beach, but no Komodo's.The flying salamanders were more interesting to me. Back to our boat and funny captain for a night with thousands of flying foxes flying over from one of the islands. This is wicked shit dude, like being in an old crappy horror movie. We got some fish line from the crew and som chicken, time for some fishing competition. I was the first one to get a fish, followed by 3 other ones. A lot more and bigger fish than boat 2. But be careful when you have that crazy Polish couple on board. That guy thinks that the fishing line (including weight, hook and bait) is a lasso. The clumsy dude didn't listen and it didn't talke long before everyone left the front deck instead of getting hooked! A day full of different and amazing things, this makes me forget the boring stormy parts of the first 2 days :-) Sorry sorry sorry Jack, what a hilarious song/dance with the polish, the locals and El Capitano LOL.

Sunday the 10th of October CRUISE TO FLORES DAY 4; DRAGONS RULE, JUST AS THE CRAZY CURRENTS, WHIRLPOOLS, DREAM ISLANDS AND MORE SNORKELING

Another day for me in paradise. Sunshine to burn your skin, especially Karin's skin ;-) 'Damn, can you stop peeling you r skin off? Well, I will help you with the sunscreen'. The islands are getting more beatiful every time, one surprise after another. Snorkling at Red Beach in some currents to spot some Manta Rays? Nope,just loads of barracuda's, tuna and triggerfish. This is the best snorkling spot according to the crew. The stop at the other National Park Island called Rinca was much much better than Komodo. Loads of dragons here (from small baby's till 3 meter giants). Those babies live in the trees for the 1st 3 years of their life and can jump out of the trees is nice to know when you walk there... But, don't look up all the time, before you know there's buffalo shit between your toes! Miss Poland was the lucky one to make a bigb slide :-) The island is so beautifull with all those high palm trees, rocks and mud pools for the buffalo's (where the Komodo Dragons attack them mostly). It's fuckin' hot so no shirts for me. And today offically I had to pay money for making pictures...just say you already paid the day before at Komodo, no one checks your ticket. A 2 hour sweaty hike over the hills is the best way to prepare a refreshing dip on one of the white sandy islands. Last chance to snorkel, last change to step into those annoying Golden Crowns. Miss Poland was again to scared to jump in the water, the Candians from the other boat where definately gay with their behaviour and their pink flowers in their hair, many photo shoots in the colorful water and with the burning sun on our bodies. But no matter how much it looks like a dream, be careful...the water between those picturesque island is very dangerous. Tides coming in and out between the oceans causes strong currents, washing machines, big whirlpools etc. One place the sea looks calm and just 1 meter further you will be sucked away. All good things come to an end, also this cruise that started rough and ended perfect. The rest of the day we can spend in Labuan Bajo, is shit hole with noisy mosques and no nightlife. Everyone that joined the Kencana-boats the last couple of days went to The Lounge. Calzone and cocktails! Just for a change...noodles, rice and Bintangs every day. WHat brings tomorrow? I will try to dive again, last couple of days I didn't loose blood anymore. I will stay here with Karin, although I almost fucked up with my stupid reactions...

Monday the 11th of October DIVINE DIVING KOMODO ISLANDS, THE ADVENTURE NEVER ENDS

We spend our last night still on the boat and had to leave before 7 (this is Kencana's explanation of 5 days, 4 nights...). Well it was worth the 1.500.000 Rp. Basic, funny captain (what a character stealing my flip-flops), the condition of the boat was not too bad, good mattrasses on deck and enough tasty food. Bring sea sickness pills and good ear plugs to be sure :-) Woken up by those annoying loud singing sessions (they call it praying) of the mosques at 4am!!! You don't need an alarm clock here. Yesterday we've chosen our dive shop; Divine Divers (a Dutch owned company). Shopping around along the many dive shops has no use, they all have exact the same prices. Our instructor Maarten showed us how to cross the pier to the boat that looked more like the waves the 1st 2 days of our cruise...Welcome to Indonesia! Cruising for another 3 days between all the Komodo Islands. Sunshine, sunscreen, 2 Coke-addicts and cookies. Dive 1 was at ..... and my buddy Karin was ready for some incidents after telling her my dive history :-) Going down and my mask breakes, whohoo. I wanted to change under water with Maarten but he wanted me to go back to the surface again. This was a waste of air. The dive sites here are sooooo much better. Good temperature and visibility. Groups of big humphead fish, loads of sharks and Manta Rays all over the place! Getting used to dive in difficult conditions, because diving in Komodo is not for Open Water Divers (although they let me do everything). The 2nd dive was more sandy but stunning with thoise huge Manta Rays. Another incident; my depth gauche was not correct, at 35 Bar I couldn't breath anymore, so I had to find my guide under water to share air. Stupid that the equiptment failed, I was still relaxed (this was ofcourse not the first time something happens under water). Around 3pm back in Labuan Shithole, another day at the Lounge with our Swedish, Icelandish and Danish friends.

Tuesday the 12th of October KOMODO, CAN I STAY HERE FOREVER?

7am at the boat, another rumouresque night next to the mosque (inclduing drunken roosters and goats that completely ost their sense of time!). Discusting breakfast at the hotel, so another Nasi Campur at the boat. 2 dive sites with strong currents today. But damn, the amount of fish at these dive spots is unreal! Never seen anything like this. More sharks, enormous wrasses, Napoleon wrasses, big school of barracuda's, huge triggerfish, porcupine fish, giant groupers under the tables of coral, lion fish in all sorts and sizes, sea snakes, lobsters, turtles, a long bamboo shark...too much to mention. The drift diving is not scary at all. But sorry guys, some places it was more like escaping big fat divers in bandana's and t-shirts. Getting themselve hooked on the coral...too many divers at the same time. Funny concersations on the both with all these nurses/doctors talking about sex changes whahaa...Maarten and I sometimes couldn't believe what we heard. The locations today were a lot further so we came back with sunset. This evening it no more Lounge, let's go to the organic food of The Corner. The service is 10+++ and the food is a lot better.

Wednesday the 13th of October CELEBRATING MY 30TH DIVE...WILL I SURVIVE?

Almost too late for the boat, our Halal-neighbours were not singing loud enough this morning. Enjoy the sailing one more time, (baby) dolphins jumping and doing their stunts next to our boat.The craziest dives are today; Castle Rock, a negative entry going straight down to the bottom (because of all the strong currents and whirlpools). What a dive! Hook yourself to a dead piece of coral and enjoy wandering around. Reef sharks everywhere and again the sealife... I couldn't stay calm under water, because Karin and Maarten sandwiched me letterary with their hooks. A long surface interval on deck 'Met heeeeel veeeel bommetjes!' from the upper deck. Getting headaches while diving of the roof. And who warned me about not getting to close to Triggerfish?! :-) Karin was attacked and that big fish bit her in her ankle and ass. I can imagine :-) Crystal Rock was the last dive site, No. 31 for me and I already survived No. 30 whohoo! Crystal Rock has also many strong (upstream/downstream) currents. A large amount of Nudi Branches. Sea snakes, Groupers and even Octopus. A long long day, woken up at the deck finding out there were some mechanical problems with the boat. We arrived at LB just at sunset. Try to find out what to do tomorrow; cruising in a private car, local busses around Flores that take ages or book a flight somewhere else? Too late, most things closed or way over budget. The Corner with the English teachers. And Maarten, getting a cheap Dive Master Course here and dive fro free for 6 months is not a bad idea ;-)