Flores 2012-7-13
 |
| An aerial photo of Tanjungbenoa in Bali |
We left Senggiti early in the morning, and took a flight to
Denpasar by Sky Air. The airplane was a small two propellers plane Fokker PK-ECF. The GPS Canmore 750 FL was working for the whole trip. The maximum cruising altitude and speed were 5,500 m and 400 km/hr. We board the same airplane again to go to Labuan Bajo in Flores while Yet
flew to Surabaya to see her friend. Somehow, it was not possible to fly
directly to Labuan Bajo from Lombok. The maximum cruising altitude increased to 5,500 m while the speed remained the same. During the processing of the photo and GPS data, I found that the timing on the photo must be increased by 1:20 minute in order to get a better match of the photo location with the GPS track data. Therefore, it is important to take some photos of familiar landmark from the airplane for doing the time adjustment if needed. It is important to remember to revert the time of the selected photos to its original values to maintain the proper chronological order with the rest of the photos.
 |
| The islands on the west coast of Flores were all brown |
The flight path turned south when we were north of the narrow peninsula at the north-western tip of Flores. We started to see the many islands in Flores which were almost totally brown in colour. As we descended, we began to see some mangrove forests along the coast, and some wood cover in the cleft of the hills. As we approached the northern tip of the peninsula, the colour of the ground turned into dark violet, and we saw a sign of mining operation on a hill.
 |
| Trees grew in pockets on the coastal plain |
The airport at Labuan Bajo was small, and the luggage were carried in a
manual carriage. A guide was supposed to meet us in the airport, and I found
him holding a board with our names on it. All of us including our luggage
cramped into a minivan. We were surprised to know that the driver was a Minang
from Pariaman which was close to the airport in Padang. He told us that he now had a
family and settled in town. He frequently went back to his home town. There
were many Minang in town doing all kinds of businesses. A Minang like to leave
his village and tried to venture into other places. There was a special word
for this called “merantau”, and they liked to show off their achievement from
merantau to their friends and relatives.
 |
| Luxury yacht for hire |
As soon as we stepped out of the airport, we felt
immediately of the hot and dry weather. Most houses along the road were simple,
dull and had no special character. The ground, houses and plants along the road
were covered by dust., and I had to increase the contrast on many photos taken
on the road to make them more attractive. The airport was on a high platau, and we descended into the harbour where a
large white ferry belching black smoke from
Surabaya was loading or unloading. The colour suddenly became alive and
attractive with the addition of the greenish blue from the water and the dark
green of the hills in the background. In addition to the many white and simple
wooden boats for tourists, we were surprised to see many beautiful and large yachts mooring in the harbour. Later the guide told
us that many of them were for hire and they had luxury accommodation inside.
 |
| Our tour boat was similar to this one |
We
boarded our simple boat. The deck where we spent most of our time was in front
of the steering cabin. It had sofa, chair and long laying chair with adjustable ack made of bamboo. Under the
deck, there were two cabins. We took the front one in which there was a large
bed, and Lan and Lie took the rear one which had a bunk bed. In addition to our
guide, there were the captain and his assistant onboard. It had a bathroom
behind the steering cabin, and was equipped with a basin, a sitting toilet and
a shower head, but we didn’t bother to take shower during this cruise. It was
kept clean and not smelly. Behind it was the kitchen where the captain
assistant prepared our meals. And on the landing hanging behind the stern,
there was a simple barbeque stove where he cooked the fish.
 |
| The cruise to Komodo island and Rinja island |
 |
| A populated small island with a school |
Komodo island was one of the two large islands located in the strait between Flores (Nusa Tenggara Barat) and Sumbawa (Nusa Tenggara Timur). Somehow, this island was not shown on Google regular map but it was shown on Google satellite map. Rinja island was another large island south-east of Komodo island and was closer to Flores. The sea between Flores and these two large islands were littered with many small islands. We left at noon, and our first destination was to visit Loh Liang Komodo park on Komodo island. The small islands we passed were very
hilly and had very little flat land. They were mostly bare and covered in brown grass due to the dry season. In rainy season, they would all turn green. Trees grew only in pockets on the coastal plain and in the cleft between ridges of the hills, and they were mostly the local palm. There were mangrove forests on the shore where the hills didn't have steep cliff.. As we approached Komodo island at a distant, we saw a very jagged hill like that illustrated in
a mystique and scary novel. Most of these islands were not inhabited
due to the lack of fresh water. However, we passed several islands with densely built houses on its shore, and large number of fishing boats
moored in the water. One of the small island even had a school built on the slope of the hill. Large
villages were found on the shore of the two large islands.
 |
| We were all taking photos of our first lunch on the boat |
The water was calm in area where the sea was protected by
the island, and it became choppy in open water. The assistant would unrolled a
small plastic sail to protect us from the water flew into the deck. When it was not use, he would wrap the sail into a ball and hanged it on the mask. He
had cooked our lunch and served it at 1 pm, an hour after we board the boat:
deep fried bitter melon and fish, sweet and sour tofu and a vegetable soup.
They were delicious and all of us were taking photos of this surprise. I didn’t
know if he cooked them himself or he simply heated the pre-cook foods. We were
all very excited watching and taking photos of the beautiful islands, or
resting and updating our journals.
 |
| A large village in Rinja island |
We saw a large village on the shore of Rinja Island at 1:30
pm on our way to the Komodo Island. One
section of the housing was mostly primitive houses built of wood frame, straw
roof and bamboo mat walls. They were built on the higher ground from the beach,
and well separate from each other to yield a feeling of more space. There were
only small fishing boats found in the water
in this area indicating that the residents were mostly had lower income.
Next to it was a section with larger, and better built houses with corrugated
iron roof and wooden walls. The houses were also well separated and not too
crowd. The last section had bigger houses but were densely built with very
little space separating them. Many large boats were moored in the water in this
area indicating the much greater wealth of the residents. The houses with corrugated iron roof all had
the feature of upside down V-shape crossing frame in the front. This feature
was seen in Bugis houses in Makasar area. It might reveal that the residents
were decedents of Bugis, the famous sea fairy people in Indonesia. We saw more beautiful yachts and simple
tourist boats and fishing boats in the water. We saw another large village on
the shore of Komodo Island. At the foot of the hill behind the village was a
dense palm grove.
 |
| The construction of a new concrete pier |
We arrived in Loh Liang Komodo National Park in Komodo Island at 3:40 pm. It was located at the northern end of a circular cove within a large dumbbell shape bay in the south-eastern coast of Flores. The cove was like an end of the dumbbell. We landed on an old wooden pier. A new pier was under construction and a large
boat was pounding on the pillar to build up the structure. They wanted to bring
in big ocean going cruise ships to visit the island. It would no doubt bring in a large benefit to the local economy, but it would also certainly create
a big impact on the environment especially the habitat of the komodo.
 |
| A komodo walking on the beach |
 |
| Local palm trees |
 |
| A komodo seen near Sulphurea Hill |
It was breeding season for komodo, and the guide told us
that the chance for seeing a komodo on this island was slim. His sharp eye
spotted a komodo on the beach well before we landed. We were all excited, and
it was probably a good sign that we would see more. A ranger briefed us about the park, and handed
each of us a stick made of strong hardwood with a fork at one end. This stick
would be used to push and discourage any komodo from coming too close to the visitor. He then
led us on a trail through the forest. There were few tall and big trees and
mostly shrubs of 2 to 3 metres in height and not very dense. One special tree
found in the park and other islands was tall palms which bear fruits at the end
of its 30 years age and then died. He showed us a cycad plant that bear many dark green
colour fruit the size of an egg. They had piled up rocks in the park to use it as a water hole to attract some local wild animal and the komodo. We saw
many deers near this water hole hidden behind the shrubs. Their fur looked dull due to the lack of
densely covered hairs and didn’t look healthy. We saw the beautiful king pigeon
with the striking green colour back and wings, the white cockatoo, an oriole,
and black bird called gunting . It was like a North American black bird and a cleft
tail like a whale. We saw a beautiful pink wild orchid, and a large pile of
white komodo feces consisting of hair and bones, but we did not see any komodo
on the trail. However, one large one suddenly show up from nowhere as we were
about to turn back when we reach Sulphurea Hill. It was about two metre in
length and half was taken by its tail. The tail was about 5 inches at its base
and looked very strong. Only at its very end the tail was trailing on the
ground. Its four limbs also looked very
strong as they carried the heavy body crawling fast on the ground. I was
disappointed of not seeing its tongue sticking out of its mouth. At this point,
we had a beautiful view of the bay and the hills on the islands around it.
 |
| A village on Komodo island |
We left at 5:30 pm
and again cruised pass the large village on the western end of the circular cove in Komodo Island. This time the
distant was closer and we had a better look of the houses in the village. They
were all large and very crowd. It seemed there were streets in the village. Later, when I looked at the satellite photo of the village, it showed many rows of houses extended to the foot of the hill. We saw the
back of those houses built on the beach side of the street. They didn’t have
the upside-down V shape feature like that on the roof in front of the
house. And all houses on this side were
supported on stilts built on the beach. There were a few large boats moored in
the water but their size and number were much smaller than that seen in the
village in Rinja Island.
 |
| Villagers peddling wood carving to tourists on the boats |
Fifteen minutes later, we moored at the entrance of a
calm cove on the other end of the dumbbell shape bay where there were already several boats in front of us. It was 6 pm and we saw the beautiful sunset
as it started to get dark. Soon after we had settled, many small canoes
close-in to our boat. The villagers from the Komodo Island that we just passed were
peddling wooden carving of komodo of varying size and shape. I felt sorry for
them for having to endure this hardship to make a living, and I wondered if
they would pedal back to their village in the dark for many hours or stay
overnight in their canoes. The place where we moored was very close to a dense
mangrove forest. We could hear the noise of fruit bats when we arrived, and
soon after the sky was dark, thousands of them flew out of the forest. We each
had a whole and large (over a pound) barbequed pan fish for dinner, but it
didn’t come with sauces and felt a little dried. We got to bed soon after dinner.
Flores 2012-7-14
 |
| Watching sunrise in a bay in Komodo island |
The first photo taken early this morning was at 5:42 am. The
sunrise was gorgeous with its bright colour reflected by the cloud canvas. We
took advantages of the calm bay, and did some early morning exercise and
stretching. Our breakfast was the simple toast bread with fried eggs. And we
were heading to Loh Buaya National Komodo Park in Rinja Island. We left at 6 am
and got there in two hours. There were already many boats ahead of us mooring
at the only wooden pier.
 |
| Komodo were everywhere in the park ground in Loh Buaya |
 |
| A modern building in Loh Buaya |
We passed a flat dried land where many mangrove seedlings
were planted. I was surprised to see a very modern large building with large
windows, and many well built buildings spreading in the compound. The guide told us that there were guest house facilities in this park, but it had been
close after a cobra was found in the room. I didn’t know if this modern
building and many others were part of the guest houses. The guide also told us
that there were many komodo in this park, and they could be seen right in the park
compound. They were more aggressive and we should be careful of them. We met our ranger, and after briefing, we were
again given a similar stick with fork at one end. We didn’t have to go far, and
saw komodo everywhere on the ground in
the open or under houses like seeing dogs in a village. They were all wild and
people had been beaten by them and caused serious injuries and death. One was
old and sick with an injure hind leg. It lied on the ground motionless like a
discard staffed animal. The rangers had been feeding it for several years. Ching and others had seen enough of the
komodo, and only me and the ranger took a short trail in a forest around the
compound. The ranger showed me the holes where komodo would lay their eggs. The
holes were dug in a compose mound left by some ground dwelling forest birds like megapodes. We also saw a big pile of buffalo dung on the trail. We spent one hour
in the park and left at 9:43 am. We met many more visitors coming to the park
as we left.
 |
| Houses on the small island with school |
In an hour and half, we passed a densely populated,
small and in perfect cone shape island. This sun was on our back and
we could see it very clearly. The roofs of the houses had the similar feature
indicating that the residents were decedents of Bugis. To its left was another smaller island, and
the water between the two islands was shallow lagoon and there was where they
moored their boats. Behind this smaller island, the photo also showed many
houses on another island which I have missed taken its photo. This island also
had its own school built on the lower slope of the hill.
 |
| We swam and had lunch in the island |
At noon time, we were close to the island where we would
swim before taking lunch. The beach was light ivory in colour and the sand was
fine and clean. The water was crystal clear and we could see big and small fish
in the water. The guide threw some breads in the water and it attracted a lot
more fish to come to the boat. We all changed into our swim suite, and put on
the floater. The floater had a hood to give some protection against the bright
sunshine. It was just a perfect place for vacation! We spent less than an hour
in the water, and were asked to come on board for lunch. We could have stayed
for the whole afternoon in the water.
 |
| Sunset at Labuan Bajo |
 |
|
We had deep fried eggplants, tempe (ferment soya bean cake)
and octopus. They were delicious. We returned back to the harbour of Labuan
Bajo at 1:43 pm, and the driver from Pariaman was glad to see us back. We drove
on a good road along the coast and in 10 minutes later, we arrived at Purisari
Beach Hotel where we stayed. The large king size bed had an wooden extension of
over a foot on its sides. We had to sit first on this extension before we could
leave the bed. I didn’t know what was its function or purpose. We were tired
and took naps. Fortunately we woke up at the right time, and didn’t miss the
opportunity of watching the gorgeous sunset on the beach. As it set, the sun
was sitting brilliantly on the crown of a cone shape hill in an island like a
diamond on a ring. It was really beautiful. The deep red colour of the sunshine
was unique and I had not seen it before. There were a small village further
down the beach, and the primitive Bugis houses with straw roof and bamboo walls
were the same as those we saw on Komodo Island. Children were still playing in
the beach taking the advantages of the last sunshine.
There was no eating place near the hotel, dinner and
breakfast had been included in the charge for the room. I suspected that there
might not be any decent eating place in town other than in the hotels. There
were not many choices on the menu, and we all ordered something simple for
dinner. This was the first hotel on our trip that there was TV in the room. It
was good and we went to bed early.
Flores 2012-7-15
 |
| Morning on the beach |
We got up early and had toasted bread and eggs for breakfast
and then walked on the beach. It was only 8:30 am, but it was already so hot
that we didn’t stay very long and returned to the hotel. I was watching some
small birds on a tree but was frustrated that they didn’t stay long and moved
fast for me to take their photos. When I came out again from my room, I found
an injure bird on the veranda. It was the same bird that I had been watching
with a red mark on its chest. We left the hotel at 10:30 am and enquired from
the guide about the location of the craters with colourful lakes. He told us
that it was located on the eastern side of Flores and was hundreds of km away.
He also said that there were many tourist attractions in the locality that we
didn’t have time to see, and he hope that we would return to see more on our
next trip.
Lie quickly noticed that the check-in counter clerk made a
mistake on the tag of our luggage, and asked her to correct it to be checked
all the way to Jakarta not to Denpasar. She then argued without any success for
having her luggage and Lan’s to be checked all the way to Padang. They would
have to check out their luggage at Jakarta and then check them in again for the
flight to Padang. In order to enable them to get their luggage quickly, the
clerk would put a VIP sticker on them.
 |
| Gunung Agung seen from an airplane |
The Canmore GPS worked on this flight, and I took many photos of the brown colour islands in Flores; a volcano east of Labuhan Lombok with a large crater and was almost submerged in the water; the dense cloud covering the top of Mount Rinjani, the tallest and largest volcano in Lombok; the Gili islands in Lombok; Gunung Agung in Bali; the beautiful bay and Tanjungbenoa peninsula in Bali; the bridge connecting Surabaya and the Madura island; the coconut macaroon shape hill and the new power plant in Sluke north-east of Semarang; and the many beautiful claud formations.
No comments:
Post a Comment