Van, Uncle John and I woke up really early for our trip to the airport. Rama picked us up at 6:00am and we headed to Ngurah Rai airport, enjoying the light traffic for once, and stopping along the way to replace my toothbrush, taken by Uncle Paul! The domestic part of the airport was a pleasure and we had time to stop for a coffee and watch the planes before boarding.
Within 10 minutes we arrived at the Blue Marlin dive centre, where we were met by our Dive Master Darryn, a larger than life, long haired blonde bearded guy. Immediately I picked his accent as South African, and he was also pleased to have some South Africans on the boat, something he had only experienced twice in 3 years. We also met Ally and Mike, two young Americans who would be joining us on the boat. They turned out to be great company, really nice people.
After a quick and delicious breakfast at the excellent dive centre restaurant, we walked down to the pier to find our boat. We were very unlucky that the normal boat, the Ikan Biru had lost a gearbox and was awaiting parts. So we had to use a different boat, the Olympia, more of a Western style boat, with the one advantage that it had private cabins, rather than having to sleep on deck. We walked through Labuna Bajo, which Darryn described as a sh$&hole. It was much dirtier and less polished than Bali!
The flight to Labuan Bajo with Lion air was just over an hour, and we loved the view of the beautiful blue ocean, islands and volcanoes along the way. The airline was budget but actually pretty good and everything went smoothly. We landed in Labuan on Flores island and were super impressed by the brand new modern airport. We chatted to a friendly local while waiting for our luggage and our car was waiting for us as we left the airport.
After a quick and delicious breakfast at the excellent dive centre restaurant, we walked down to the pier to find our boat. We were very unlucky that the normal boat, the Ikan Biru had lost a gearbox and was awaiting parts. So we had to use a different boat, the Olympia, more of a Western style boat, with the one advantage that it had private cabins, rather than having to sleep on deck. We walked through Labuna Bajo, which Darryn described as a sh$&hole. It was much dirtier and less polished than Bali!
On board the boat we were given a cabin, with two sections with two bunk beds each, to share with Uncle John. The boat had a back section for kitting up for scuba, a dining area, and an upper chill out deck with lounger cushions. Up here Darryn briefed us and Ronnie the chef fed us yummy banana smoothies. That afternoon we did two dives.
We were really impressed by the quality of the reefs, the wonderful warm water and the variety of sea life!
We were really impressed by the quality of the reefs, the wonderful warm water and the variety of sea life!
At sunset, we sailed around to a small mangrove covered island, where a few other boats were also parked. The sunset was incredible, with bright pinks splashed all over the sky with the beautiful islands in the background. Just before the sun properly set, we saw stirring form the small island, and some huge bats started flying over us. Darryn explained they were flying foxes, heading towards Flores for the evening fruit feed. Before we knew it, there were literally thousands upon thousands of these bats, just filling the skies! Once we had spent half an hour or so watching them, it was getting dark so we headed to our mooring for the night. We were parking in a bay off Rinca island, where we would walk with the Komodo dragons the next morning. We got lucky, and managed to dock right next to the pier, with only one other boat nearby,
In the evening we enjoyed a great dinner from Ronnie, and spent the rest of the evening drinking Anker beers and playing cards with our new friends. Uncle John wasn't feeling great, so he headed to bed a bit earlier. It was a hot evening so the rest of us decided to sleep out on deck. Van was a bit sceptical but we ended up sleeping really well in the still night.
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