April 2012
Selmant Jilan!
We arrive in Indonesia after a long flight via Taiwan. My travel mate and good friend Ally has joined me for a venture aboard Blaze. We take a“puddle jumper”and fly from Bali to the island of Lubaun Bajo. We have moved Blaze east to spend more time in this area. We just can’t get enough of those Komodo Dragons! (Being a Blaze “alum” I know Ally can handle anything!) "Captain" Ann grabs our luggage and we are off in a van to take a hike up the mountain to a waterfall. Despite the jet lag a hike sounds great after all the sitting. Unfortunately it is a two hour drive for a 30 minute walk! The rice paddies, ponds and waterfalls along our hike were beautiful. 
The locals working in the rice fields stopped and watched us navigate a muddy ridge along the rice paddy. They wore large woven hats for protection from the sun. I'm sure they wondered why we wanted to see a rice paddy! For them just a job. Our trail went by a bamboo thatched home. Small children played in the dirt with an elderly grandmother watching their activity. They stared at us with inquisitive brown eyes and dusty little faces. We smiled said “Selamant” and continued on toward the waterfall. It was great to be walking. But after an air conditioned plane we were struggling to adjust to heat and humidity. Upon returning to Blaze we tossed the lines and headed south for Padar, known for its pink beach.
By sunset we are anchored for the night. The bay is well protected from the strong currents. The next morning kayaks are out and we are off to explore. The quiet is all around us. The only sound is an occasional bird and our paddles on the water. We kayak around the beach to a point on the reef. With no breeze the heat is intense. We are slathered on the sun block, wear our large floppy hats, sunglasses and long sleeve REI shirts. With water bottles are tucked in our kayaks we paddle the bay taking the beauty of the jungle ashore. Later we take the dink around to the other side of the island.Here we dropped in for a drift dive.The water felt wonderful and was amazingly translucent.The current moved us too quickly.There were so many types of coral and unusual fish we decided to go again. On our second drift we floated right over a shark.He was moving along below us focused on some other victim. We were moving so fast we didn’t have time to worry about him! Our days are spent diving, hiking and and moving Blaze from island to island. We spend time in the Komodos (meeting the dragons again), Rinca, and Padar. I was challenged to remember where we were or had been with names like Sabita, Saybour, and Siaba! Needless to say they each had exquisite scenery above and below the water.
The locals working in the rice fields stopped and watched us navigate a muddy ridge along the rice paddy. They wore large woven hats for protection from the sun. I'm sure they wondered why we wanted to see a rice paddy! For them just a job. Our trail went by a bamboo thatched home. Small children played in the dirt with an elderly grandmother watching their activity. They stared at us with inquisitive brown eyes and dusty little faces. We smiled said “Selamant” and continued on toward the waterfall. It was great to be walking. But after an air conditioned plane we were struggling to adjust to heat and humidity. Upon returning to Blaze we tossed the lines and headed south for Padar, known for its pink beach.
One underwater excursion was a bit slimy. We dove off the back of Blaze in search of colorful coral and tropical fish. We went through a bit of eel grass only to encounter the grass forest!! We kept popping up to find our way out, but it seemed like the sea grass had engulfed us. It was unnerving to feel creepy slime curling around our legs as we worked our way through the water 'jungle'.Suddenly we could hear someone calling us. Luiz had come to our rescue. Sitting in the dink he guided us out of the slop. We happily climbed into the dink and off he took us to a drift dive along a cliff of coral. The bommies looked like they were tumbling down into the deep. The wall dropped out of sight. It was not only exhilirating to move at 2-3 knots along side, but it also felt cleasning after our eel grass encounter. We floated by huge travelle and groupers. You could barely spot turtles camouflaged in the coral heads.
We spent our days traveling from one island to the next. There were flat seas and not a breath of wind. Blaze had become a power boat. There was nowhere to hide from the heat and no breeze to cut the humidity. Thankfully we spent a lot of time in the water visiting places like, the Compass, Crystal Rock, Manta Soupa and the Cauldron. Each anchorage had its own rugged beauty on land and exquisite sea life below. Our underwater sightings included sharks,manata rays, blue spotted sting rays, turtles, Jack cravelle, groupers, angel fish, colorful clams and others sea creatures we could not identify. In the evening we often had spectacular lighting storms. We sat up top and watched the light show move across the black sky.Thankfully it was in the distance. 
Today we are anchored in a small pass for a quick snorkel and lunch. Luiz has kept us beyond well fed. We have tried the local fruits such as Star Fruit, Jack fruit, Passion fruit and of course the pretty Dragon fruit. A member of the cactus speices. Luiz also tried to interest us in the smelly Durian fruit. It is so noxious that most restaurants will not allow it. My curiosity took over and a swift bite led to me toss it overboard. It must be an aquired taste( for those with no sense of smell).We have not dragged a line for fishing in this area. The Komodo Islands and waters are a National Park and Reserve. But Luiz has been successful buying fish, shrimp and calamari from the locals. Almost every afternoon some one comes by in there dug out canoe offering to sell their "catch of the day".
We headed for Komodo Island the next day. Enroute we had a “lunch” stop. It was just around the corner from a long sandy beach. We heard there were deer that roamed the island. Once again we got into our sports car (the dingy) and zipped around the point to the bay. There were several deer wandering the beach. Some of them scattered when they heard our engine. Others lazily looked up and went back to sniffing the beach. The scene was so tranquil.They looked quite stocky for deer. Dark clouds had drifted in and it started to rain. We turned around and headed back to Blaze. Our shower soon turns to a downpour of torrential rain. As we rounded the point the wind was whipping the rain directly in our faces. At one point we looked up only to see it was a total white out. The shoreline had disappeared. We seemed to be driving into a cascade of water. Ann was guessing where to drive the dink. Blaze was not in sight. We kept tucking our heads down to avoid the stinging rain on our faces. Finally we see the red sail cover and head "home" It's never a good feeling when think you have lost the "mother" ship!
Our last day aboard Blaze we spent snorkeling on beautiful reef we had explored earlier. We spent an hour drifting along the reef which looked like a carpet of color below us in about 5 of water. We would occasionally swim through a section that was like bath water! This is created by deep ocean thermal vents. Indonesia is true to its name the Ring of Fire. Our last dive proved memorable. I spotted two octopus just under a coral ledge. These tentacled creatures possess amazing skills. To avoid predators (me) they can change colors or blend into their surroundings. Their skin can actually take on the color or texture of rocks and coral. I just stared at the octopuses but they were quick. They used their tentacles to pull themselves quickly out from the rock. As they slithered away they changed a to a whitish grey color flooded their odd bodies.
It was fascinating to watch. Soon they had melted into their
surroundings........safe from the 'predator'!
As usual our time has swept by. Now we are off for a land excursion to Ubud on the island of Bali. Indonesian has been such a unique place. We plan to stay on as the adventures just keep coming our way. Hope everyone is enjoying spring. Take Care!
Selemant Jalan!
Captain Molly