MAUMERE PULAU FLORES INDONESIA

MAUMERE

PULAU FLORES

INDONESIA

Maumere is a seaport and one of a very few bigger townships of Flores Island. Back in the 17^th century it used to be a Portuguese center and it still is a catholic center established by the Portuguese Missionaries in the biggest Muslim Nation of Indonesia. Maumere has been destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami in 1992. Now rebuilt it still is a natural harbor and seaport.

A nearby fishing village is very much part of Maumere. Its inhabitants are Muslim. It is great to see Christian and Muslim population living together in harmony in Marmere.

However, it is not just the town that has an impact on visitors, not just the wonderful people that experienced the tragedy of an earthquake and tsunami, not the people that lost loved ones in that tragedy.

The scenic beauty of the north coast of Flores that leads to Maumere is unforgettable as well as its history. It is a coast of bays, hills and mountains, of colors on the water, amazing coral reefs teeming with fish. Every anchorage along the north coast of Flores offers excellent snorkeling.

The color splendor continues with spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Maumere is a starting point for a trip to Kelimutu Volcano where a color splendor continues with Three-color crater lakes.

Flores is truly a picturesque island above and below its waters.

PULAU FLORES INDONESIA

PULAU FLORES

INDONESIA

Flores, island of flowers, named so by the Portugese in early 1500s is an island of divers terrain accommodating many volcanoes and amazing coastline of coral reefs. In fact, the rout to Flores from the west has many islands famous for the diving sites, Pulau Padar with its natural Pyramid being a popular diving spot.

Labuan Bajo is the entry to Flores. It has a natural harbor with a multitude of boats, many take visitors to Padar or Komodo or Rinja that has a Nature Park where Komodo Dragons can be seen. There are many islands scattered around Labuan Bajo making the harbor a safe anchorage.

The coastline of Flores is scenic, mountains, rocky or full of vegetation hills and

valleys and sandy beaches. Some offshore islands are surrounded by coral reefs. Thus sailing is slow and with care. However, anchorages are well protected and snorkeling fabulous.

Flores extends over some 200 nautical miles and sailing along its coastline is a pleasure.

KOMODO ISLAND INDONESIA

KOMODO ISLAND

INDONESIA

Komodo Island in the Nusa Tenggara group of islands, lodged between Sumbawa and Flores, is famous for its monitor lizard, Komodo Dragon. Well, those lizards are not quite like average monitor lizards. They are huge, some three meter and 100 kg in weight. 




Komodo became a National Park back in 1980 and then a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of those unique lizards.

Komodo has been attracting visitors since then. Visits are regulated by ranges but the visitor numbers have an impact on the environment. There is talk about closure of the Park or increase of entry fees to limit the visitor numbers. Komodo Dragons are smaller and their main staple diet, deer, fewer. Nature obviously does not enjoy being overpowered by tourists.

Komodo has become commercial, tickets to view the dragons through wire fence, rangers on guard, not really a natural environment but necessary to protect visitors trying to take selfies and disappearing under sharp claws and into well teethed mouths that take deer and buffalo.

Just five nautical miles away from horrors of Komodo is Pulau Banta. The island has scarce vegetation but amazing underwater world of coral reefs and fish. Snorkeling is superb.

Banta Island offers relaxation and peace needed after dangers of Komodo.

PULAU SUMBAWA INDONESIA

PULAU SUMBAWA

INDONESIA

Pulau Sumbawa, a big island between Lombok and Flores, is larger than Lombok and Bali combined. Sumbawa has just one main road across the island, the rest of its terrain is ragged. There are many bays and peninsulas along its coast, tall mountains and volcanoes in its interior. Gunung Tambora used to be 4200 meter tall, after the 1815 explosion it was reduced to 2800 meters.

Sumbawa has many islands surrounding its coast and some sandy beaches lined with palms. Teluk Bima is a natural port, just of Bima, one of the main towns. Komodo Island is just a hop from nearby Raba town.

Sumbawa has villages and towns. It is not a touristy place. It is visited by cruising yachts and treated as a pleasant rest stop, it has some comfortable anchorages. It is a truly Indonesian island, the local people are friendly, not spoiled by great numbers of tourists.

Sumbawa is an island of tall mountains and volcanoes, hills and valleys, few villages and fewer townships.

MEDANA BAY MARINA LOMBOK INDONESIA

MEDANA BAY MARINA

LOMBOK

INDONESIA

Medana Bay Marina is a safe heaven for cruising yachts. It has hard stand and lift out facility, so necessary when some work on boats is required.

It has clean and tidy facilities, showers and services of organizing diesel delivery. All care taken of the boat, time to relax in Sailfish restaurant and bar.

Gazing at surrounding scenery, relaxing and enjoying a Bintang in company of other cruising folk is a great pastime.

It is easy to get to nearby Tanjung, a town/village with shops and market. Mataram and Ampealan, the airport, are also not far away. In fact, access to many overland attractions is easy with a boat secure on a mooring or hard stand. And the attractions are many, hiking up Rinjani Mount Volcano or just enjoying the wilderness of rain forest and waterfalls. 

Medana Bay Marina is a great stop for cruising yachts.

TheThree GILIS L O M B O K INDONESIA

TheThree

GILIS

L O M B O K

INDONESIA

Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Aer are only a short boat trip away from Lombok. Spectacular and unique islands, time to relax or explore underwater beauty with many diving areas around the Gilis.

Gili Trawangan is the biggest of the three, built up with many resorts, restaurants, bars, discos and traffic (bicycle). The is no traffic on Gili Aer, just Lombok Ferraris, carts with horses or rather ponies. An alternative is to walk. Island hopping by boat is a popular pass time. But surfing and snorkeling are the most popular. While Gili T is a party island, Gili Meno is quiet and has an underwater sculpture, the Nest, worth a snorkel to see it.

Gili, meaning small island, is the perfect description of the three. They are small and cute. They offer attractions like horse riding or kayaking for the energetic. Mostly it is beach walking, swimming, relaxing and enjoying the scenery and perfect sunsets.

GILI GEDE ISLANDS LOMBOK INDONESIA

GILI GEDE ISLANDS

LOMBOK

INDONESIA

Lombok is an unspoiled Indonesian island . The beaches are clean, the water is clear, the surf is challenging and appreciated by surfing enthusiasts. Trekking is one of the inland attractions, the island is covered by natural rain forest and jungle offering spectacular waterfalls to nature lovers.

Hiking up Gunung Rinjani, some 3700 meter tall volcano, is one of the reasons many visitors come to Lombok.

Even the earthquake tragedy back in mid 2018, that caused distraction in the northern part of Lombok and Mataram, does not stop visitors from visiting Lombok.

The costal beauty of Lombok extends to Gili Gede Islands. Or maybe it is the best part of cruising Lombok. Gili Gede Islands are scenic, the hills are green, the water is azure, the beaches are of golden sand fringed with palms. 

Gili Gede is one of the bigger islands and has a Fast Boat service operating from Bali. It also has a number of villages, friendly locals and local restaurants.

Gili Asahan is less crowded and offers swimming, snorkeling, beach walking and trips to other islands by local boats.

Gili Gede Islands offer nature at its best topped up by spectacular sunsets.

  

NUSA LEMBONGAN INDONESIA

NUSA LEMBONGAN

INDONESIA

                                                             

Nusa Lembongan, a quiet island surrounded by crystal clear water, reefs and surf, can be proud of its natural beauty. Close to Bali and Lombok islands, it is easily accessible by boat. It is a quiet and spiritual place until you reach the rough, dramatic and scenic coastline.

Devil's Tear is a rather benign name for a force of sea water surging and spitting through fissures in the rocks.

A mangrove tour is a perfect way to return to tranquility and quiet enjoyment of bird song and peaceful nature.

Nusa Lombongan is connected to Nusa Cenangan, another peaceful island, by a bridge. The yellow bridge is frequented by bikes and visitors walking across it.

While diving and snorkeling offer an amazing underwater experience, the overland scenery is as exciting with Dream Beach and Sunset Beach being popular.

There is quite a variety of scenery on Nusa Lembongan, from rough and dramatic coastline to tranquility of the mangrove passages.

NUSA PENIDA INDONESIA AN ISLAND FORGOTTEN BY TIME

NUSA PENIDA

INDONESIA

AN ISLAND FORGOTTEN BY TIME

Nusa Penida is a treasure between Bali and Lombok islands. Scenic island of natural beauty, where ragged and dramatic coastline as well as rough roads protect it from too many visitors. It is accessible to those visitors that are willing to experience some hardship exploring it by boat. And it is worth it. The pristine waters full of fish and manta rays offer amazing diving. Not easily accessible beaches, requiring some hours hike, are not heavily populated.

There are a few villages on Nusa Penida. The population is Hindu and the landscape has scattered temples with traditional offerings. The locals cultivate seaweed and live of fishing. Tourism is a great addition to their income. 

The accommodation for visitors is bungalows and villas but day tours from nearby Bali are becoming popular as well. It takes just over half an hour to reach Nusa Penida by fast boat.The trip is an adventure in itself with water braking on deck, currents and waves on a windy day can make the short passage rough.

Driving on Nusa Penida requires skill. Access to one of the major attractions, Crystal Bay is through hilly landscape and many pot holes. And so is travelling further afield to Angel's Billabong and Broken Beach. In spite of possible rough seas and bad roads on the island, the visit to Nusa Penida is an absolute must. The scenery and atmosphere create a worthwhile experience.

NGERUPUK & NYEPI B A L I INDONESIA

NGERUPUK & NYEPI

B A L I

INDONESIA

Bali sure is a part of Indonesian Archipelago of some 17 000 islands. However, it has its own culture, unique and not found anywhere else. The Balinese culture is mainly based on religious believes.

In fact, Balinese are constantly busy performing rituals and ceremonies and distributing offerings. However, Ngerupuk celebrations are huge. Ngerupuk is a big day and it falls just before Nyepi. Since Nyepi, the New Year, currently 1941 according to saka calendar, is a day of quiet the celebrations on Ngerupuk are loud and carry on into the night. 

They are much the same as New Year's Eve when everybody parties into the night and then sleeps it of on New Year's Day one could say. Well, not in Bali. These celebrations are based on strong religious believes that keeping quiet on Nyepi, the Day of Silence, will fool the evil spirits that the place is uninhabited and they find somewhere else to settle of a year.

OGOH OGOH play a big part during Ngerupuk. The monsters artfully made with everybody's help are carried around to scare off evil spirits. The aim is purification of natural environment of spiritual pollution created by humans.

The dress code for performing rituals is important both for men and women. Thus the mood during the festivities is celebratory and a real treat for visitors as long as one can keep quiet during Nyepi. 

HINDU FESTIVALS & CEREMONIES BALI INDONESIA

HINDU FESTIVALS & CEREMONIES

BALI

INDONESIA

Bali is a Hindu-Buddhist island in a predominantly Muslim Indonesia. Hindu Temples, sculptures and shrines are a definite landmark all around Bali.

Celebrations of Hindu festivals are constant and popular. Balinese worship the same Gods as the Hindus of India but their religion has strong influences of preexisting Bali culture. The rituals are being observed but again with a specific Bali way of life. There is a strong belief in spirits and many of the rituals are performed to scare away evil spirits. Offerings are being made to ensure favors from gods and good spirits at shrines and homes.

Ceremonies include Gamelan Orchestra, everybody dressed in traditional clothes, marches and makes lots of noise to drive away evil spirits.

Bali dances are unique and also a form of celebration performed often not just during festivals and ceremonies.

The Nyepi Festival coincides with Bali New Year and a trick to make evil spirits to believe that the island is uninhabited. Thus it is a day of quiet while everything closes. Visitors need to respect that custom and enjoy the noisy celebrations a day before Nyepi of chasing the old evil spirits away. It is a day of sleeping of the party and pre Nyepi celebrations.

The festivals are frequent. A Bali lifestyle. It is a guarantee that one can experience a festival during their stay in Bali, disregarding how short the stay is.

SINGARAJA BALI INDONESIA

SINGARAJA

BALI

INDONESIA

Singaraja, in Buleleng Regency of Northern Bali, is the ancient capital of Bali. No wonder it is full of history dating back to Royalty of the 1600s. In spite of the Dutch invasion between 1846 and 1849, killing of most of the Royal Family and almost total distraction of the palace, the restored Puri can now be visited.

Singaraja is also a port and a nearby Lovina, some 10 kilometers away, is a beach resort. Lovina is also a good anchorage and a venue for Sail Indonesia. The entertainment welcoming sailors from around the world is unlimited. Lovina has many restaurants and bars, clear water and excellent reefs that are good to snorkel on and which also act as protection from the ocean swell for the yachts on anchor.

Balinese dances are an art, story telling and explosion of color and costumes. They are accompanied by music heard most evenings around Bali.

Both, Singaraja and Lovina are a well appreciated change from crowded, touristy South. Definitely worth visiting.