Derawan Island sits in the middle of a small archipelago of atolls named after one of the smallest but richest islands in the group, Sangalaki. The archipelago lies off the northeast coast of Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) in the Strait of Sulawesi. The whole area is a proposed UNESCO world heritage site due to its incredible marine biodiversity and unusual atoIlic formations. This was clearly a place we needed to explore!
Indonesia
-
Uncategorized -
Uncategorized The Life Aquatic on Pulau Derawan
Our week on Pulau Derawan was the life aquatic. On this speck of sand and palms in the equatorial ocean, the air was staggeringly hot and the sea was mercifully refreshing. Light reflecting off of the crystal waters shone through the floorboards of our room at the end of a pier and we could hear the unmistakable sounds of green sea turtles surfacing below us to take a breath before we even got out of bed. In the mornings we relaxed on our deck with tea and pastries while kids fished and men prepped their boats for the day.
-
Uncategorized Beyond the Shark’s Fin
Thanks to the southerly trade winds and a ribbon of ridge line, the Bukit Peninsula is home to epic soaring. In the month since we arrived less than five days have been unflyable. Typically, the wind has a bit of east in it, limiting the paragliding to about ten kilometers of ridge line between the Nikko, a soarable resort hotel to the east, and the Bali Cliff, the ruins of the abandoned presidential villa to the west. The ridge dies out at the Nikko, but pilots can hop over to soar the updraft on the hotel and wave at the tourists in the pools and on the beach. Below the Bali Cliff, the beaches disappear, leaving pilots without a bomb out landing. So, it’s a rare day to fly further west, but with the right conditions, an unbelievably beautiful fifteen kilometer stretch opens up to pilots lucky enough to experience it.
-
Uncategorized A Vacation Within a Vacation!
Agung is large by any measure. Its volcanic heights reach upwards of 3000 meters. The mountain’s spiritual significance is paramount to the Balinese with the Mother Temple Besahik located on its flank. Agung towers majestic over the small fishing villages of Amed in the northeast corner of Bali. Amed is composed of a number of villages that run south from the actual village of Amed. Each has a crescent beach of black sand that is lined with Jukung boats, small double outrigger sailing canoes that are used as fishing boats and by the tourists as diving and snorkeling platforms. Just off of each beach is a lovely coral shelf and wall.
-
Uncategorized Selamat Makan!
For the last week, we have been on a mission to return to our favorite places to eat and to find some new gems. I had forgotten some of what makes Indonesian food so good.
Thankfully, we both love street food. Of all the street foods, bakso tops my list. Bakso is as much about the situation as it is about the actual dish. It’s a clear meatball soup with rice noodles and other ingredients that vary from one place to another. It is served at a stand, from the back of a motorbike or out of a pushcart. It can be served with rice, an egg, wontons, and fried onions. Squeeze bottles are always on hand with sweet soy sauce and hot sauce. The key, though, is the sambal, a firey salsa that people here eat by the spoonful. For me, about a quarter of a teaspoon of sambal in my bakso means an unbelievable hotness that is as spicy as I can stand. I have to ration my tiny bottled sweet tea, while I sweat and gulp my way through my bowl of bakso. Yum!
-
Uncategorized Hello Indo!!
Our first week in Indo. has gone by so quickly!
We’ve been having a blast with Elizabeth and Cooper. There has been a couple of fantastic flying days. One in particular where I got a 3 hour flight and got to show Cooper around the flying area. On the other I broke out the mini-wing (Niviuk Zion19m) and got to fly it around the ridge at Timbis. Flying that wing is super fun with all its speed and banky goodness!
-
Uncategorized Spring, Summer and Indonesia
-
Uncategorized The Joy of Indonesia
Seems you can soar anything here…..
Soaring the Nikko Hotel – Nusa Dua, Bali:
-
Uncategorized The Edge of the Earth
The second half of our Alor trip was an exploration of some of the traditional tribal villages in Alor’s interior. Alor is a odd shaped volcanic island with fantastic bays and lagoons backed by white and black sand beaches strewn with coral on the coast. Mountains rise precipitously immediately behind the coast line. In these mountains there remain a few traditional villages where the people live in thatch houses constructed as they have been for centuries.
-
Uncategorized Alor!
Four days before we were supposed to fly to Flores, Sati mentioned the Alor Archipelago, a chain of islands in East Nusa Tengara, just north of West Timor. After reading what little was written about Alor in our guidebook, we spent the next few hours in a travel planning run-around like only Indonesia can conjure. The next day, we were on a propeller plane headed east.