Manta Rays!!!

Once we arrived on Flores we had one major objective, go diving! Diving off Komodo Island is world renowned since the ocean around Komodo is National Park. No fishing, no bombing, just pristine coral and thousands of fish. Only one problem. Diving in this part of Indonesia is for experienced divers, which we were not. Luckily we found a shop that had a small group going out and we were allowed to join. Usually they like divers to have 50 plus dives under their belt before they dive in these waters. 

Our first dive was off a small rock barely above the ocean. Fortunately for us this small rock turned into a large rock under the surface. Easily our most fantastic dive to date, the coral was beaming with all colors of the rainbow and endless amounts of textures and patterns. A few highlights were the huge green turtle we watched for a while and a snake slithering throughout the coral.

Photo Courtesy of Hani Amir. 

On our second dive we were venturing into what's called a current dive. You jump in the water and off you go. Hot damn is this fun, and scary. By the time you can process what you just saw your already 10 feet past it and dodging oncoming coral. While this was very fantastic the real excitement was yet to come. We dove in the current for one thing, and when we came upon the glorious mantra ray all I could say into my mask was (Cassie will be mad at me for cussing) holy shit… 

Dragons, oh my!

On our final days we finally reached the famed Komodo Island. The heat was scorching as we walked the barren island in search of this deadly animal. Every sound from the bush would have heads turning in excitement and/or fear. With one guide in front of our pack, and one near the end we didn't feel very safe considering all they have to fight off a hungry dragon is a long stick that looks like a serpents tongue at the end. Luckily for us and most visitors, these dragons are as lazy as you or I would be if we lived on an hot island. Almost every dragon we encountered spent his day avoiding the sun flopped down in a haphazard position or near a watering hole trying to cool off.

We all had a good laugh on the second island when one of our guides asked if any of the women were having their period, since blood attracts a hungry dragon. Once all the girls assured our guide it was fine we commented on how that could have been important information to have on Komodo Island the day before.

Cast Away

One of my favorite stops while on this boat trip was to an island near Komodo. We hiked to the top for a unbelievable view of the crystal clear ocean below, and the surrounding islands. The dry grass was a lovely golden color that contrasted wonderfully with the blue seas all around us. 

I'm on a boat!

To be honest, I was a little hesitant to go on a four day boat trip from Lombok Island to Flores when Cassie and I first talked about it. The price was pretty steep and living on a boat didn't really appeal to me, but after some debating we both agreed that it was something different and a great way to find ourselves on an island that hasn't been as touched by tourists. Plus we would be stopping on Komodo Island to see the largest dragons in the world.

There were three boats in our fleet, each sleeping 20 tourists. We choose to sleep on the top deck towards the front hoping it would be a bit smoother when we hit rough seas. The crew of six or so would be cooking us breakfast, lunch, and dinner as we laid around on the deck snapping pics of endless blue seas and hundreds of uninhabited islands all around us.

Luckily we boarded on the best boat; we had an energetic guide and a group of young travelers from Germany, Holland, Austria, and Indonesia who we quickly became friends with. We filled our days reading, sunbathing, snorkeling and a few drinking games before we reached our destination. Once on land and after much needed showers we reconviened with our new friends to have an italian dinner before everybody parted ways. 

Gili T

The three Gili Islands just off of Lombok, Indonesia were an amazing place to do a bit more relaxing, and partying. We finally got to Gili Trawangan after probably one of the worst travel days we've experienced so far on our trip. The beaches were some of the prettiest we've seen, and we were able to swim with some huge green turtles so it was worth it in the end. Once we finally settled in our extremely over priced rooms (only available place on the island), we celebrated with a couple icey cold Bintangs with Sarah and Aaron. 

On our last night we decided to walk to the top of the island for a lovely sunset. We passed by cows, chickens, and goats on our way to the lookout spot where we caught the last minutes of a beautiful sunset. It was a nice ending sitting in the tall grass, chilling with our friends.