So this is the post that I've been waiting to post for so long. Pardon me that it took months to let u know about my very exciting trip, but I was just stuck on choosing which photos that I SHOULDN'T post. Come on, they are all too good to not-be-posted! So folks, here I present you, my amazing, Flores trip.
Honestly, I am not really a beach person-type. Yes. Seriously. Sometimes, as an Indonesian, I feel guilty. The reason is simply that I don't like too much sunshine. Being born and raised in the warmest city of Indonesia, I know the capability of our sun and its effect on my skin. Scientists say that people with dark skin tolerate the sun better than brighter skin does, but it's all LIE. I've become a living victim for my entire life and that's why I can't tolerate too much heat because my fear had always proven true, my skin always gotten super darker after "sunny" holiday. It's not good "dark". Not pretty-tanned like Adriana Lima or Eva Mendes.
Ehem. But. Flores is too valuable to be ignored. My antipathy to sunlight always defeated by the guarantee of superior scenery. I always wanted to visit Flores, and when it can be accomplished, without thinking, I grabbed my 110 SPF-sunscreen and backpack eagerly. Btw, this was my first trip by ship. We chose the PELNI ship because the flight to Flores was very expensive. Ship trip to Flores from Makassar takes 1 day and it was quite fun actually, especially if you were with a quite a lot of good fellas. You can play cards or any games on board, just be patient though, in the absence of cellphone signal during the day. The ship then announced that they offered us variety of movies to watch together in a watching-room, and it consists of local-horror movies starred by Julia Perez. Seriously.
Day 1
1) Kanawa Island
To get this view, we had to go to the back side of the island, and hike a bit. I might be a bad example of this case. I climbed with backpack full of things, so I was like very exhausted half the way. I just realized that I forgot to expend some of my luggage at the boat, so I brought many kilograms with me while climbing a hill. And it was a really, sunny, day. Nice. Ah, you can also snorkle in here.
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 2) Gili Laba Our next destination after lunch on board was the infamous Gili Laba/Gili Lawa. This is the mandatory spot for everyone's visiting Flores. Some say, if you haven't visit Gili Laba, you haven't been in Flores. It was nearly sunset and we off for a 1 hour hike to the top of Gili Laba. Usually, if you are a trained hiker, you can take 20-30 minutes to reach the top. Some also say it's a gonna be a lil, bit challenging, but I found it quite fun. Because I learned from my stupid experience at Kanawa, I dropped my bag, use my shorts and running gear (not sandals, ugh) and hiked happily. It was not until this moment that I realized how incredible the surrounding islands are. The landscape of the island rising out to the sea was incredible. The hike was worth every drop of sweat for the pictures.  |
Day 2
1) Padar Island
Today we parked our boat on the island called Padar Island. Fyi, this was my favorite day of the trip. Padar Island personally, is the most beautiful place I've ever visited. Padar is the third largest island in the Komodo National Park, after the Komodo and Rinca. There was no komodo in here, anyway. The hike took longer time than Gili Laba, but the field was less challenging. The road to the top was worth every snap, it's surrounded by thatches and hillocks, and the higher you get, the more stunning view of the beach you can get. When I finally settled my ass at the top, I can't helped but scream a little.
It was too beautiful. Everything was so perfect, even the crazy sun heat can't beat the feeling of standing on the top of Padar. The three beaches-view was spectacular. We took some time there just to make sure our eyes catched every bit of the beauty. Trust me, you don't wanna miss Padar.
2) Manta Point
Being named as Manta Point, usually it's the spot where we can see some mantas swim around. But the truth is manta is quite seasonal to find. There are such times when you can't see any of them. If you're lucky enough, you may see or even swim with them! Unfortunately we didn't meet any manta, so we just parked in a very small island near Manta Point with pretty white-pinkish sand. The water surrounded the island had that crystal clear-blue gradient that is very instagram-able.
3) Pink Beach
We spent our afternoon snorkeling in Pink Beach. Pink Beach is a famous and gorgeous site, and definitely lives up to its reputation visually. Pink Beach gets its name from the ground-up red coral that washes ashore. The water was very clear, and the underwater garden was awesome!! I've never seen so much healthy-looking coral in my life. There were dozens of fish species too. There were so many corals in any kind of colors. The shallow depth of water, made me and Oya nervous that our feet may touch the corals and hurt them. It seems that my eyes can't get enough of the underwater view! If it weren't for the high likelihood of getting sunburned, I would've spent all afternoon swimming around.
The day was finished with the nice view of the dawn from our boat... Have I told you how much I love dawn?
Day 3
1) Komodo Island
Another mandatory place! Today is all about komodo, the famous "big lizzard" from Indonesia, or also known as the komodo dragon. The animal is quite scary, they look lazy all the time, but I was really aware that they gonna move really fast when we approaching too close.
2) Rinca Island
Rinca Island is also known for its komodo habitat, and the guide say the island has more (komodo) than Komodo Island. I like Rinca more, because instead of the komodo sightseeing, the island also surrounded by beautiful hills and sceneries. I love the walk that we took around the island, where you can see nice views from the top of the hills.
3) Menjaga Island
Menjaga Island is a special treat! Our tour guide said they never took anyone here before, usually it was them (the sailors and guides) who snorkle around here. The place is very beauutiful, we can snorkle and swim with the amazing view behind!
The funny (yet scary) thing here, when we swim around suddenly our captain said "tadi ada hiu 3 lewat", and we rushingly swim into the boat! Hahahahah. Damn it was scary, but then he says, "dont worry, its just as big as my thigh." Well, it is still scary, captain -___-
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| snorkling together with the boat crew |
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| a mermaid was spotted
Day 4
It's time to go home! OMG that was an amazing adventure. I challenged myself to live on board for 3 days, get along sleeping on the boat with the ocean waves situation, but I think I did well. It was a lovely adventure, challenging, but lovely. I highly guarantee you folks with those comfort zones to get "wet" and enjoy the ride. It was undoubtedly, an unforgettable experience for me.
I was actually pretty happy with the food served on board. We get three meals each day, and there's pretty much always enough for seconds. They have tons of bottled drinking water, also coffee/tea in the morning. One morning the cook even made us pancakes.
I also love the night time, when we lay on the upper deck and had a decent stargazing party going on. Melancholic music playing, playing cards, and good vibes.
LIKU "DO's and DONT's" FOR FLORES SAILING TRIP!
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