Relaxation in Amed

Had a beautiful time in Amed, even had to extend a day. This was such a seriously relaxing trip. We relaxed and slept with the sound of the surf. This is a snorkeling and diving paradise, with some of the best coral beds and diversity of fish. We took a day trip with the husband of the hotel manager. He is a fisherman, as was his father. He and his wife also have a café in Amed, right on the bay, Diver's Café. He fishes from the usual style Bali dugout outrigger. He also tends the coral gardens, has added structures to attract fish and coral, as well as divers. We went out with Takuk for sunrise, fishing, snorkeling . Newt ate his catch, grilled at Tradisi, for breakfast. Carli, his wife, does a great job managing Tradisi, where we stayed, taking care of any wish or issue. Mt. Agung is dominant in the distance, rising over 9,000 Ft, straight up from the water. It is a popular climb. You climb up in the dark, starting about 1 am, get to the top for sunrise. Didn't think I could handle that climb, although I am sure Newt could have. We had dinner twice at each of two terrific restaurants, both run by ex-pats who have been living in the islands for over 25 years each. Both had western choices in addition to Balinese food. Both with great staff. After returning from the trip, we were in a small café/grocer in Denpasar, a man came up and said "surprised to see you here". It was the owner of one of the restaurants, Sails, in Amed. Small world.

Great motor scooter idea

This is the happiest use of a motor scooter yet. He runs a children's carousel on his scooter.

My Nightly Prayer

Now I lay me down to bed

My net tucked round my feet and head.

Enshrouded by a womb of white,

I snuggle down to sleep till light.

 

In blissful sleep I lay, so unaware

Of millipedes and spiders lurking near;

Beyond the safety of the net

The scorpion’s stealth has lost its threat.

 

I waken in the dark of night, it’s clear

I must turn on a light

To know just where to put my toes

Without encountering beastie foes.

 

I must turn on the bathroom light

To frighten creatures of the night

Who in this indoor/outdoor space

Crawl, fly and hop their nightly race.

 

Is there a to-ke on the mirror?

A jumpy frog beneath the seat?

A spider hiding on the roll of toilet paper?

I know this is my  biggest fear!

 

With disregard of my dear mate

Still in our bed so fast asleep,

I bang the door, turn on the lights

To chase beasties out to the night.

So now I lay me back in bed,

Retuck the net about my head,

Check that the sides are oh so tight

And close my eyes till morning light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

more Borneo pictures

In the picture of the two monkeys with the white bucket, the bucket contains reconstituted powdered milk, which the monkeys love. After drinking their fill, the mother took the bucket up into he tree because one of the big males was coming to eat. When she and her child were done, she just dropped it to the ground and the ranger picked it up. The butterfly is called a tissue paper butterfly because when it flies, it looks like a tissue floating through the air. It is big, and we saw several. We went to a reforestation area where a very dedicated man grows seedlings. You can pay to plant a tree. He is responsible for the growing and planting of over 10,000 trees. He has kept a list of each one. We each planted trees that produce fruit that the various primates like. This area had previously burned from a human caused fire. You can see the front of the lodge, our boat captain and first mate, the view fromthe river out front of our cabin.

 

 

 

 

 

Trip to Borneo

We spent an amazing four days in the Kalimantan province of Borneo, exploring the wildlife there, mostly primates, birds and butterflies, flowers and trees. We were in and around Tanjung Puting National Park. We stayed in Rimba Lodge, part of the Eco-lodges of Indonesia system. The lodge was rustic but clean and comfortable, with air-conditioning for nights, mosquito nets, hot showers and good food. One will never go hungry as a tourist in Indonesia. We were fed breakfast, morning tea (always with snacks), lunch-a full meal with rice, vegetable, meat, fruit, etc., afternoon tea, dinner .   .   .   We met people from England, France, US, Australia, Netherlands, Canada, all there to see the wonders of the area.

Camp Leaky is the old research center, established in 1971, by a German doctor, who still continues her primate research and treatment, but now in Kumai. Researchers and graduate students come from all over the world to train, observe and participate in the programs here. This NP is the center for care, treatment and research in the field. She started by taking in infant orangutans that had been orphaned by poachers, those found for sale in markets, those found sick or injured. There a now multiple generations in those family lines. They all have names and the rangers and guides who are daily in the area know them by sight. They observe their health, chart and name their off-spring. If they are too ill or injured to be in the wild, they are taken to the center to recoup, and then are released back to their habitat. These are the orangutans at the established feeding stations that tourists can observe. There are wild orangutans living on the many varieties of fruits found natively in the Borneo jungle.  There are also long-tailed and pig-tailed macaques, proboscis monkeys, gibbons, and probably others. The birds species are too numerous to name, but seeing a storm stork, hornbills, and beautiful bright blue kingfishers were highlights.

One of the most wonderful parts of the experience is that once you get into the harbor of Kumai after your flight in, you do not get into another car until you are brought back to the harbor by boat and are driven to the airport again. The river is the only “road”, with klotok boats, little motor boats and row boats. Otherwise, you are walking on boardwalks or trails through and around swampy areas. In one village, there was a cobbled, brick street through the small area of houses, and we saw a couple of motor scooters, that workers would ride to work at the palm oil plantations. There was one larger village of about 300 people, and a couple of smaller villages. The palm oil companies are a big employer. The companies are either Indonesian or Chinese, and employ villages in manual labor. The other big employer is the tourism industry, both the NP and the eco-lodge, ands tour boats. Borneo is threatened by deforestation and loss of habitat for its precious wildlife because of the palm oil companies wanting more land to remove jungle and plant palms, and from timber harvesting. There are gold and zircon mining camps threatening the rivers with silt and chemicals.  Education and modernization threaten the way of life of the villagers. These people live with a foot in each of two very different world.

I wish I could send my whole photo collection, but I will pick a selection to give you a taste of who lives in the park and our experience there.

The Bsli Motor Scooter

A Bali motor scooter can carry:

Three adults

A family of two parents and three (or four) children

Two dozen chickens in cages, going to market

Dozens of helium-filled balloons and numerous toys

A cart for selling roadside treats

A half dozen canisters of petrol

Two side carts to sell frozen treats

Five or six 8ft lengths of lumber or pipe

An 10 ft ladder

Temple decorations

A cart to roast and sell ears of corn

Two exotic bird in large cages

A load of cement bricks

Five 50kg sacks of rice

Four 8ft. 2x6s

Five 19 liter water bottles

Bird's Nest Soup

Have you ever eaten authentic bird's nest soup at a Chinese restaurant? Edible bird's nests have been used in Chinese cooking for over 400 years.
Have you wondered where the bird nests come from and how they are obtained? In the port city of Kumai, Borneo, in Indonesian, the Chinese have established a thriving business in bird's nests. The nests sell for an average of $2500.00 per kilogram. The edible nests are produced by Edible-nest Swiftlets and Black-nest Swiftlets. In Kumai, over two dozen multiple story nesting houses have been erected of cinderblock and cement, with small holes for the birds to fly in and out of. The buildings are made to resemble caves inside, the preferred nesting environment. The birds flock to these, attracted by pre-recorded swiftly sounds piped over loud speakers twenty-four hours a day. The sound can be heard all over the village and the harbor. The villages were compensated for this noise disturbance. This is a big industry in many are of Indonesia. The nests are harvested, boiled and shipped to China and other areas of the world.

Walking near Ubud

Went walking outside of Ubud (Eat, Pray, Love) today, a trail thru terraced, beautiful rice paddies, coffee fields, banana and papaya trees, vanilla bean plants, clove trees, a lovely river, with Sandra ad Dr. Theo, who are from Holland, but have a condominium here and spend three to six weeks several times a year here. It was so fun! Good to be outdoors, walking, no traffic. Along the path, because it is a touristed path, there were several Balinese painters and silversmiths, living and working in small, very basic homes. There were ducks (bebek) wandering through the paddies. Some rice was being harvested, some just planted, some near harvest. There are homestays, bed and breakfasts, and villas going up out in the middle of the fields, because of the growth and popularity of Ubud. Also got to go to Threads of Life, a cooperative dedicated to preserving the art of Ikat weaving, a special type of dyed weaving from Bali, Flores and other near islands. The artists are very talented and dedicated, but without help from outside of Bali, the weavers, all women, will not receive adequate payment for their product. From spinning and then dying the fine threads, to warping the looms and weaving, a piece can take from two to eighteen months. What a wonderful day. And a special discovery when walking back to our car (see the pics)

Bukit Doa, the Hill of Prayer

Newt has mentioned that BDIC, the church he is leading, is located in an area that the government allowed for churches of five faiths to build worship facilities. There is a mosque, a Catholic church,  a Buddhist temple,  the Protestant church shared by the Indonesian church and the English-speaking congregation, and the Hindu temple. The 4th pic is a view of all of them, and the last pic is the Hindus. We all share a parking lot, which can get pretty crazy. Good Friday was also a big Muslim holiday, and many busloads of Muslim worshippers we dropped off, causing a major traffic jam as we were coming to Good Friday worship. The Catholics  have services all morning long, the Hindus at 1200 on Sunday, and multiple times daily, throughout the week, the Muslims worship on Fridays. The Buddhists worship on Wednesdays and Sundays. 

Easter Monday with kids

Each week, Newt goes to a school started by a member of the Bukit Doa International Protestant Church, Susan. The school is Christian. The children in the school are mostly Hindu, although some are Christian. Most of the families are very poor. Susan teaches Christian concepts along with the usual learning of numbers, letters, colors, behavior, etc. On Easter Monday, they took a special trip to the beach, had an Easter egg hunt, a lesson from Pastor Newt about Christ's resurrection, and a farewell to some of the international volunteers that help in the school. His lessons have to be translated phrase by phrase by Susan or another of the teachers into Indonesian. Needless to say, it is hard to put Christian concepts into understandable terms for these cute little Hindu children.