Our unforgettable travel experiences - vintage blog part 1
During our quarantine due to our Covid infection we were looking at some old photo albums and again realised how lucky we were to have been able to enjoy some really extraordinary trips in the past. So we decided to go back in time and write a series of vintage blogs hoping to inspire you too, to discover more of our beautiful planet.
This story goes to Asia back in 2012, when we wanted to visit the famous Komodo dragons, the biggest lizards on earth:
It's a long trip to Indonesia and after a short stay in Bali, our next destination was the unspoiled island of Flores. From Bali we flew to Maumere – the largest city in Flores, and were impressed by the volcano Mount Egon in this beautiful light.
The beauty of this active volcano was so inspiring that we made a spontaneous decision to climb to the top. We organised a guide at the basic but lovely Ankermi Happy Dive Lodge. The hike was pretty strenuous but definately well worth the effort. We found a little rock to bring back and even today, it still smells strongly of sulphur – nature is just amazing! On the left you can see Clare and our guide, giving a good indication of the size of the crater.
Hiking up the 1700m high volcano from almost sea level was quite an achievement. But it wasn't just the view into the crater that was rewarding, we also had a clear view of the beautiful area and the many surrounding islands. Today, we don't think our knees would appreciate the steep hike back down!
After the hike we spent some relaxing days at the beach. Having seen the lovely, small islands of Pangabatan and Babi from above, we booked another private guided excursion on a small boat to visit these. The snorkelling was good and they showed us a big divide in the reef which was caused by devastating earth quake back in 1992.
At lunch time, they dropped us off on a perfect beach where we enjoyed a beach picnic. Having the place all to ourselves made us feel a bit like Robinson Crusoe 😊. We didn't expect a beach paradise with white sand and turquoise water like this and were amazed! We loved our time on these islands!
Before we left Switzerland, we'd pre-organised a private guide for our trip through Flores and over to Labuan Bajo, which is the base for Komodo island. In our opinion we always find it really worth spending the extra money to get the knowledge from a local guide and learn about their traditional life, their land and culture. And we also got to places which we wouldn't have been able to on our own or by public transport.
Our first stop was at the Wuring fishing village in Maumere where there's a Muslim minority community and they live in houses built on stilts. Unlike other parts of Indonesia, most people on Flores are Roman Catholic Christians. We had such fun with the local kids who loved to pose with us to take pictures. And then showing them the results on the screen, watching their bright faces, big smiles and laughter was a beautiful experience.
From there we drove to the southern part of the island, to Paga where we had a fish lunch at the beach. This area in Flores has some excellent beaches but because there were very limited amounted of accommodation, the area had remained totally unspoiled.
Next, the road took us inland and into the jungle. Here we had some fun with the locals as there was a traffic jam due to road works - everybody was happy and waiting patiently, having some laughs. This picture gives an idea of how relaxed people are there, and how public transport works on Flores 😊.
At the end of our fist day we arrived at Modi where we stayed at the lovely Kelimutu Crater Lakes Ecolodge. There wasn't much time to enjoy the lodge as we had to get up very early to catch the sunrise at the top of Kelimutu – a sacred and extinct volcano. The early rise was totally worth it and a real highlight - watching the sun rise from the Inspiration Point lookout on this misty morning and seeing the three different coloured lakes was simply breathtaking.
That same day, our trip continued through an area full of rice paddies. We saw farmers ploughing their fields in the traditional way, with the help of their water buffalos. In this part of the world, not everyone can enjoy the luxury of modern equipment. But the people don't seem to need it and are happy with their life and the traditional ways.
At Ende we stopped at this beach called Blue Stone Beach. When the waves roll in, you can hear the rattling of stones on the dark volcanic sand. These stones are either blue, green, red or yellow and interestingly enough, there's no definitive geological explanation for these colours.
The drive took us further inland again, through a lush and hilly landscape where the dominant and perfectly shaped Mount Inieri volcano was visible. This is the highest mountain on Flores at 2245m.
Our next stop was another unique place, Bena village. This is where the Ngada people live in their traditional houses that are beautifully located on the Bajawa plateau and there are amazing views of the perfectly shaped Gunung Inerie volcano.
The Ngada people have their own religion and worship the god Gae Dewa. A visit to this place was like travelling back in time. Just awesome! On many of the roofs of the houses you can see figures, sculptures or mini houses and they all have specific and important meanings and connections to their beliefs.
Sadly today, this place has become a popular tourist location and the original vibe may be lost. But, its perfect location, the architecture, tradition and stories are very much worth the visit.
Continuing on before reaching Ruteng for the night, we had one more stop. This was at a distillery to watch how Arak, the local liquor, is produced in its traditional process. To us it looked like a huge pipe 😊 and was really interesting to see this made.
On our last drive we stopped at a view point to see the Lingko rice fields. These fields have been planted in the form of a huge spider web and is certainly unique. In the rainy season everything's lush and green. Our visit was just out of this season when the rice fields were yellow and brown. But even so, with the morning light and mountains in the background it was great to see!
Our tour of Flores ended in Labuan Bajo which is the gateway to visit the Komodo islands. Thanks to these dinosauric dragons, the city was at that time on its way to becoming a tourist hotspot. To stay flexible, we booked a boat just for us which allowed us to spend the day visiting an island and lodge and doing some great snorkelling on the way to Komodo Island. The quantity and quality of reef and different fish was amazing!
It was June with really high temperatures and humidity. Perfect on the boat in the breeze but pretty hot on the hike on the island. It was great! Lurking behind our guide, it was truly exhilarating - always wondering when a dragon would 'jump' out of the bush at us 😊!
We ended up encountering a baby dragon that was camouflaging in the grass. They need to hide from the adult dragons as they would get eaten! The hike took us through some beautiful landscape and another animal encounter - a buffalo cooling off in this mud hole.
Back at the visitors center we then came face to face with the dragons. They move around freely, going from and to the shady spots. Then, when they move towards you, you absolutely make sure you keep your distance, knowing full well that they can and will attack and kill you. Ugh!
Their bite is toxic due to the bacteria in their mouths and teeth and their favourite food sources are deer, water buffalo, birds, monkeys and even horses. There are some stories about people who went missing on Komodo Island and in one case, they only found the camera... So never go out there without a Ranger/Guide! All in all, there are about 3000 dragons there in the wild nowadays, growing up to 3 metres in length and 70 kilos in weight.
We really enjoyed our tour of these more remote islands and truly recommend the combination of Flores & Komodo. You'll still find the traditional Asian way of life along with beautiful scenery on Flores, the fantastic snorkelling/diving opportunities and the thrill of the Komodo Dragons.
Flores was truly one of our exiting trips (along with our 3-month honeymoon back in 1995, over 30 most amazing travels in Australia/South Pacific since 1988 and our many astounding travels in Africa).
"One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name"
(The Call - Thomas Osbert Morsdaunt, 1730-1809)
Travel blog and travel guide by Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker
© Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker