Location Report - Watusopu/Matusaki
Sea Mist > Sold to New Owners July 2016
John and Cheryl Ellsworth
Thu 23 Aug 2012 09:13
20 nm of motoring between 8 am and 11 am moved us from an anchorage that was driving us a bit crazy with a nuisance role to an anchorage that is perfectly flat/calm/and no locals disturbing our tranquility. 3 of our cruising rally friends are here with us...but no one had even taken thier dinghy down....until the young folks (Mark, Dana and 7 month old Walker) on S/V Northfork broke the pattern and scouted the bay and its reefs....there is what the unlimited stamina of youth can exhibit. The other 3 of us old foggies (Imagine, Destiny and Sea Mist) have done nothing but chill today.
We needed a bit of downtime after 3 busy days in Mausambi...finishing up yesterday (the last day) with a 4:30 am departure from the beach for a 2.5 hour ride up into the mountains to experience one of Indonesian's treasures....Lake Kelimutu National Park...with its spectacular 3 volcanic craters that are the basins for very unique colored water...each different from the other. They believe the spirits live here forever and treat the park with great respect....and lots of domestic tourism. It is a decent climb from the parking lot to reach the viewing area for the first 2 craters......and then a fairly tough climb (stairs) to the top of the overall lookout and to see the 3rd crater and the overall panorama.
We had an early lunch at a restaurant way up in the mountains and then took our time driving back over the next 3 hours stopping at roadside markets, stopping to see cloves and coffee beans drying in peoples front yards ....and stopping to take in spectacular views of rice padddies that are constructed on the mountain slopes....the rice paddies go on for miles and miles of mountain valleys....it is really an extraordinary manifestation of what humans can do with just their hands and mother natures supply of water and sun.
Last evening, we celebrated our good friend Mike Last's 60th Birthday (S/V Calisto); we had the crews of about 10 boats gathered on Calisto for the celebration....great "starters" prepared by everyone....and, of course Bintang (the great Indonesian beer), wine and whatever to quench our well developed thirsts after a long day/drive in the open air dusty trucks-make shift mini-buses). The 3:15 am wake-up/start for the day did have us call a halt to the party well before 8 pm....must be the over 60's bodies reminding us that rest is not optional anymore.
We will post some photos when we once again have internet one of these days....in the meantime, the old reliable Iridium Satellite Phone is keeping us connected to the world.....please send your emails.....love to see stuff in our inbox.
Ciao, the Seamisters
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