Exploring Flores
Simanderal
Michael Hughes and Ger White
Sat 13 Aug 2011 09:30
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We spent 3 nights at anchor off a small
resort--mainly for divers--near Maumere. Good swimming waters and a nice
restaurant ashore--though the beach landing at night could be a
challenge!
Along with another boat--Canadians on Tagish--we
hired a car and driver to see some of Flores for a day--started at 0500
hours--in the dark--in order to get to the 3 coloured lakes before there was any
cloud build up. These are 3 lakes in volcano craters, one blue/green, one brown
and one black! All visible from a mountain top involving a modest climb--needed
the exercise. Then lunch by the beach and a visit to Sikka, a centre for cotton
weaving. It was 1700 by the time we returned--a 12 hour trip!
Then on 11th/12th we did a 30 hour sail along the
north Flores coast to our current anchorage off the island of Gili Bodo on the
north west end of Flores. Best anchorage yet in Indonesia though needed to keep
a good lookout for coral reefs and shallow patches etc. on the way in.
Lovely white sand beach backed by trees and greenery, good condition coral, very
clear water--and all to ourselves! Except for the monkeys who come down to
forage on the beach when the tide goes out--crabs? Spending a couple of nights
here before heading to the Komodo islands.
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