We fiiiinally managed to peel our crispy bodies off the beach and onto a boat, setting sail for the island of Flores. Despite sleeping quarters that were organised more or less in the fashion of a giant slumber party (no pillow fights or toenail painting, much to our dismay), we had an excellent time aboard.
We went the long way 'round, stopping on occasion to snorkle (new animal spotted: cuttlefish!) or to hike about the islands (which made Sara squeal with delight and me wish I hadn't left my bed). Of course, the best part was our stopover on Jurassic Park--er, I mean, Komodo Island. Our dragon hunt began as we tip-toed through the brush beneath a light rain, whispering only when necessary and keeping our eyes peeled for the enormous reptiles. Needless to say, we were more than a bit disappointed when, after an hour, we were nearly back at our boat and the elusive komodos were yet to be seen.
However, it was just then that we emerged at the small cafeteria on the island, and low and behold there was not one but FIVE dragons!! They were just chilling out under the porch, on the lawn, beneath the stairs, drawn in by the smell of cooking and by optomistic hopes of an abandoned plate or dropped sandwich. Clearly komodos are less lizard and more raccoon. Regardless, they were truly awesome creatures. The ones we saw were about three meters long (though they can grow much larger) and wandered around lazily with a sort of ambling gait. These ones didn't seem overly aggressive (particularily the fellow snoozing under the stairs with his bum hanging out, legs akimbo) but we were informed that they weren't to be reckoned with--not if we were overly attached to our limbs and digits. "Dingo ate my baby," indeed.
We arrived on Flores and, as soon as flip-flop kissed pavement, we raced to the nearest diveshop and flung wads of rupiah at them. We'd been told repeatedly that Flores was "the" place to dive--arugably one of the best in the world--and holy mackeral (or holy manta ray), were they right.
Our first dive was to Manta Point. Twenty-five minutes into the dive, we were feeling bored and somewhat dejected. There were occasional patches of coral here and there, but for the most part the bottom was sand and uninteresting. But then, out of the blue--in every literal sense--there came one of the most radiant creatures we had ever laid eyes upon. Firstly, manta rays are HUGE. This one had a wingspan of a good three meters, at least. And they move with such elegance and grace. This one was gliding through the water with a power and serenity unmatched by even the most majestic soaring eagle, when suddenly a second manta appeared. The two of them circled each other akin to the swirls of a yin yang, then swam away together, one slightly and precisely above its companion. I'd say it took our breath away, but that's not really a term you want to throw around lightly when it comes to diving, so I'll just leave it at: it was an utterly inspiring and flabbergasting experience.
Our second dive was to a site called Pengah. Unlike Manta Point, Pengah isn't known for any one specific highlight, but rather as an overall utterly sublime exhibition of oceanic nature. There was a coral wall that we swam along which was just stunning. It breemed with colour and life in a way that we had never before encountered while diving, and most likely never will again. It was impossible to take it all in--you could spend an hour staring at the square foot in front of you and still not be able to register every detail, every creature. Even though our experience is limited, we are in complete agreement with everyone who claims this to be one of the greatest dive areas in the world, simply because we are not capable of imagining anything better. The current was mean, though, and we clung to rocks and coral until our fingerprints were scraped off just to avoid being whisked off into the blue abyss.
During our second day of diving, the first site we visited was Castle Rock--and I am not exaggerating when I say that it was right out of Discovery Channel's "Shark Week." All we had to do was grab onto a secure piece of rock or coral and watch as white-tipped reef sharks and grey reef sharks gathered like pigeons in Chinatown. The most we saw at any given time was five, but that's a somewhat misleading number. A diving mask really cuts down on your periferal and leaves you with almost tunnel vision, and because of the large amount of equipment attached to you it's difficult to turn your head and get a real sense of your surroundings. So perhaps it's more accurate to say that there were at least five sharks in our direct line of vision. We also saw tons of other aquatic life, including giant trevellies, an octopus (at least, part of an octopus--it refused to emerge from its hole, but there was a distinct eye and tentacle seen), an eagle ray, a baby shark lying under a piece of table coral, and a school of medium-sized silvery fish that hovered in the water in interlocking geometric patterns until one of them singled the rearrange.
Our second dive that day was at Crystal Rock which, like Pengah, doesn't have one singular highlight but is an overall beautiful place. It was there that we saw another shark, a spotted stingray, moray eels, and had a very strange encounter with two giant napoleon fish. We were scuba'ing along, doing our thing, when suddenly a pair of 3 m long green fish appeared before us. They swam towards us, slowing down to take us in, then passed on by. Then, less than a minute later, they did it again. It wasn't long before we found ourselves being circled by these fish, daring to come closer each time, until it finally turned into a western-style showdown with one of them swimming directly at us at what I can only assume was medium-to-top speed. I took one look at the massive napoleon, another look at Sara, and thought, Nuts to this!! and bailed from what appeared to have become an aquatic version of Red Rover. But Sara was less the chicken than I, and stared that sucker down until, at the last moment, it veered away. Sara: 1, Napoleon: 0, $ue: disqualified.
But it wasn't just under the sea that the aquatic life was strutting its stuff. A marlin leaped into the air as we boated towards the dive site once, and a whole pack of dolphins swam alongside our vessel. And, while still on the big boat heading to Flores, we saw some type of whale come up for air a couple of times.
This has been one of those times during our backpacking experience that we truly realise just how lucky we are to be seeing and doing all of this. The world is such an awesome place--something that's easy to forget when one is communiting to work on the TTC for forty minutes per day or waiting out winter storms in front of the television--and we feel so overwhelmed and humbled by it, as well as so blessed to be able to revel in its beauty.
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