Leaving Houston we set off to Indonesia and eventually the famous Wakatobi Dive Resort. The first leg was Houston to England, then England to Singapore, and then Singapore to Bali for a 3 day stop to tour and recover. The Komaneka Inn was lovely and located in Ubud...where we basically crashed the first night! Off the next morning we toured silver jewelry making, wood carving, several Hindu temples, and a dormant volcano.....enjoying lunch overlooking the volcano. A stop at the rice fields offered Dana and I a chance to try a rice swing. It was a long day but we saw lots!
The next day Jill and I booked a tour of the John Hardy jewelry factory outside Ubud. A private car picked us up and we enjoyed a very informative tour, before having lunch with some of the staff. After lunch it was time to shop...trying on jewelry was fun and Jill did buy a bobble or two! When we got back we walked to the local market to shop and enjoyed a cup of Luwak coffee, the most expensive coffee in the world. That evening Jill and I made reservations at Bridges for dinner and had a lovely evening.
Up early the next morning it was time to catch our flight to Wakatobi, so it was back to the airport, more security and a 2 1/2 hour flight! We landed at Maranggo Airstrip where we were transported by vans to a small port where we boarded boats to Wakatobi. Finally we had made it and checked into our Oceanfront Bungalow B16!
Diving started for us the next morning and we were assigned to the Waka III for our stay. It was a big boat, with lots of room, a big staff to take care of us and a knowledgeable dive staff! Our dive master was Nicki and she was excellent...taking great care of our group of 4 divers.....Mark, Suzanne, Jill and I. During the week I made my 600th dive and celebrated with a photo op and later a cake in the dining room.
The reefs of Wakatobi are amazing......full of life, bursting with color, and unusual marine life creatures. It was like nothing I had seen before! All our dives lasted one hour....some with a little current, some with crazy current! Most dives were in the 40-60 foot range. They spoiled us with top notch treatment....warm minty towels after surfacing, towels, hot chocolate, tea or coffee, cookies and breads, plus sandwiches.....plus our gear was well taken care of each day!
During the week we did manage to shop at the boutique, enjoyed two wonderful massages, and enjoyed sunset at the bar pier toasting the day with a Screaming Orgasm. Several afternoons we floated around in Kirk’s villa pool while they were diving.
The staff of the resort were the kindest, friendliest, and most efficient folks......calling us by name by the second day.....a trick they won’t reveal!
Our final day we had bags out at 6:30 am, enjoyed breakfast, toured the Wakatobi liveaboard, and waited for the journey home to begin. It began in a small boat to the dive boat, then back in the little boat, climbing up ancient rock steps to vans to the airstrip for our first flight! Landing in Bali Jill and I had a motel room so we could shower, change clothes, and relax before our flight to Singapore. It was then a flight from Singapore to England, then onto Houston where Dale was waiting to pick me up! Total flying time about 26 hours...not counting layover time, security time, and the hikes in some airports!
Brutal is what I called it!
Brutal is what I called it!
