Komodo Trip, Part 2

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise on day 2 and found ourselves in a cove dotted with small islands.

 

 I was somewhat less than excited to find my nemesis, an Asian hornet, had spent the night with us as well.  His life ended shortly after this picture.

None of slept all that well the first night, similar to the first night of camping when the noises and surroundings are unfamiliar.  A delicious breakfast sure helped get the day off on the right foot, though.

We were just a quick ride away from Loh Buaya on Rinca Island and our first visit to Komodo National Park.  It actually covers three major islands and many small ones as well.

Selamat Datang!  We were all pretty dang excited to see some komodo dragons because who hasn't watched a video of them as a kid and thought they're awesome?  We never thought we'd get this opportunity in life.

Before we spotted any dragons, we saw plenty of evidence in the tidal flats on either side of the boardwalk leading up to the ranger station.

The first one!  So surreal.  This guy was just cruising by, totally unconcerned with us.

Up by the ranger station, we met our guide who would escort us around the island.  He said the kitchen is a popular place to find many of the big guys.  They apparently don't feed them but it can't stop a dragon from wishing...

A lot of big ones were just relaxing by the kitchen.

The guides really know how to get an impressive picture!  Thank goodness, because no way were we getting that close to one of the faces.

A younger guy wandered by busily looking for something to eat.  Even he steers clear of the big fellows because he could be a snack himself.

The island also had deer, water buffalo, and monkeys...all nice meals for the komodos.

 

I would NOT mess with these guys!

 

We saw one of the komodo nests.  It seems that some guinea fowl typically start the nests (and one was busy working on hers as we watched) and the komodos just take over when they're ready to lay eggs.  We were not there during mating or nesting season, which is a good thing.

We hiked up to a pretty hill and spotted another young komodo dragon at the top, but he was quick and disappeared as soon as he saw us.

A look back at the lovely bay of Loh Buaya (Crocodile bay)

 

On our way back out, we found another big guy sunning himself in the middle of a family of monkeys.  They were respectful of his space for sure.

 After such an adventurous but sweaty morning, it was nice to get back on the boat and relax while we enjoyed the changing scenery.

We listened to an audiobook (Harry Potter #7) while we cruised through beautiful islands.  Both were enthralling.  I had a major goal of all of us unplugging from screens for 4 days and it was completely worth it.

Our next stop was Pulau Padar, which was one of my most anticipated sites.  I'd seen a few pictures from the top when we first moved to Indonesia and I knew that if I ever had the chance I would love to go there.  It was a HOT day and the sun was directly overhead, so I had to give the boys lots of encouragement to keep going up the steep path.

Just a short way up, the view was already lovely.

 

I was prepared for some incredible views, but I was still blown away.  What an amazing place!  The two beaches on the right were pristine white, the bottom one of the left was black volcanic rock, and the upper left one was pink.

 

I packed the selfie stick for this one photo!  Wish we'd gotten a few more so Alex's eyes were open but the heat was pretty intense and patience was low.

Ben and I stayed at the main lookout to soak up the views, while Matt and Alex went all the way to the top.

 

Absolutely stunning!

 Matt's view from the top was pretty amazing.  One of the most beautiful islands we've ever seen.

 

After we'd enjoyed our hike, we hustled back to the shade of the boat and a quick dip in the water before lunch.

Nothing is quite as refreshing as an ocean like this...

 

 Time for some more relaxation, naps, and changing scenery on our way around Padar towards Komodo Island.

 

 The only village we saw on our entire trip was on Komodo, and there was no doubt when we got close to it.  Several boats came up to us immediately to sell handmade goods, food, and beer. Pretty easy shopping from our own deck.

 

Ben got his turn driving the Li'l Leaker with Shawn, our guide, to the pink beach on Komodo.

 

Right at the water's edge it had a lovely pink hue.

 

 

 

The white sand is dotted with flecks of red coral, so from a distance it looks pink.

 

Ready for more snorkeling!  For some reason, the water here was really cold so we didn't last all that long.

 

 It was beautiful, though.  The coral everywhere was so diverse in shape and color.

 

It's totally different digging in pink sand!

We had one final cruise over to the island where we docked for the night, Pulau Lasa - Population: 2 (goats)

 

The small village on Komodo, which didn't seem to have any vehicles except boats.

The views around the bay were gorgeous.

Our trusty Labalaba boat, anchored offshore.

The guys prepared a beach barbecue for us on the tiny island with a freshly caught tuna on the grill.  They brought over chairs, a table, candles, and all the food.

Naturally, the kids had no problem finding something to do while preparations were being made.

Starting the grill for the fish.  Does anything taste better than a fresh catch cooked on a beach?

It was a lovely evening to sit outside and take in the sunset.  Definitely a memorable night on the beach and a very successful day #2.

Komodo Trip, Part 1

For our long anticipated spring break trip, we chose a true Indonesian adventure - a live-aboard boat cruising around Komodo National Park!  We had been looking forward to it for months and the 2 hour flight from Jakarta to Labuan Bajo amped up the excitement even more.  When we started flying over islands like this we knew we'd found an amazing vacation spot.

 

Plus, no flight over Indonesia is ever without amazing volcanoes.  Turns out this was Mt. Sengeang and we'd get a great view of it later on our trip.

 

Welcome to Komodo Airport!  We chose to spend our first night in a hotel in the small town of Labuan Bajo so that we could enjoy a full first day aboard the boat.

The beach was nothing to speak of but the pool was nice and vacation relaxing commenced immediately.

Every vacation should start with a rainbow!

 

Our first sunset over the islands of East Nusa Tenngara.

 

To give you a brief overview of all the land we covered, I went back and marked out our days.  Most of the time we didn't have cell service so we couldn't even look up a map but part of the adventure was having no idea what was ahead.

 The boat company picked us up from our hotel and as luck would have it, two other families from school were on our flight, staying at the same hotel, and using the same boat company!  We even picked the same restaurant for dinner before we all left.

We loaded up our little dinghy at the marina (later affectionately named the Li'l Leaker by the kids because it constantly took on water) and set out to our boat.

Our living room and bedroom for the next four days.  The fresh muffins and brownies were warmly received by the younger crowd!

 
 We set sail from the island of Flores and began our journey!  We had a crew of three onboard - the captain, the cook, and the guide.  They really didn't tell us anything about what to expect the first day so we were just up for whatever adventures awaited. (And even though it wasn't a large boat, I was amazed at how these guys could disappear and make it feel like we had the boat to ourselves...gotta admit I was a bit worried about being the lone female sharing a bathroom on a boat with 6 males!)

Ready to explore!  The breeze and the views on the upper deck were incredible.

We arrived at our first snorkeling stop - Kelor Island.

 The water was chilly and clear and we couldn't wait to see what was in it.

 It was shallow and felt like swimming in an aquarium.  Fish of every color all around us.

 

Love spotting a lion fish!

The boys enjoyed the snorkeling but can't ever resist digging in the sand.  I think I have about a dozen pictures like this on different beaches from our trip.

I found a pretty little gem!

 We got back on the boat happy and tired from our first swim and were so excited to find out that wonderful smell was our lunch.  Lunches and dinners were quite an event.

 

I'm not exactly sure where our next stop was but I believe we were on the coast of Flores.  There were hundreds of starfish in a variety of colors here.

Pretty fish but the water was a little more cloudy and the waves were a bit bigger, so Alex didn't last long snorkeling.

Instead, the kids discovered their new passion - jumping off the boat.

 

This never got old for the entire trip.  As long as the water was clean and deep, they were flying off.

 

Our Jakarta friends' boat anchored near us and the kids synchronized their jumps for the rest of the afternoon.

We cruised along to Pulau Papargaran (I think) to catch the sunset and an amazing daily event.

Thousands upon thousands of massive flying foxes take off at sundown each day.  It was pretty spectacular.

Not a bad way to wrap up our first day on the water!  We stayed out on the deck watching the flying foxes until we couldn't see them anymore and enjoyed the stars appearing.

The boat anchored at Nusa Wainatu for the night so we got to wake up to all new scenery.

Family Fun Fair

We enjoyed our first Family Fun Fair, which is a huge school carnival and fundraiser for many organizations on campus.  We saw lots of friends and had a great time wandering through the fun.

 

I understood why the baseball games were cancelled - the FFF took up both fields and the soccer field as well.  Lots of inflatables and games for the kids to enjoy.

Surprisingly enough, the first thing Ben wanted to do was ride the (tiny) horses.  

After playing and getting plenty wet and sweaty, Alex performed a few songs with the choir.

There was lots of good food to be found, even ice cream corn! hehe

The USA booth was selling frito pies, so along with sausage from the Aussie sizzle and some Mexican empanadas, this family went home happy.

Reunited and it feels SO good!

Ben's Strings Bash

Ben got to take part in the annual Strings Bash, where all the strings students from every campus come together.  They performed Ode to Joy all together first, then each strings section played two songs.  Unfortunately, I can't share the videos on here but I got some great pictures from the JIS website and my camera.

Ben has enjoyed learning the violin but has already told me several times that he just wants to focus on the guitar next year :)  In 8th grade, guitar will be an elective at school!

 

Alex's Performances

Last weekend, all the JIS choirs came together for a concert.  Both elementary schools, the middle school, the high school, and the adult Indonesian choir each performed separately in turn.  Here's the highlight of Alex's turn with the PIE choir.  He's on the far left, middle row.  When the video shakes, it's because I couldn't stop laughing!

For the grand finale, all the choirs came together for one song together and I've gotta say, it left me teary!  The lyrics say that we all laugh, all cry, all feel hunger, all feel pain...We are one world, one people, and we all bleed the same.  To hear voices of all ages from all over the globe singing the words together was incredible.

Alex is on the front row.  The video is in two parts because it was too long to share.

Finally, Alex's class performed a really interesting Chinese song at their weekly assembly.  The recorder may not have been his first choice, but he did a nice job (once he finally woke up and realized his group's part had started!).  I love getting to see the kids learn something new and show it off to the world.