Return to Raja Ampat

It was a hard decision to stay in Indonesia for Christmas, but because of Covid-19 and the fact that we don't own a home in Houston, traveling all the way to the US didn't seem like a wise choice. Later in December, Indonesia closed its borders to foreigners (KITAS holders would later be exempted but it was confusing at first) and then required hotel quarantine starting in January, so we were extra happy with our choice to stay within the borders here. It's always sad to facetime instead of hug our loved ones at Christmas, but a change of scenery helped to kick the holiday blues.

We decided to return to Raja Ampat because our beloved resort there, Papua Explorers, reopened in October and hadn't had visitors since the end of that month.  The staff was fully quarantined and thrilled to be receiving guests again. It's a long night and day of travel to get there, but so worth it.

After the painful midnight flight to Sorong, we spent a few hours in a hotel lobby napping and waiting for our boat to get stocked and ready.

The masks get annoying but they do their job! 

Finally, around noon, it was time to head to the boat!  Who would have thought we would ever be celebrating Christmas in Papua?

On the boat, we did swap the N95 masks for a lighter surgical mask but we were enjoying the fresh air and cool breeze after a morning of rain.  It was right in the middle of rainy season and we did see a lot more cloud cover and a few hours of rain most days, but it didn't spoil much.  The nights were much more comfortable and a few were even chilly! (or maybe our blood is getting thin after years in the tropics?)

After stopping at the closest town on Gam to register our negative Covid tests, we were thrilled to see the resort again.

The staff all came out to welcome us and it was the only time we saw most of them.  They took Covid protocol seriously and we only interacted with a handful of people during our stay, entirely outdoors and always with masks. They were so excited to have guests again!

Pondok 16 was all ours again!  It actually determined our dates because the following week a large group (including several friends of ours) was staying and someone had already booked the family bungalow.

This time, the kids had the bedroom on the right and we got the one on the left at the very end of the resort.  The view was priceless.

There isn't much one can add to make it any more beautiful, but Christmas decorations were pretty important! I wanted to make sure the kids still had a very special Christmas.

Surprises appeared in the stockings throughout the week - candy, chocolate, and minecraft minifigures were all happily received.

Ahhh, the gorgeous sunrises and quiet mornings!  The wild birds weren't nearly as noisy this time of year so it was a little harder to get up in the mornings.  We did still see cockatoos, parrots, hornbills, and eagles.  We didn't get to see the bird of paradise because the morning we had planned to go it was pouring.

Moving ahead two time zones and then asking them to get up at 7am made for some sleepy mornings!

We still spent hours watching the fish, rays, and sharks from the porch.  Sadly, our resident octopus from two years ago was no longer there and I was never fortunate enough to find another.

Just like last time, breakfast started at 7:30 and the boats left at 8:30am for a snorkel, beach break and morning tea, and another snorkel.  We usually returned around 12:30, had lunch at 1:00, and then went out for an afternoon snorkel at 3:00.  Afternoon tea at 5:00 and dinner at 7:00.  We definitely never went hungry!

I loved the Christmas decorations in the common areas! A beautiful, tropical Christmas.

The common area for meals, real coffee, and internet. Ben spent quite a bit of time here over the week to talk to the teenage girls who were there for internet.

We never did find out the story, but somehow the top of the Christmas tree must have been lost!

The food was just as good as we remembered! Fresh fish every day and several choices of Asian and western food.  We piled our plates high because we burned a lot of calories in the water (or at least that's what I was telling myself!).

We saw rain most days but sometimes it was just a beautiful storm at a distance. The nice part was that the water was warm so it always felt good to get in, even if the air was cool from the rain.

We definitely enjoyed watching the rain from our huge porch! It did conveniently come after lunch several days.

Jumping off the dock was still a pretty fun activity every day!

Love these boys and we loved having all our meals together during the week.  We were asked to stick to our own tables to stay distanced from the other guests.

Many a nap was taken in the comfy hammocks on our porch.  The kids sat out a few afternoon snorkels to relax at home.

All 12 of us guests arrived on the same boat and respected everyone's distance the entire week, although we did visit during beach breaks and in the afternoons at the sunset lounge.  On the last night, we collectively decided that our full quarantine together warranted one dinner together before we all left to go our separate ways.  Apo, the manager during our stay, got a quick selfie of each table and he was in tears of happiness at seeing life return to "normal" for an evening.

All of the guests were from Jakarta - a single German man, a Hungarian couple, and a French family. It made for some really interesting conversation over dinner.

 

Our boys and the French kids.  It was really fun for them to have some nice kids around during the week, even if there was teenage awkwardness galore. Apo's own family was still in Turkey and he desperately missed his son, so he was in heaven with kids around all week, especially at Christmas.

I was a little apprehensive about returning to the same resort because we had such an incredible trip the first time.  How could a second trip ever compare? My concerns were short lived because it's such a magical place and we were so happy to return and make new memories at an old favorite. 

Hanging in There

After Thanksgiving, the countdown to Christmas and winter break seemed so long! It took a lot of perseverance to hang in there and enjoy the last few weeks before the break. Some of the simpler things really made us happy.

Our gorgeous orchid finally bloomed again 3 years after we bought it!

Alex may not have ever set foot in his Design Tech class, but he did submit his 3D print plans and got to pick up a very cool Among Us character from school.

I enjoy the contrast of the modern and traditional here in Jakarta.  Two kaki lima carts (literally - five leg) selling vegetables in front of the new addition to the massive Pondok Indah mall.

Ben is still by far the slowest eater in the world and sometimes finds himself alone at the table after dinner when everyone else has packed up and finished.  He's definitely my child.

Smiles for the last day of school in 2020 and finishing up a complete semester of school online!

Ben was SO done! We were all crossing our fingers that the kids would be able to go to school in some capacity in January and plans had been discussed about two mornings a week.  After 10 months, we'd take an hour!

Two happy boys on Christmas break! We enjoyed a full day of rest, then packed and headed out for a fun adventure.

Family Photos

I realized it had been 3 1/2 years since we had family photos taken because it was one of the last things we did before we packed out in Houston.  Thankfully, since most of Indonesia doesn't make Christmas cards, there isn't a huge rush for photos in November and December and I was able to get the high school photography teacher to meet us a few days later. (Ironically, Ben has been part of the (virtual) high school photography club and finally got to meet his instructor) It was a very sweaty Saturday morning and the mosquitos were terrible, but we got some gorgeous memories in our neighborhood and no one got dengue...success!

Gratitude and credit to Scotty Graham Photography 

Had to get one to remember 2020....

 

Pictures of the Week

Two more pictures for my "seems safe" file...always love seeing the tree trimmers.  They just shimmy up the tree with a chainsaw and get to work while the guys on the ground stand inches away from the falling branches.

The guy cutting metal with no face protection...he would just squeeze his eyes shut and look away when the sparks got too close!

It's been a really rainy start to the season and flooding has returned.  It only takes an hour or two of heavy rain and certain roads become impassable.

But when the rain clears, it makes for some pretty sunsets!

I love this one - someone built a custom platform for their jackfruit tree to make sure the massive fruit has a sturdy place to grow.

Happy Halloween

Halloween had a different look for us this year.  No trick or treating, of course, no big party at Andrea's house, no costumes.  Instead, we woke up early and headed to Rancamaya in Bogor to fulfill Matt's birthday request of a nice round of golf.  The drive out was fun with no traffic and views of Mt. Salak.

The clubhouse and course were just beautiful.

This was quite an impressive golf cart that drove a little too close to Ben's cart.  He can now say he's bumped a Rolls Royce.

It was a fun day on a difficult course with lots of hills.  I've never played a hole that went straight up hill before! Thankfully, just as it was getting really hot, the clouds came out.  And right after we finished, it started pouring for the afternoon.  Perfect timing.

The embassy kids had a halloween celebration at Kemang Club Villas and Ben joined his friend, Tate.

Indiana Jones and the scary creature!

They got to do the traditional candy sort and trade! Alex was pretty bummed to have missed out on this part, but the three of us had a fun evening at home watching a movie.

Ben spent the night and the next day we met him at the American Club, which finally reopened after 7 months.  We were excited to join again because everything is outdoors and it's easy to distance since it's generally uncrowded.  And even better for us, everything is by sign up now which means we can book tennis courts on the weekends.

This made me pretty incredibly happy!  Good friends and good food.