First of all, my apologies for the lack of posting here over the past few weeks.
A lot has happened, which we'll fill you in on in the next few posts. Starting with our trip to Raja Ampat!
One thing we really missed during our time in Indonesia was our friends from back home. But, all along we knew that we would have one big trip in August when several people would be coming to visit. What we didn't originally know was where we would go with them. Well, shortly after we moved to Jakarta we noticed that we kept hearing about this place called Raja Ampat. So we looked into it and discovered that Raja Ampat is a remote part of Indonesia known for its untouched, pristine waters and the most bio-diverse ecosystem anywhere in the world. Sold!
For the better part of 6 months we planned this trip out. Our Fuqua friends Jacqueline, Matt, Dave, and Dave's lovely lady friend Kristin would fly out and meet us in Indonesia, where we'd spend 3 days diving & exploring Raja Ampat, followed by a night in Bali to just chill. Giddyup!
Raja Ampat is a remarkable place. As I said it is the most bio-diverse ecosystem in the world, which as our friend Jacqueline put it: There are more marine species here than anywhere! And in a more condensed area, meaning it constantly feels like you're swimming in an aquarium. (by the way, everyone go check out Jacqueline's blog huntingcheeseinchina.blogspot.com. It's spectacular)
Also, as I mentioned, Raja Ampat is quite remote. Even from within Indonesia It took us a series of flights and a 2 hour boat ride to get there. At the request of Jacqueline here's the path it takes to get there starting from her home state of Virginia.
All the long travel becomes worth it though when this appears out in front of the boat.
 |
| Yeah, it's like that. |
This is Papua Paradise Eco Resort. If you're ever considering coming to this part of the world, stay here. Seriously. It truly is paradise. The bungalows are over the ocean, so you walk out onto your balcony for views like these:
 |
| Panorama from our balcony |
 |
| Gloria enjoying some hammock time |
Not only that, the water under the bungalows is actually a shark sanctuary. Seriously. Every day was saw baby sharks, sting rays, and other HUUUGE fish swimming all over the place. Totally surreal.
 |
| Two of our shark friends |
 |
| This little one was swimming around our bungalow for an entire afternoon |
Not to mention Chris and Leah, who run the place, are just wonderful people.
 |
| Chris & Leah in the middle of us hooligans |
This place is unreal. It truly is paradise. The diving is as good as it gets as well. We saw thousands of fish, octopus, teeny tiny organisms, the most colorful coral, etc. etc. etc. It was awesome.
I've got a ton of dive pics & videos to edit, and I'll be putting those into a compilation soon. Keep an eye out for it! In the meantime, here's a typical shot of Matt's diving form, or as he liked to call it: "working on some stuff"
 |
| Textbook vertical upside-down diving technique |
In addition to the diving, we took a little hike through the jungle. It turned out to be a bit more adventurous than we were anticipating, with the path winding us through thick jungle, muddle patches, and even going into muddy waters a couple times.
 |
| A cool bird in the water we saw on the way to the hike |
 |
| About to head down the trail |
 |
| This was before the trail got a bit more "rugged" |
 |
| A striking group |
 |
| There were wooden cutouts floating on the water that sank when we stepped on them. |
But in the end it was worth it for these views.
Alas after 3 days it was time to leave paradise.
 |
| Gloria & Jacqueline taking it all in |
 |
| Dave Watts, ruler of this kingdom! |
Here's a little time lapse of the sunset from our bungalow.
And one last picture that I'm particularly happy about. I was shooting a long exposure to get some stars, when I was lucky to have lightning strike in a cloud directly where my camera was pointing. You can see the dark reddish night sky in the top left corner, with stars all around the illuminated cloud. It was a very lucky shot.
Wait, I forgot one thing. Matt had quite a time here in Raja Ampat. First, he made friends with the locals, challenging them to ping pong matches,
 |
| Textbook behind-the-head, shirtless ping pong form |
then he had a bit of a stand off with some of the local wildlife.
Yep, Raja Ampat, it's paradise (with lizards!).
After that, we headed off to Bali for a night of relaxation and drinks.
And another time lapse (yes, yes, I'm obsessed…)
With that, our trip, and most of our year in Indonesia, came to a close…
No comments:
Post a Comment