Indonesia > The Flying Foxes Around Ontoloe

At breakfast, I meet all my travel companions again. Well, almost all of them. One companion is missing. He apparently overslept. He quickly gets ready so we can still leave at eight o’clock. We drive the bus out of the street to the harbor—a short distance. On the pier, we split over two small boats. With a jerk, the motor starts. There is a loud noise from the engine and a black plume of smoke comes out from the side of the boat. The sea is calm, and the weather is sunny. There is hardly any swell. The skipper steers the boat toward Palau Ontoloe island. This island, within the national park, is home to flying foxes. As we approach, we see hundreds of large bats hanging in the trees. These animals come here during the day to rest and fly out at dusk to search for food. They mainly eat fruit, explains our guide Chris. Since there is no fruit on the islands, they fly to the main island of Flores.

Indonesia - The pier at the port of Riung

It’s bizarre to see so many flying foxes gathered together. Why don’t they spread more across the surrounding trees? Some bats find our presence exciting and nervously fly around before settling back in the trees. A beautiful spectacle. In about twenty minutes, we sail to one of the islands in the National Park. This island stands out for its steep cliffs and beautiful white sandy beach. We dock at the beach. I put on my fins and mask. Directly to the left of the boat, I see beautiful colorful coral. The colorful fish are also a lovely sight. I struggle a bit with my snorkel mask. Water slowly leaks in through the nose. One of the companions lets me try a face mask.

Indonesia - Flying foxes soar and hang in the trees

This one fits much better. I definitely need to buy one when I’m back in the Netherlands. The anchor is lifted, and we sail to another island where we can snorkel again. We snorkel over the coral to the lunch spot on the beach. The coral here is nice but less colorful than at the first spot. When we arrive at the beach, Chris says we’re a bit early for lunch. He asks if we want to snorkel on the other side of the beach. I do. With a small group, we follow Chris. Soon I’m swimming again above the beautiful coral. The coral here is on the edge of a reef. I swim alongside deeper water. In the depths, I see larger fish, but they don’t show themselves among the coral. Suddenly Chris points into the deep. I try to follow his finger but don’t know what he’s pointing at. Only when he surfaces does he say there was a turtle swimming there.

Indonesia - The beautiful underwater world in the Tujuhbelas National Park

He had hoped I saw it too. Unfortunately not. We swim back to the beach. Meanwhile, lunch is ready. Fish is cooked over a wood fire, served with rice and zucchini. It tastes excellent. I also ordered a Bintang beer beforehand, which completes the lunch. After lunch, we sail back to the harbor. We have wind and current against us. Water splashes over the railing. It’s not too bad, since I’m still wearing my swimwear. In the afternoon, we drive by bus to Bajawa, again on the southern side of the island. The road is bad. Harris has to dodge potholes at a walking pace regularly. At the end of the afternoon, we arrive in Soa, near Bajawa. Warm springs are located at Soa. It’s handy that I still have my swimwear on. A group of Indonesian boys is already in the hot spring. They laugh when we arrive and immediately start taking photos, especially when they see that we also want to enter the water.

Indonesia - The water from the hot spring near Bajawa is nearly forty degrees

One of the boys shows me the best way to enter the water. The spring water is hot. I estimate it to be about forty degrees Celsius. Carefully, I slide into the water. Almost immediately, I scrape my toes against one of the rocks underwater. Soon we’re one big family in the water, and a group photo is taken. Carefully, I climb out of the water and dry off. I put on dry clothes for the rest of the bus ride. We are still 22 kilometers from Bajawa, but it takes almost an hour to reach the city. It’s already dusk when we drive into the center. I have a large room on the first and top floor of the hotel. I estimate the bed to be 240 x 240 cm. The bathroom, however, is relatively small. Next to me lives the family who runs the hotel. In the evening, we take the bus to a restaurant in town. We are the only guests. The waitress quietly sets her phone on the bar to take a photo. She’s pleased when we say she can just take a photo. While we choose our food, Stickman asks us to also give our lunch choice for tomorrow. It feels a bit odd to handle two menus from different restaurants.

Indonesia - We all have dinner together at a restaurant in Bajawa