INDONESIA - SULAWESI - MANADO - 14 TO 16 FEBRUARY 2019

I stayed at the Swiss-Bel in Manado. The entrance foyer looks quite grand and the staff are good.

As far as cities go, I think Manado is pretty good. I stopped there on the way to and from Morotai. It was an easy place to get around either by walking , the mini vans or taxi. I preferred the walking as you can see/experience more. 

I had one long hike that went for hours through the streets and along the waterfront. I visited temples, churches, shops, malls and the seaside. I finished by having a great iced latte.

Indonesia - Sumba - Kelala Beach - HIKE - April 2010

The beach at Kelala is a long, long beautiful white sand beach lined with umbrella palm trees. At the western end, the beach is long, wide and sandy with good swimming and the northern end has a narrow beach with a series of reefs that jut out to sea. Waves crash on the outside fringe of the reefs curving inwards at the reef openings. On shore the waves lapped peacefully at my feet.

I had a number of walks along the beach in both directions. There were few local people and mainly I met cows, butterflies and the odd dog or two.

 

The fishing boats which were far between were of the paddle dugout type. The fishermen huts were thatched and the area around them was roughly fenced.

 

The sunrise was serene and the sunsets were an awesome display of changing colours. The sunset show lasted for what seemed like hours.

Indonesia - Sumbawa - Lakey - walk, surf - April 2010

 

Lakey Beach is a long white sand beach. The reef starts at the mid tide mark and runs along the length of the beach. Further out there is deeper water that forms a U-shape with exposed reef at low tide in the middle of the U-shape. On the exposed reef there is a two storey platform for viewing the surf.

Along the land side of the beach is a path and behind this are various restaurants and accommodations. The path is a bit uneven so at night a torch is essential.

The restaurants all have good food and the accommodations have a range of standards and prices.

Also along the path a number of small shops selling food, drinks, books, etc

There are three main breaks in front of Lakey Beach:

Lakey peak left

Lakey peak right

Lakey pipe

All these are great waves that can get intensely crowded. Forget the dawn patrol; there are guys out there in the dark.