INDONESIA - FLORES - MAUMERE - 4 to 7 September, 2014 - 'THE ISLANDS AND INTO THE ISOLATED'

Info

Ankermi Homestay - 350 000R with great breakfast
Snorkel trip – for whole boat - 450 000R per boat including lunch – shared amongst 4.
Motorcycle - 75 000R per day
Flight Denpasar to Maumere - 2 000 000R
Car Maumere airport to Ankermi - 150 000R

The Journey

The flight from Bali to Maumere was slow as it was a propeller plane. The airport at Maumere is small and easy. The car from the airport to Ankermi was there and after 45minutes I was at Ankermi’s which is approximately 45 kilometres east of Maumere.

The room was good and simple with a small balcony overlooking the ocean. The grounds of the guesthouse was really nice with lots of ponds and places to sit and relax. The restaurant had good food which takes a while to prepare as it was freshly cooked. There is a beach to the west of the hotel which was good for swimming. There was also good swimming off the pier at high tide and fun snorkelling at any tide.

There were three other guests from Barcelona, Spain. They were very friendly and nice. I joined them after dinner.

The following day, we had a snorkelling trip on the boat to the reefs at Palau Besar and Palau Babi. It was a great trip with 3 snorkels and a walk along two white sand deserted beaches. Under the sea, there were corals and lots of small fish. My highlight was two lion fish.



The next day, I hired a motorbike and rode to Blidit hot springs, which I didn’t find. I continued along the ‘road’ driving through wilderness and the occasional village. The kids in these villages ran away like their life depended upon when they saw me and then they would hide in the jungle until I passed.

Eventually, I came to a cross road, where I chatted with some few locals on cocoa, sound speakers and directions. The house I stopped at had 12 enormous speakers thusly the sound speaker topic. I continued towards Doreng and Bola beaches.

Doreng Beach was very ordinary with nothing to offer. The tide was low and the water was about 500 metres away with reef in-between the beach and the ocean. I continued to Bola which was much nicer with some good swimming spots and shops.

The road was much better from Bola to the Trans Flores Highway. It didn’t take long to reach the other side and make my way back to Ankermi’s

The next morning, I had an early morning snorkel out the front of the homestay where there were lots of fish and the early morning light illuminated the rocks so it was like a maze. I had breakfast, packed my gear and off I went in the direction of Moni.