Flores

Flores was our final destination on this bike trip through Bali, NTB and NTT. We wanted to have a closer look at the westen part of Flores, and explore the islands off Labuhanbajo, including a trip to the Komodo National Park. And all of us are into scuba diving as well, so we wanted to do some dives. Here we also had to split up, as each of us had a different schedule for the return journey.

Day 8: Not a riding day. Instead, we spent all day on the ferry to cross over from Sape in Sumbawa to Labuhanbajo in Flores. We spent the time in the crew's area on the upper deck as guests of the captain.

On arrival in Labuhanbajo, Birgit, Carla and Jack were already waiting at the harbour. They had arranged rooms at a nice homestay 'Chez Felix', and during dinner in the evening we made up our plans for the next days.

The tension of the ride was suddenly gone. We had reached our target destination, and everything went well. Now we had a couple of days on the beaches and islands, and we planned to put in another trip into the mountains, a visit to Komodo, and some dive trips. Then each of us would be riding back on his own, due to the time each of us had left for the holidays.

Day 9: On the next morning we went down to the harbour to meet our dive master. During the evening on the previous day we had arranged for a dive boat for the next two days. We went out for an introduction dive at Sebayar kecil slope, which was quite nice.

After the dive we went on to Rinca, for a walk on one of the islands that are part of the Komodo National Park. Jack was impressed when he stepped around the first corner and was immediately confronted with the first giant lizzard. Normally always out ahead in front, he now made sure that there was always an adult between himself and the komodos. We hired a guide at the PHPA station and did a beautiful 3 hour walk across the island.

Day 9: The next day was completely reserved for diving. We met the same dive crew again in the morning and went out on the boat. The first dive was at a famous rock, Batu Bolong, which is only about 10m wide. This site is famous for its corals and the big fishes you can see, but also for its strong current, going downwards as soon as you get out of the protected area behind the island. As you can't see the current, you have to keep an eye on the fishes around. If you see them being suddenly flipped over and sucked down, you better back off. Jumping off the boat we also immediately saw two sharks slowly pulling away. A great start for a dive day, We cruised around to some other islands and did two more dives, which were also really good.

Day 10: Time was running short for Oliver, who had to drive back to Lombok to pick up his sister in three days. So we got back on the bikes again to drive up to Ruteng, a village in the mountains in the western part of Flores. Again, in proper indonesian style we squeezed all of us onto the three bikes for a day long ride up into the mountains. In Ruteng, Oliver had to ride back directly to Labuhanbajo to catch the ferry on the next morning, while we stayed for one night in the mountains.

Day 11: After breackfast we had a walk through Ruteng and then visited to a traditional village in the outskirts. For the trip back Birgit and Jack had to take a bus, while Carla was absolutely delighted to be allowed to drive back on the bike with her father.

Day 12: The next day we went out to a small island where Mark, Birgit and the kids had rented a hut for the next few days. For me and Max this was our last day on Flores. We went back in the evening to be able to catch the ferry on the next morning to start the ride back to Bali.