Santika Manado

... to read on!). It was so different from Java - predominately Christian instead of Muslim, cleaner, better roads etc. and very friendly people. We were blessed with perfect weather for all 4 days (until arriving back in Surabaya to a tropical storm!)and spent them sunbathing, snorkelling, reading and exploring the Highlands on a full day tour which included 2 lakes(lunch in a restaurant overhanging one), a pottery village, a wooden house village, a peanut village, and ...

... Bunakenin saaresta viela. Kavimme siis pari kertaa snorklailemassa maailman parhaimpien joukkoon kuuluvilla koralliriutoilla ja erityisesti majapaikkamme edustalla oleva drop-off on snorkaaljankin kannalta hienoa nahtavaa. Taytyy vain yrittaa kuvitella, milta oikeista sukeltajista (joihin me Kasperin kanssa emme kuulu) nailla vesilla tuntuu. Me pintaliitajat onnistuimme bongaamaan mm. ison kilpikonnan, leijonakalan ja tietysti sen AMATSIN RAKE -tehtavana olleen Nemon ...

... is scratched and sweaty) we managed to reach the waterfall. Showering below it has never felt so rewarding.<br><br>Tomorrow we are off to the Togean Islands. A little secluded piece of land rising out of the Gulf of Tomini, a few kilometers south of the equator with white sand beaches, little beach resorts and great snorkelling. Or so we heard. Let's see if we will really find this piece of paradise. The 13 hour boat ride better be worth it...

... the same ratio of guys working to guys standing around watching as their US counterparts! The primary means of making a living here is farming. Families own and tend plots of land on very rich volcanic soil, and easily grow their own fruits and vegetables. More successful families (the ones with the nicer houses) tend to be the land barons who own and lease out more land ...

... above the corals swaying gently in the light surge. We could have spent all day doing that! But after an hour it was time to make the short ascent to the surface, board the boat, and off-gas before another dive. Dive 2 was another wall site called Denan Kampung. The visibility again was great and sticking our faces in the water before descending, we could see large schools ...

I'm still hoping to get the opportunity to do some serious catching up in writing for the english readers of my blog (although I'm sure that the Dutch one, shouldn't be too much of an issue, if you just persist). But what with Ronella arriving tomorrow for another gruelling 3 weeks of travelling through unwired Flores and Komodo, I do doubt whether I'll get the chance. However, a slight ...

... we had to move up and down a mooring line, which happened to have coral on it and of course we had to grab hold of the line/coral to stop been taken by the current. This meant coral burns for myself and a few others. Mainly on my finger tips. They were a bit sore, for the rest of the week, but things were to get worse when I got to Bunagken Island. It was a great week and I would definitely consider going back there, pretty cheap as well.

... threatening confrontation between Jently and their leader, of about 60 people we decided to head to the next area over for some snorkeling. A pretty crazy experience for sure, the people (excpet for a few around our age) really didn't like us, and were definelty threatening us. The snorkeling turned out to be ok and we saw some unique fish in the seagrass coral intereface and a few new coral species. We next headed to a party for Jently's nieces birthday, what a ...

... za en dan najela motorcek, in ko sem se ga naucil upravljati in se navadil na levo stran ceste, sva se odpeljala proti nekim slapovom in nato na celodnevno uzivanje na plazi bliznjega jezera. Nasla sva eno zelo lepo plazo s cudovitimi bungalovi, a brez zive duse, bungalovi pa tako pocasi zacenjajo razpadati. Ti kraji so bili baje vcasih dokaj turisticni, a so bombe na Baliju vse spremenile. Na poti prek Posa in naprej do Ampane sva koncno spet naletela na 2 turista ...

... one more brief snorkeling trip and then jumped on the boat for the mainland. We had lunch at the airport, where dad got crazy and ordered a random fruit drink from the menu that turned out to be avocado juice with chocolate syrup. Not the best combination, but we all had to try it to make sure. Karen left us at our stopover Singapore to go on her business trip to Edinburgh and Munich, and the four remaining members of the group had an uneventful return to Hong Kong.