Year 2- 2 September 2025 – Day Trip-Labuan Bajo – Flores
We woke at a reasonable time and had breakfast. It seemed a nice sunny day and we saw a dolphin whilst having breakfast which was nice. I put in the new gas cylinder with the logic being if that runs out in Indonesia I can easily replace so I will reserve the Australian tank for when I need it. Unfortunately it did not fit into the gas locker but I have rigged it just outside and wedged in so it should be ok.
We left Stormbird about 9.00am and headed to the dinghy dock as we were going on a Land Tour today of a few sights in the area. Where we were to meet our guide was a bit vague but at about 10.00am we met our driver and guide. It was quite nice that it was just the two of us. We headed off going west and out of LB. It was interesting to see LB spread out as we went through the suburbs and it got poorer and poorer. The buildings became more ramshackle and unfinished with small shops here and there and the odd cow and goat grazing seemingly oblivious to the road.
We continued for about 20 minutes and pulled over to a place called Baku Peduli – a waving place or Rumah Tenon (which means weaving house). This part of Flores is the Mangarrai area which has its own style of weaving whereas near Ruing it is a different type of tribe with a different style which was called Ikat which we saw when we went to the Bena Village. The Mangarrai style is known as Songat. There is fact 4 different styles in Flores, 2/3 in Timor and 2 in Sumba. The songat style is more intricate and generally each piece takes a month to make. Our tour started with this explanation and that instead of growing cotton trees which they used to they now import the white cotton from Jakarta as it is easier and cheaper for them to do this. They then dye the cotton to the colours they want by using natural ingredients like nutmeg, turmeric, seeds and leaves and bark from different trees which they know makes the right colours. These are boiled to get the colour and cotton is then dyed by it, dried and then rinsed. It is then untangled and threaded into balls of cotton which is then used in the weaving process with sticks and a mesh being pulled back and forth. It was interesting to see and that it is more intricate and delicate than Ikat.
We drove on to Batu Cerman (Mirror Rock – or from the shimmering limestone) a natural marvel of rock formations and geographical features. We were given a guide who let us down and there were various rock formations like umbrellas or mushrooms which he showed us. We then walked down to the caves. These were discovered in 1951 by a Dutchman and are now a tourist attraction. These caves are some way from the sea but it is believed due to the Stalactites and Stalagmites that it was once under the sea due to the crystallisation and coral type patterns inside including a fossilised turtle in the roof of one of the underground caves. We first walked around some large caverns with long tree roots coming down and large Stalactites and Stalagmites and then we had to put on a hard hat and were given a torch and we had to climb down a tunnel and manoeuvre around some rocks and crawl in places to get into a large cave underground. We saw bats hanging from the ceiling and little birds’ nests of swallows etc. It was a bit low and some of the wall structures were sparkly like diamonds. I was glad to crawl out and get back to the caverns. We continued to walk through more and saw a brown snake quickly move into a crevasse and then it turned round and you could see its head. He said it was not poisonous but I was not about to find out. We came to one cavern which has a hole at the top and at midday a large ray of sun streams in. These caves have a cultural significance for the local community.
We walked on out and it had been interesting and we then had lunch. We then drove on Northeast of LB and came to a village where we had to transfer on to a longboat with its phut phut engine. In fact it had two. He would use the first to get through the shallow water/reef and then once out he would start (by handle) the second which would give us double the speed. We were going to Rangko Cave which is an underground cave full of fresh water where you could swim and there are again Stalactites and Stalagmites. We arrived by the boat and walked along the pier and a little along the shore and into some woods. The cave was pretty and the water a blue colour and there were Stalactites and Stalagmites everywhere. We got changed and got in. It was quite cool but lovely and it had a slightly salty taste. There were also bats on the ceiling and little birds’ nests. You could float easily and look up.
Once we had had enough we retraced out steps and the phut phut and headed off in the care to Bakit Sylvia – the Amellia Hills View. This was a hills which we had to climb to give us a sort of 360 view over the East side of LB. We could see boats anchored in the bay and planes coming into land at the airport. Unfortunately the sky was getting darker and it was not good for the sunset. We therefore came down which was a good choice as it started to rain.
We were driven by the LB and it had been an interesting day. We came back to Stormbird and then at about 5.00pm we went across to the Lumansa Hotel where we met Crawford & Elaine from Naupilos, Sonny and Cecilia from Platon and Jamie and Fiona from Szel and Phillipe and Chantel from Sandy Key. We had a few beers and enjoyable supper.
We think we will move on tomorrow.
The picture of the day is Mark and I at the top of Bakit Sylvia.
Need/Opportunity Year Three
In year three I will be going from Thailand to Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and then on to Chagos, Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK. I am looking for crew from Mauritius/ Reunion Island to Cape Town and from Cape Town to the UK. If of any interest do email me.
The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com